Ronda Rousey’s legend – and wallet – grows.
The Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion made her first title defense look easy Saturday night in San Diego. In the main event live on Showtime, Rousey submitted Sarah Kaufman via an inevitable armbar in just 54 seconds.
That makes six pro fights and six armbar finishes in the first round for the 25-year-old California native.
WATCH: ROUSEY’S QUICK ARMBAR FINISH
Rousey is already carrying the women’s MMA mantle in the press with appearances on “Conan” and “TMZ.” Her looks and personality make her a draw.
But this is still sports and winning matters. And doing it the way Rousey has done it only increases her star power. She’s not just the face of women’s mixed martial arts, she could be the quote-unquote savior of a sport that has precious little elite-level talent.
Rousey has already defeated Miesha Tate for the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title and now she’s dominated Kaufman, the former champion. There’s only two women of any substance left for her to face. One is Gina Carano and she’s off doing movies with a return to MMA unlikely.
The other is Cris (Cyborg) Santos, who will come off a steroid suspension in December. That seems like the perfect time to put together what will be the biggest fight in women’s mixed martial arts history.
Rousey is also one of the few fighters keeping Strikeforce relevant right now. She’s the only person on the roster who can make an argument for being the best in a weight class in the world. Gilbert Melendez, the lightweight champion, is up there, too. Those are the only two must-see talents in the company.
Unfortunately, with Strikeforce’s contract with Showtime, it doesn’t seem like we’ll see either of them in the UFC any time soon either.
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The absolute most impressive thing Rousey did against Kaufman wasn’t the armbar.
Rousey closed the distance right away and forced Kaufman into a clinch. Her initial judo throw was stuffed by Kaufman, but in one motion, she reversed her momentum and grounded Kaufman with a gorgeous inside leg sweep.
That’s high-level judo right there – Olympic bronze-level judo. With her ability to get opponents to the ground, where she finishes them in short order, is there anyone who can beat her right now? Rousey’s combination of technique and strength is unmatched.
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Ronaldo Souza is back. Not that he ever really went anywhere.
Jacare, once known as strictly a submission artist, looked excellent on his feet, albeit for a small amount of time, in knocking out Derek Brunson in 41 seconds. Souza had shown an improvement in striking in his last fight against Bristol Marundie. But the power the Brazilian had in stopping Brunson was unexpected.
It’s about time for a rematch with Luke Rockhold for the Strikeforce middleweight title – one of the few sellable championship fights the company has left. And even that might be pushing it.
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The difference between Roger Bowling beating Tarec Saffiedine and what actually happened – Saffiedine’s unanimous decision win – was all about takedown defense. Bowling, try as he might, just could not get Saffiedine to the floor. Saffiedine’s standup was more technical and he landed more strikes, even though Bowling arguably did more damage with power punching.
It looks as if Saffiedine will get the next shot at Nate Marquardt’s Strikeforce welterweight title. Marquardt, a bigger and stronger fighter, shouldn’t have the same issues as Bowling did.
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So much for Lumumba Sayers being a rising star for Strikeforce. “Heavy Hands” had his moments against Anthony Smith, but got caught in a triangle choke and was submitted at the 3:52 mark of the first round.
Smith was actually a pleasant surprise, pretty athletic with a seemingly versatile skill set. The 24-year-old has now won three in a row, all finishes. He’s someone to keep an eye on in the light heavyweight division, which is thin in Strikeforce.
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The main card opener between Ovince St. Preux and TJ Cook was an incredibly fun fight. It seemed like St. Preux had Cook knocked out against the cage early in the first round. Cook hit the ground, nearly face planting, only to get up and fire back with combinations. Cook even looked like he had St. Preux on the ropes later in the first with some crisp boxing.
But after controlling the second round with wrestling, St. Preux, a heavy favorite, came out in the third and starched Cook with a left hand that seemingly came all the way from his parents’ home country of Haiti.
Nothing about this fight made you think the 29-year-old St. Preux, who is still raw, is ready for stardom. But he sure is entertaining to watch.
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There’s no good reason why Miesha Tate and Julie Kedzie were not fighting on the main card. Tate was in a main event back in March against Rousey. She’s a borderline star for Strikeforce and the thriving of women’s MMA is a key for the company.
The fight ended up being an all-out war with Tate winning via armbar in the third round after getting dropped by a Kedzie head kick. She showed a ton of heart and guts by coming back from being nearly unconscious.
It’s fights like these that showcase the ladies perfectly and Strikeforce missed its opportunity to give Tate a little more exposure.
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For all its faults, Strikeforce consistently puts on entertaining shows time after time. The matchmakers have a knack for finding some fireworks and this card did not disappoint one bit. It’s a shame that the company is somewhat of a lame duck with the UFC owning it. As much as those in Zuffa, UFC’s parent company, say it won’t happen, it’s hard to believe Strikeforce won’t be folded into the UFC one day, probably after the current Showtime deal is up.
Where does Strikeforce go from here? Rousey has become a huge star – the promotion’s biggest at this point. But there are very few interesting contenders in any division for the champions that are in place. What Strikeforce has failed to do and what Bellator, which Viacom now owns, has done is find and develop young talent, especially at the lighter weight classes.
That’s a failure of Strikeforce’s management going back a few years, but UFC poaching away some of its biggest stars – Nick Diaz and Alistair Overeem come to mind – has not helped either.