Sarah Kaufman Disappointed in Loss to Ronda Rousey, but Excited for Invicta FC Bout

Following her disappointing 54-second submission loss to Ronda Rousey on Aug. 18 in Strikeforce, former bantamweight champion Sarah Kaufman made the decision to make a quick turnaround and take advantage of her promotion’s working agreement with Invicta FC. She signed to turn right back around and fight on Invicta’s upcoming Oct. 6 fight card in Kansas City, Kan.

“I absolutely want to get in there right away or else I wouldn’t have taken the fight,” Kaufman told MMAWeekly.com.

“I think that it’s important that I’m getting in the cage because I want to fight, not because I want to erase a loss. That can be a problem when people just jump right back in and they’re not mentally or physically ready to do it. I’m at the point that I am, and I definitely look forward to taking the fight with Invicta.”

Having averaged about three fights a year prior, Kaufman is pleased to have the opportunity to possibly finish out the year with another fight and not have to wait until 2013 for her next bout.

“I’ve always wanted to be a really active fighter,” she said. “I love fighting and having something to work towards in training.

“I’m easily motivated when I have a goal, as most people are, and it’s great that Sean Shelby has reached out to Invicta and allowed the fighters who don’t have a fight coming up in the near future to step in and get another fight.”

When it comes to Invicta, Kaufman has been nothing but impressed in her short time with the promotion.

“When they had their first card, I was actually away and wasn’t able to watch the first event, but I was able to watch their second event and it was amazing,” she said. “They had really high quality, exciting fights, and they treat the fighters really well (based on) how I’ve been treated the last couple of days.”

Kaufman is scheduled to face Kaitlin Young, a fighter she was originally supposed to have squared off against nearly five years ago.

“Kaitlin and I were originally supposed to fight when EliteXC was around and my first fight was supposed to be on their November (2007) card. Three weeks before the fight, it kind of fell through, so it’s interesting to come back and have the opportunity to once again prepare for Kaitlin,” said Kaufman.

“She’s got great striking, is strong and tall, and she comes ready to fight, so this is going to be a great match-up for me and the fans, as well.”

Looking back on her fight with Rousey a couple weeks ago that lead to her signing to fight in Invicta, Kaufman is nothing but honest about her performance that night.

“I don’t really know what else I can say other than I wasn’t happy with my performance,” she said. “Going in, I had a really good camp and game plan and for whatever reason it just didn’t happen; I didn’t do it. Clearly it was a big disappointment and it’s no fault of anyone’s but my own.”

Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for more news on Sarah Kaufman and Invicta FC.

(Photo courtesy of Arnold Lim)