With TUF Nations Finale win, Sarah Kaufman wants Tate, Carmouche or Zingano in Vancouver

QUEBEC CITY – By no means is Sarah Kaufman looking past her TUF Nations Finale bout with Leslie Smith this Wednesday, but the former Strikeforce champion won’t pretend she doesn’t have her eyes set on a summer fight in her home province.

UFC 174 will touch down in Kaufman’s home province of British Columbia on June 14 for a pay-per-view event from Vancouver’s Rogers Arena. Though the event takes place just under eight weeks from now, Kaufman (16-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is determined to defeat Smith (6-4-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and make a quick turnaround.

“I would love for this win to push and propel me to fight on the Vancouver card,” Kaufman told MMAjunkie. “I want to have a strong win, get a knockout, put some money in my pocket, turn around into another fight camp and then fight in front of literally my home crowd in Vancouver.”

Kaufman has dealt with a plethora of headaches in her short UFC tenure. Her octagon debut came far later than she anticipated and since then several opponents withdrew from schedule bouts and she even had a fight cancelled on a few weeks notice.

Those problems have continued in the lead up to the TUF Nations Finale, as Smith is the third opponent Kaufman has signed to face after Shayna Baszler and Amanda Nunes withdrew due to injury.

“I feel like it must be a new record,” Kaufman said. “Two fights and five bout agreements seems insane. It is insane, especially over such a small time period. I’ve wanted to get my UFC career going for so long and I was the last person out of everyone to have my contract pulled over from Strikeforce, I was the last to fight. It was frustrating because I know I deserve to be in that cage and fighting these girls.”

Despite the frustration, Kaufman is extremely grateful for Smith’s willingness to accept a fight against her on just eight days notice. The contest will mark a rematch between the two, as Kaufman edged out a split decision win over her American counterpart this past April.

While Kaufman had little time to get ready for Smith this time around, she believes that her previous preparation for the first bout will carry over in the rematch.

“Having fought Leslie before alleviates some of the worry about not knowing what she’ll bring to the table,” Kaufman said. “If it was a total unknown there would be more anxiety there, but because we’ve scouted her before it’s been good for me.

“I feel kind of at peace with myself and confident in my abilities. I always feel that way but more so for this fight because I’ve only been thinking about Leslie for a week. It’s a good opportunity to get in there and do what I do.”

Aside from titleholder Ronda Rousey, the UFC women’s bantamweight division is in a constant state of flux due to its relative infancy in the UFC.

Kaufman feels she is as close to title contention as any of the other elite females in the organization, and should she get past Smith, the 28-year-old would like to get her hands on Miesha Tate, Liz Carmouche or Cat Zingano.

“I’m not looking at anyone past Leslie,” Kaufman said. “But I do think a fight with Miesha or Liz Carmouche, whoever wins that fight (at UFC on FOX 11), would be a great opponent. It would make sense in terms of the rankings and in terms of our standing with the UFC.

“I also have been pushing for a fight with Cat Zingano for a long time. I think she’s great, I don’t think she should be the No. 1 contender, especially coming off such a long layoff, so I think she should have a fight prior to getting a title shot and I would love to be the one who kind of steps over and gets that win and that title shot.”

For more on the TUF Nations Finale and UFC 174, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.