Cage Wisdom: 10 valuable lessons from UFC 166's Sarah Kaufman

Over the course of a seven-year career that began after a martial arts gym opened in the same building as the dance studio she attended, Sarah Kaufman has been a women’s MMA trailblazer, a Strikeforce champion, and now – with her bout against Jessica Eye at UFC 166 on Saturday – a high-profile addition to the UFC’s women’s bantamweight division.

Prior to her UFC debut, Kaufman sat down with MMAjunkie.com to talk about what she’s learned from the highs and the lows in her long, winding road to the octagon.

I: On the rise of women’s MMA

I had a lot of firsts. First Hardcore [Championship Fighting] women’s title, first Strikeforce [women's bantamweight] champion, first women’s fight in places like Edmonton and Manitoba. I didn’t start to realize until later on how my actions could play a role in forging the way forward. When I realized that, I tried to be more of an advocate for putting on the big fights and making them happen.

II: On publicly calling out Strikeforce for relegating women’s title fights to smaller Challengers shows

At that time, the number of responses I got that were like, “Shut up, get back in the kitchen.” Regardless of if they were joking or not, there were a lot of them. People said we should be grateful just to have the opportunity and to get a fight. My thought was, if you’re going to make a title and you’re going to recognize the female talent that’s worthy of holding that title, then why wouldn’t you treat it like any of your other titles? Otherwise, you’re saying that it’s less, it’s cheaper. So I made a lot of noise, and some people were unhappy, and some were supportive. Regardless, it ended up being on a real fight card the next time.

III: On lessons learned in training

I used to try to do as much as I possibly could as often as I possibly could. You have to listen to your body as an athlete, and I didn’t do that at all. That’s why you need a good coaching staff behind you. Adam [Zugec] and I have grown together in that regard. You have to realize on certain days, like when you’re sluggish or achy and rundown, it’s not going to help on those days to really push too hard. Your conditioning is not going to change if you go slightly lighter for one session out of 12 that week. Sometimes those lighter sessions are crucial to making sure that the others are hard and sharp and precise. Otherwise, you wind up putting in the volume of training but not the intensity.

IV: On game plans

You shouldn’t focus too much on what your opponent’s going to do. I mean yeah, if they have a strength, you want to make sure you’re ready for it. But if you focus too much on that, you forget about your skills and your roots. You have to remember how you want to fight.

V: On getting armbarred by Ronda Rousey in 54 seconds

The biggest thing I learned from that is you have to know yourself as a fighter. I overanalyze things. That’s one of my strengths and also one of my faults. The overly analytical side comes out and it’s like, “OK, Ronda’s going to come out and do this, go for that, and then I’ll do this.” And then that’s exactly what she did. But because I had this clear idea of what I was going to do for everything she did, it was too many pauses, too much thinking. I’m best when I’m just fighting.

VI: On internal struggles

I can be a really negative person in fight camp sometimes. It’s important for me to stay out of that. For the last couple years at least, I’ve tried to make a conscious switch. I have to tell myself, you’re going to have bad days. You’re going to get down. Just don’t get stuck in the negative spiral where you think everything’s terrible and nothing’s working. You’ll always have a couple moments like that, but you can’t stay there.

VII: On dropping out of college and becoming a pro fighter

I didn’t stop going to university because of mixed martial arts; I stopped because I hated it. People say, “Oh, she quit to fight.” No, I didn’t feel like I was learning anything. That’s why I quit.

VIII: On how women’s MMA is changing

I think now you’re seeing more athletes come in. I think I have some athletic qualities, but I don’t think I’m the best athlete. Tara LaRosa, Roxanne Modafferi, people like that – they have really strong skill sets but aren’t the best overall athletes. Now you’re seeing Olympic athletes coming in, people from all over getting into the sport. It increases the talent pool and the depth of the division. It’s like with the men. It used to be a little guy in a gi and a big sumo guy, and they certainly weren’t the best athletes with best physical attributes. Now there are some crazy athletes in there, and it’s changing mixed martial arts.

IX: On long-term plans

I want to do this until I don’t want to do it anymore. I’ve been in camp since June getting ready to fight, but right now I never feel like, “Oh no, I have to go into camp for a fight?” That’s not an issue for me. If it ever became one, I think that’s when I’d want to step out.

X: On what it will feel like in the moments before the UFC debut

I’m focused, but I like to have a good time. I don’t need people yelling at me to get me going. Some people like that before a fight, this angry, yelling-in-your-face thing. That’s not me at all. I like to relax, stay focused, have a great warm-up, and then go out there and enjoy what I’m doing. If I’m not enjoying it, I’m not going to do well.

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