We here at PRO MMA (promma.info) broke the news to you last week that Kim Couture (1-1) pulled out of her “Strikeforce Challengers” fight with Miesha Tate (5-1) set for May 15th.

Strikeforce has now confirmed stepping up to fill the void will be undefeated power puncher Sarah Kaufman (8-0). The 135-pound bout between Kaufman and Tate will take place during the SHOWTIME televised portion of the inaugural “ShoMMA” event at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.

Kaufman will be a major step up in competition for Tate when compared to her originally scheduled opponent in Couture. Kaufman has had eight fights and has finished each opponent by (T)KO. No one has taken her the distance. Her last fight was against Sara Schneider on April 23 in the Palace Fighting Championship and Kaufman finished her off with punches early in round two.

The Canadian Kaufman feels her advantage will be on the feet, “I’m very excited about this fight because I’ve been hearing about Miesha Tate for quite a while. I know she has good wrestling and she’s been pretty active. She’s probably going to want to take the fight to the ground and I’ll want to stay standing so it should be an interesting matchup.”

Tate, who was the favorite against Couture, has suddenly become the underdog against Kaufman, “I like being the underdog because I have everything to gain and nothing to lose. I think (Kaufman)’s in for a surprise because she’s probably figuring that she’s beaten opponents that fight similar to me. But, she hasn’t fought me yet.”

Tate, who has finished her last three opponents in the first round, talks about training under “Superman” Dennis Hallman, “He’s got so much to offer technically. He comes from a wrestling background so his fighting style is very similar to the one I want to develop.”

Also on the SHOWTIME telecast, Aaron Rosa (11-2) will meet Anthony “A Train” Ruiz (21-12) in a light heavyweight fight while Lavar “Big” Johnson (11-3) will square off with Carl Seumanutafa (4-2). 

Undefeated lightweight Billy Evangelista (9-0) will face off with BJ Penn protégé “Iron” Mike Aina (11-6-1) in the main event live on SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) on Friday, May 15.

By:  Jack Bratcher

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