Undefeated female MMA fighter Sarah Kaufman improved her record to 11-0 and became the first Strikeforce 135-pound women’s champion by out-pointing Japan’s Takayo Hashi (12-2) Friday night in San Jose, Calif. With highly respected fight coach Greg Jackson in her corner, Kaufman remained on her feet for all but a few seconds of the entire five rounds of the fight, choosing to stand and trade with Hashi, rather than risk being submitted by the grappler.
Although Kaufman knocked Hashi to the canvas a few times during the bout, she was not able to capitalize, and Hashi was never really hurt or in danger of being stopped. Hashi landed the occasional leg kick and punch, but her takedown attempts were repeatedly stuffed. Hashi did little more than survive against a better striker. In the end, all three judges scored the fight 50-45 for Kaufman.
The co-main event between Karl Amoussou vs. Trevor Prangley was off to a great start until Amoussou caught a finger in the eye late in round one and told the doctor he could not see. The fight was stopped and ruled a technical draw.
American Kickboxing Academy’s Luke Rockhold continues his climb up the ranks by defeating Paul Bradley via first round TKO. Rockhold’s height and reach advantage served him well as he dropped Bradley early in the first round and finished him off with strikes. Rockhold remains undefeated in Strikeforce and improved his record to 7-1.
Other fights on the main card included Yancy Medeiros defeating Raul Castillo by unanimous decision and Tarec Saffiedine defeating James Terry by unanimous decision. Complete results and ProMMAnow.com commentary for this Strikeforce card can be found here: “Strikeforce – Challengers 6” results and play-by-play commentary.
I like Kaufman. She’s good, but I can’t believe she didn’t pour it on and finish this girl. Hashi had nothing for her on the feet. Rockhold looked great! REady to see him move on up to bigger competition and the co-main event was a MAJOR let down with the eye poke, cause it started off great.