Strikeforce Challengers 17 Results: Sarah Kaufman Dominates Liz Carmouche

Former champ Kaufman immediately forced Carmouche against the cage to open the fight. They contended for outside position but Kaufman managed to counter Carmouche’s early reversals. They traded knees and a little bit of dirty boxing in the clinch. Carmouche finally managed to reverse Kaufman and back her into the fence. She had double underhooks for a bit and was looking for a throw, but Kaufman got over/unders and diluted the threat. Carmouche went for a hip toss and fell on her stomach with Kaufman on her back. Carmouche stood back up and again forced Kaufman into the cage. Kaufman managed to spin Carmouche around as they traded knees and punches in the clinch. With just over a minute left, they separated and traded strikes at distance. Kaufman landed some combinations and Carmouche countered with single punches.

Carmouche drove forward to open the second and forced the clinch against the fence. Kaufman fended off the take down attempts and they separated by the four minute mark. Kaufman took center cage but seemed hesitant to pull the trigger. Still, she applied a slow but steady peppering that bloodied Carmouche’s face. They clinched again with about 2 minutes left and the pattern of knees, dirty boxing and reversals against the cage returned. Back to center cage with just over a minute left and Carmouche shot for a single leg that gave Kaufman a chance to show off her sprawl. A bloodied Carmouche ended the round on her back butt scooting as Kaufman looked to land punches from the standing position.

Kaufman landed some punches and then sprawled away from a take down attempt. They clinched and Carmouche attempted a trip and ended up on her back under Kaufman. Kaufman hopped back up and got back to beating Carmouche up on the feet. Carmouche desperately went for more single leg attempts, but Kaufman’s sprawl only improved with age. Kaufman seemed content to score points with punches as the fight wound down to the 1 minute mark, then she launched a flurry but soon eased off again.