Sarah Kaufman
Dancer to Fighter

by Loki Hannilyn

Chikara Magazine caught up with Sarah Kaufman to talk about her fight with Marloes Coenen, how she feels about Dana White and the future of women's MMA.

Sarah: You know what, it's one of those things, it's difficult to be a ref. For the most part you have to go with it. I don't really remember if I was upset about it or not. It was one of those things where this is what's happening, you know I was kind of happy either way. I don't think the results of the fight were necessarily changed from it. It's part of the fight.

Chikara: Has the Marloes Coenen fight affected your training? Any specific areas you are focusing on a bit more?

Sarah: No, honestly the right arm bar is something we knew she did and she does it well. I was over excited and got caught trying an escape I never practice in training and never do. It's one of things, in the moment I don't really know why I decided to stand up, but it happens and it hasn't defined me as a fighter. I always work on my ground and I always work on my striking. It's always little things you take from each fight and I definitely have some things to work on from that fight.

Chikara: You were at the forefront of getting female fighters on the Strikeforce main card. Do you think it still remains a struggle for female fighters especially now that The UFC has purchased Strikeforce?

Sarah: I mean it's a struggle for a lot of fighters, even in Strikeforce you see a lot of the same fighters on the main card and to break into that main card is quite challenging, regardless of how many fights you've had on a challengers card. It's one of those things, there are only four or five spots on each main card so it does have to be a big fight. I'm really happy now that at least all the title fights are going to be on the main events. I definitely feel partially responsible for that honour and the ability to make that happen. It's a great step forward and I would hope other female fighters would be offered the challengers card if they are established fighters who are big names, hopefully that can also happen.

Chikara: What do you think is needed to get more women on the main card; more female fighters or female fighting to be more recognized?

Sarah: Just the continuous viewing for fans, so the fans know what's going on and if they want to see more women, Strikeforce will put us on those big cards. If there are only four to six main cards a year and they need all their title fights on those cards, that does take up a lot of the viewing portion so, I understand the whole challengers thing, but I'd love to see more female fights on a consistent basis so the fans have that vested interest in the division, as opposed to just a few fighters.
 
Chikara: The women's fights tend to be more exciting then the men's fights.

Sarah: I think a lot of times you watch bantam weight males fight and for the most part they are super fast exciting fights whereas, sometimes the heavyweights gas faster, they are a little bit slower and slightly more sluggish. So, you have that dynamic of the females being smaller, or the smaller divisions having that speed and excitement factor to them and simply for something different.

Chikara: Do you find it challenging earning a living as a fighter?

Sarah: Definitely, I'm lucky enough to have a full-time job that revolves around what I do. I teach at my coaches gym at Zuma in Victoria. It's a pretty great job, I get to train and teach and am immersed in the sport itself. I wouldn't be able to just fight and make a living based on a couple fights a year. It's just not at this point feasible. Considering I'm one of the top females, it's a shame it really is.

Chikara: Do you see an increase of female fighters at Zuma? If so, what do you tell the women who want to fight professionally?

Sarah: We have about 200 women in the studio who train Muay Thai; some of them cross over and train ju-jitsu. We are starting to see more females who are interested in the competitive aspect. I think for the majority our gym is about training and having fun. For the ones that want to pursue fighting,  train hard and eventually you will get there. It's exciting to see more girls training and I teach the kids class too and some of the 6 and 7 year old girls come in and say "I watched your fight and you looked cool." It's very touching and very warming. It's great to see girls get excited about another female athlete, which you don't see that often.

Chikara: Do you think your dance background helps you as a fighter?

Sarah: I'm sure some of it transferred over based on training hard and focusing on one specific thing. They are very different, so I had to unlearn a lot of things in terms of  foot positioning and turn-out, verses being parallel. I think everything you've done in your past, helps you in some way with what you are doing now.

Chikara: How do you feel about Dana White saying women will never fight in the UFC?

Sarah: I don't think there is much to say to that really, I mean it's unfortunate but it's a reality. They have so may fight cards already with bringing in the WEC. They have so many extra divisions, that at this point, I can see where he's coming from, even in terms of making sure there is a constant challenger and a constant division going on. It's been hard, so to have UFC and Strikeforce both doing that would whittle the high level athletes down that much more. Strikeforce is really trying to develop the 135Ib division at least and right now that's the best place for it.

Chikara: You have a lot of fans and a few detractors. What effect does negative press have on you as a fighter and as a person?

Sarah: I guess you're always going to have people that don't want to see girls fighting or tell us whether joking or not, you should be in the kitchen not in the cage and things like that. People are going to be people and you have to take that and forget about it, take a closer look at the people who are actually involved in this sport and who care more about it. And then there are the trolls, who online will only say negative and nasty things about people that are so off base. You wonder how can that person call me that. They don't know me, they don't know anything about me, they've probably never seen me fight. There whole goal is to put people down on the internet, keyboard warrior types. I've never had anyone say to my face that I was stupid or not worthy of being a fighter or anything that you would see online. If they don't tell me to my face, then it really doesn't affect me.

Mark your calendars because on April 2nd Sarah Kaufman (12-1) fights Megumi Yabushita (19-17) close to home in Victoria BC, at “Armageddon FC5: Judgment Day." It's going to be a great fight.

Also, make sure to check out Sarah's website at sarahkaufman.ca