Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman Results: Three Stars

Since we at Fight Cove operate out of the Great White North, what better way to honor one of Canada’s great pastimes (Hockey) than to use the famous “three stars” system for UFC events?

If you are unfamiliar with the system, this is how it works. An independent, non-bias viewer (in this case, yours truly) selects the three top performers from the event to name as the “three stars”. If you couldn’t figure it out on your own, the first star is the most impressive performer from the event, the second star is the second most impressive, and so on and so forth.

The “three stars” are judged off the effectiveness and overall impact of their performance. Still following? Good, cause here is the “three stars” from Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman.

Third Star – Miesha Tate
After having her arm disfigured by Ronda Rousey last March, Miesha Tate returned to the cage at Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman and picked up a third-round submission of Julie Kedzie on the preliminary portion of the card.

Tate and Kedzie put on what many are calling the ‘Fight of the Night’, going back and forth from start to finish. Tate locked up a beautiful armbar to finish the fight, but it wasn’t easy, as she had to push Kedzie to her limit to earn the win. Tate was badly hurt by a vicious headkick from Kedzie but managed to gather her wits enough to win the fight.

The former woman’s bantamweight champion moved one step closer to a rematch with Rousey with the win, and to top it all off, she did it all on the day of her 26th birthday.

Second Star – Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
When people tune in to watch Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza compete, they expect to see high-level jiu-jitsu. Souza has made a name for himself for being one of the best submission artists in the world but on Saturday night he proved he is more than just a one trick pony. The Brazilian knocked Derek Brunson out in highlight reel fashion in the co-main event from San Diego and after 18 professional fights finally added a knockout win to his resume.

Coming into the event, Souza had to make a statement if he wanted to prove himself as the number one contender to Luke Rockhold’s middleweight championship, he did just that with the finish. “Jacare” and Rockhold have shared the cage once before and Rockhold was victorious by way of decision. Both fighters have improved a lot since the first bout and a rematch will likely look vastly different from the first bout.

First Star – Ronda Rousey
The face of female mixed martial arts continued her unbelievable streak of dominance on Saturday night as “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey submitted Sarah Kaufman 54-seconds into the first round in the main event of Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman.

Many said that Kaufman would be the biggest test of Rousey’s career but it didn’t look that way once the fight began. Rousey defeated Kaufman just as easily as the five prior opponents she has faced thus far in her career. Simply put, Rousey is a star. She’s incredible talented and there is little anyone has to offer her at this point.

Rousey called out former Strikeforce champion Cris “Cyborg” Santos in her post-fight interview with Mauro Ranallo, but it is unknown at this time if that fight will ever become a reality due to the fact Santos is currently under suspension and fights at a weight class above Rousey. Nevertheless, Rousey continues to build herself as a major player in the world of mixed martial arts and positive things will continue to come her way after another spectacular performance.

Mike Bohn, founder and lead writer of FightCove.com, wrote this article. You can follow Mike on Twitter at @FightCoveMike. Also, follow @FightCove on Twitter and “Like” Fight Cove on Facebook.