Knockdown Daily 7/1/22: Sarah Kaufman Announces Retirement
The retirement of a veteran name leads the MMA headlines for Friday
Welcome to the Friday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue includes a preview for upcoming MMA events this weekend, plus a quick news story.
News
Veteran Sarah Kaufman Announces Retirement From MMA
Sarah Kaufman, an experienced fighter that is known for her involvement in the early years of women’s MMA, has decided to call an end to her career.
Kaufman, 36, has made the call to retire after more than 25 pro fights from 2006 to 2021.
“I have loved every second in the cage and the amazing people I have met around the world will forever be part of my family,” said Kaufman in a statement published Thursday.
Kaufman notably joined Strikeforce in 2009 with an undefeated record of eight wins. She picked up victories over notable names during her years with Strikeforce, beating Miesha Tate, Roxanne Modafferi and Liz Carmouche.
In 2013, Kaufman joined the UFC roster. She remained with them until 2015, eventually exiting with a record of one win, two losses and one no contest.
Recent years in Kaufman’s pro career saw her appear in Invicta FC, PFL and in regional promotions around the world.
Kaufman’s last fight was in November 2021, when she scored a first-round finish victory over Jessy Miele at BTC 13.
In her recent statement, Kaufman said she plans to stay around MMA despite now being retired.
“While I have made my last walk as a competitor, I will always be involved in some capacity as a coach and recreational athlete.”
Previews
PFL 2022 #6
PFL’s regular season will come to an end this weekend with a card from the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The show will see the promotion confirm their lightweight and welterweight brackets after 10 fights go down within those weight classes.
Two-time PFL Lightweight Champion Kayla Harrison will look to secure a playoff spot when she headlines the card against short-notice opponent Kaitlin Young.
The card suffered some late changes on Thursday. It was announced yesterday that Gleison Tibau withdrew from his fight against Nikolay Aleksakhin and that Carlos Leal would replace him. However, later that day, it was revealed that Aleksakhin withdrew from the card as well, taking a fight out of the lineup altogether.
Leal will earn three points due to the change, taking his 2022 total to six points.
A full preview of the card can be read here.
Here’s the lineup:
Preliminary Card (6:00PM EDT) (ESPN+ / TSN Direct)
Bout 1: Olena Kolesnyk (6-4) vs. Vanessa Melo (11-9) (Lightweight)
Bout 2: Martina Jindrova (5-2) vs. Zamzagul Fayzallanova (7-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 3: Marina Mokhnatkina (6-3) vs. Abby Montes (3-1) (Lightweight)
Main Card (8:00PM EDT) (ESPN / TSN 2)
Bout 4: Jarrah Al-Silawi (18-3) vs. Magomed Umalatov (11-0) (Welterweight)
Bout 5: Larissa Pacheco (16-4) vs. Genah Fabian (5-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 6: Magomed Magomedkerimov (29-6) vs. Dilano Taylor (9-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 7: Ray Cooper III (24-8-1) vs. Brett Cooper (28-16) (Welterweight)
Bout 8: Rory MacDonald (23-8-1) vs. Sadibou Sy (10-6-2) (Welterweight)
Bout 9: Kayla Harrison (13-0) vs. Kaitlin Young (12-12) (Lightweight)
RIZIN 36
RIZIN will make its return this weekend, holding its first event in nearly two months. They’ll head to the Okinawa Arena in Okinawa, Japan on Saturday night for a card that has seen some late changes.
RIZIN’s card this weekend will be headlined by Ren Hiramoto and Hiroaki Suzuki. That wasn’t the original main event, but it was put into that spot after former bantamweight champion Kai Asakura was forced out of his bout against Yang Ji-yong.
This change was a big hit to the lineup, as Asakura is one of the most popular names in the promotion currently.
But the show must, and will, go on. RIZIN has a total of 13 bouts scheduled for this weekend that is still expected to take place.
A preview of the card can be read at this link.
Full Lineup:
Main Card (12:00AM EDT / 1:00PM JST) (RIZIN Stream Pass)
Bout 1: Tanner Lourenco (1-0) vs. ORIHEY (1-0) (157 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 2: Hirokatsu Miyagi vs. Tomoki Yoshino (160 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 3: NISSE (4-5) vs. Moeri Suda (5-3) (108 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 4: Yuki Ito (10-3) vs. Yuichi Miyagi (17-11-1) (126 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 5: Yutaro Muramoto (8-6-2) vs. Shinichi Kojima (14-6-5) (126 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 6: Yamato Fujita (8-4) vs. Tatsuya So (18-18-4) (126 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 7: TAIGA vs. Soichiro Arata (134 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 8: Kohei Tokeshi (7-8) vs. Atsushi Kishimoto (7-6-2) (157 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 9: Shoji (19-16-1) vs. Yang Ji-yong (4-0) (146 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 10: Kyle Aguon (14-10) vs. Sora Yamamoto (15-6-2) (146 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 11: Mitsuhisa Sunabe (29-10-4) vs. Nobuyoshi Nakatsukasa (7-4) (119 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 12: Miyuu Yamamoto (6-6) vs. Saori Oshima (8-3) (108 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 13: Hiroaki Suzuki (2-1) vs. Ren Hiramoto (0-2) (146 lbs) (MMA Bout)
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