Don't Miss Rousey vs Kaufman Live Tomorrow Night

Ronda Rousey Returns Tomorrow Night On Showtime Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey defends the title against former champion Sarah Kaufman, plus Jacare Souza battles Derek Brunson and Tarec Saffiedine faces off against Roger Bowling! Tomorrow night at 10pm ET/PT on Showtime See The Prelims Live On Showtime Extreme Before the main card starts, see the prelims on Showtime Extreme at 8pm ET/5pm PT The Ronda Rousey Diet The Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion dishes out her methods on staying in shape and how mixed martial arts helped her overcome her own insecurities

Strikeforce: Rousey vs Kaufman on Showtime - Sat. August 18 - San Diego, CA UFC 151: Jones vs Henderson on Pay-Per-View - Sat. Sept. 1 - Las Vegas, NV

RONDA ROUSEY & SARAH KAUFMAN: FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

STRIKEFORCE Women’s Bantamweight Title Fight Tops MMA Event
 This Saturday, Aug. 18, Live On SHOWTIME^® (10 p.m. ET/PT); 
Preliminary Fights Live on SHOWTIME EXTREME^® (8 p.m. ET/PT)

SAN DIEGO (Aug. 16, 2012) – One of the most highly anticipated matchups of the year will transpire this Saturday, Aug. 18, live on SHOWTIME^® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) when popular MMA superstar Ronda Rousey makes the first defense of her STRIKEFORCE Bantamweight Championship against hard-hitting former titleholder Sarah Kaufman at Valley View Casino Center.

In other fights on SHOWTIME: Jacare Souza vs. Derek Brunson (middleweights); Tarec Saffiedine vs. Roger Bowling (welterweights); Lumumba Sayers vs. Anthony Smith (middleweights); and Ovince Saint Preux vs. T.J. Cook (light heavyweights).

The live undercard fights on SHOWTIME EXTREME^® begin at 8 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). The fights: Miesha Tate vs. Julie Kedzie (bantamweights); Adlan Amagov vs.Keith Berry (middleweights); Hiroko Yamanaka vs. Germaine De Randamie (featherweights); and Bobby Green vs. Matt Ricehouse (lightweights).

What the main eventers said during the final press conference Thursday:

RONDA ROUSEY

“I've had fights that I arrived the day before having to cut weight, I've had a fight where I had a pit bull bite on my foot and stuff like that. It doesn't matter. I see Sarah as an opponent and I've trained harder for this fight than any other fight before. I respect her so much and I'm not taking any chances. If I get her arm I'm going to try and rip it off and throw it at her corner. If I get her to choke I'm going to hold onto it (for as long as I possibly can). If I get her to a knockout I'm not going to walk away. I'm going to try to pound her face into the ground. And that has nothing to do with whether I like her or respect her because she is a very nice chick. But every single time I come to fight I pretend as if it is my little sister's life depending on it and in that kind of situation nobody can ever beat me. I'm here to fight. I'm not here to do a little dance for you guys.’’

SARAH KAUFMAN

“I have done quite a bit of media and press myself and I do think that there have been certain aspects focused on Ronda and she has done a great job of handling it really well. I have no doubt that she has trained fully for this fight and I don't think that the press has really affected her at all. I try to do the same thing. I focused on my camp. I worked with my team. I train as hard for whatever fight I have coming up. I trained harder than any other fight because I train as if that is the most important fight that is happening. I feel really confident going into this fight and I'm confident that Ronda is going to bring it. At the end of the day someone is going to walk out with the belt and I want that person to be me. You don't want to come in and play patty cake. That's not what we are here for. We are here to show up and do everything we possibly can to win. It gets people excited and people want to see two athletes showing up and fighting and not just trying to outscore the other person. They want to see someone decisively win a fight.”

GUNDERSON, GROVE TAKE HOME WINS AND TITLES IN NIGHT OF UPSETS AND GREAT ACTION AT SHOFIGHT 20

Main card of event to be broadcasted on Pay-Per-View on July 1^st

Springfield, Missouri (USA): This past Saturday, the O’Reilly Family Event Center in Springfield, Missouri played host to ShoFIGHT 20, the first pro event in the company’s history. In the main event, John Gunderson made good on his welterweight debut, as he defeated fellow UFC vet Karo Parisyan via TKO to take home the ShoFIGHT 170-pound title. The co-main event showcased a back-and-forth scrap between TUF  season 3 winner Kendall Grove and rising Strikeforce star Derek Brunson. In the end, Grove had his hand controversially raised via split-decision. The win garnered Grove the ShoFIGHT middleweight belt.

ShoFIGHT will air on Pay-Per-View on July 1^st.

“It was an electrifying night of action for our local fight fans, and our fans up in Canada,” said ShoFIGHT Promoter JT Tilley. “From Gunderson to Grove to Beerbohm…there were some very memorable performances Saturday night. I can’t wait for the rest of the U.S. fans to get to see ShoFIGHT 20 on Pay-Per-View!”

After being taken down early in the fight, Gunderson (33-13-2) landed a brutal knee to Parisyan’s (20-9) eye, which was the beginning of the end of the fight. “Guns” quickly grabbed a guillotine, and Parisyan tapped at 2:47 of the first round. “The Heat” grabbed his face immediately in obvious pain. It was the first time he’d ever tapped out in an MMA cage.

“I was happy to get a big win and bring back another belt to my gym at Xtreme Couture,” stated Gunderson. “I plan on going back to my natural weight class at 155 pounds, but I look forward to defending my ShoFIGHT belt, regardless.”

After enduring an opponent change on only four days’ notice, Grove (15-10-0-1) went from facing a 5’8” pro boxer in Terry Martin to a 6’1” former amateur wrestling champion in Derek Brunson (9-1). The lanky Hawaiian handled the adversity, grabbing a highly-scrutinized split-decision victory over his less-experienced opponent. He worked effectively from his back, and Brunson was unable to take advantage of his takedowns. As a result, Grove came out with the win and the belt.

“I’m happy I got the win, though I wish I would have finished him,” explained Grove. “I was training for Martin for my whole camp, and then a week before my fight my opponent changed to Brunson, who is a totally different fighter. Our fight was at 190 pounds, and I was already on-point at 185 pounds. So, mentally, that messed me up a little. But I’m a fighter. I was ready to fight, so at that point, pulling out wasn’t an option. I came into this sport to fight and that’s what I did. We always wish we could have done better, but I feel like I put on a good fight. Don’t get me wrong…Brunson’s a great wrestler. But he got takedowns and did nothing with them. I did more on my back than he did on top.

“As far as what’s next, as I’ve said, I am a fighter, so I’m ready to fight. I have no injuries from Saturday’s fight, so whoever calls next, I’m game. Until then, I will continue my training in preparation of defending my belt,” he concluded.

Other notable winners on the card include Strikeforce Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm, who bloodied PRIDE vet Marcus Aurelio en route to a dominant decision victory, Jonatas Novaes, a quick TKO winner in his bout with UFC vet Drew Fickett, Chris Gruetzemacher, who now has won ten straight fights, as well as Bellator vet Dustin Phillips and former UFC fighter Matt Lucas.

Here are the full results of ShoFIGHT 20:

Main Event - ShoFIGHT Welterweight Championship

John ‘Guns’ Gunderson defeated Karo ‘the Heat’ Parysian via submission (guillotine choke) at 2:47 of the 1^stround

Co-Main Event - ShoFIGHT Middleweight Championship

Kendall ‘Da Spyder’ Grove defeated Derek Brunson via split-decision

Lyle ‘Fancy Pants’ Beerbohm defeated Marcus ‘Maximus’ Aurelio via unanimous decision

Mike Wessell defeated Matt Kovaks via TKO (punches) at 4:50 of the 2^nd round 

Jonatas Noveas defeated Drew Fickett via TKO (punches) at 0:51 of the 1^st round

Chris ‘Gritz’ Gruetzmacher defeated Roli Delgado via TKO (elbows) at 3:24 of the 3^rd round 

‘Smilin’ Sam Alvey defeated Lucas Lopes via TKO (punches) at 1:39 of the 1^st round

Chris ‘Crazyman’ McDaniel defeated Charles ‘Kid Kaos’ Bennett via submission (triangle choke) at 2:52 of the 1^st round

Sevak Magakian defeated James ‘JP’ Reese via unanimous decision

Dustin Phillips defeated Allen Gibson via unanimous decision

Mike Brazzle defeated Karen Darabedyan via TKO (punches) at 4:15 of the 1^st round

Matt ‘Luke Duke’ Lucas defeated Lucas ‘the Hillbilly Lightstorm’ Overcast via unanimous decision

Jacob ‘Straight Jacket’ Ritchie defeated Robert Saborudden via TKO (punches) at 3:28 of the 3^rd round

Jason Ignacek defeated Gary Michaels via unanimous decision

ShoFIGHT’s next event is a “ShoFIGHT Contender Series Event” on July 28^th in Branson, Missouri, which will be followed by their next pro PPV event, ShoFIGHT 22, on Sept 8^th. Stay tuned to ShoFIGHT.com for more details!

For more information on ShoFIGHT, please visit http://shofight.com/. ShoFIGHT can also be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/ShoFight-MMA/113079148732416, and on Twitter @ShoFIGHT.