Friday, May 15, 2009
Live on SHOWTIME® at 11 p.m. ET/PT 
From Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif

Sarah Kaufman                                               Miesha Tate

NEW YORK (May 4, 2009) - Undefeated power puncher Sarah Kaufman (8-0) will fill the void left by Kim "Sugar Free" Couture and throw down with fellow rising star Miesha Tate (6-1) in a 135-pound contest during the SHOWTIME® televised portion of the inaugural Strikeforce Challengers mixed martial arts (MMA) event at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., on Friday, May 15.

Couture's withdrawal last week created an ideal opportunity for the 23-year-old Kaufman, who is in fighting form after stopping Sara Schneider in the second round of their matchup on April 23. Kaufman has never been taken the distance in a professional fight. 

"I'm very excited about this fight because I've been hearing about Miesha Tate for quite a while," said Kaufman, a former dancer who hails from British Columbia, Canada. "I know she has good wrestling and she's been pretty active. She's probably going to want to take the fight to the ground and I'll want to stay standing so it should be an interesting matchup.""

Punching and kicking opponents is a far cry from Kaufman's former passion. She's been dancing since the ripe age of two. At eight years old, the five-foot, five-inch Kaufman joined a dance company and soon after began performing in musicals, dancing to everything from ballet to jazz to hip-hop.

It was a few years ago that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Adam Zugec opened an MMA school directly underneath the dance studio where Kaufman practiced daily. After trying a single aerobic kickboxing class, she quickly gravitated towards martial arts. 

"I'm very competitive by nature so I just pushed myself and eventually started competing in grappling tournaments," explained Kaufman. 

"One day, an opportunity to fight came up so it just seemed like the next logical step for me at that point. There wasn't anywhere else I could go with dance unless I wanted to turn professional so I put the dancing aside."

Since her professional MMA debut three years ago, Kaufman has added a breath of athleticism as well as credibility to the women's field of competitors in the sport with the speed and force of her hands. 

"I have the ability to put a lot of punches together because my conditioning is always really strong. I let my hands go and, at the same time, I don't mind taking a shot to give a shot so I think that's why I've performed the way I have so far."

Whereas Tate was regarded a heavy favorite in the matchup with Couture, she will enter the cage as an underdog against her new, unbeaten opponent.

"I like being the underdog because I have everything to gain and nothing to lose," said the 22-year-old Tate, who has been on a tear of late, stopping each of her last three opponents in the first round. 

"I think (Kaufman)'s in for a surprise because she's probably figuring that she's beaten opponents that fight similar to me. But, she hasn't fought me yet."

A native of Olympia, Wash., Tate was introduced to wrestling during her teen years when a girlfriend convinced her to join their all-boys high school wrestling team. Tate's passion for the sport developed as she learned. Eventually, wrestling led Tate to join the MMA club at Central Washington University. 

Last year, Tate enlisted with Victory Athletics, the elite fight squad headed by MMA star and two-time Matt Hughes conqueror Dennis "Superman" Hallman.

"He's got so much to offer technically," she said about her mentor. "He comes from a wrestling background so his fighting style is very similar to the one I want to develop." 

Tickets for the first Strikeforce Challengers event are on sale at the Save Mart Center box office and select Save Mart Supermarkets as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and Strikeforce's official website (www.strikeforce.com).

Undefeated lightweight (155 lb. limit) sensation Billy Evangelista (9-0) will face off with hard-hitting brawler and BJ Penn protege "Iron" Mike Aina (11-6-1) in the main event live on SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) from the Save Mart Center. 

Also on the SHOWTIME telecast, Aaron Rosa (11-2) will meet Anthony "A Train" Ruiz (21-12) in a light heavyweight (205-pound limit) fight while Lavar "Big" Johnson (11-3) will square off with Carl Seumanutafa (4-2).

Strikeforce Challengers is a proving ground for up-and-coming MMA fighters. The series was designed to provide today's top prospects with the opportunity to step-up their level of competition and demonstrate their ability in a nationally televised event.

About Strikeforce:
Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its "Shamrock vs. Gracie" event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose's HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with "Shamrock vs. Gracie." In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of Strikeforce, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.