Strikeforce By The Numbers

By now, it should be fairly obvious to everyone that Ronda Rousey is a force of nature. The Olympic judo bronze medalist needed just 54 seconds to earn her sixth professional victory via armbar in the Strikeforce “Rousey vs. Kaufman” main event at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Saturday night. The latest victim, former promotional bantamweight champion Sarah Kaufman, desperately tried to defend against her opponent’s patented maneuver, but resistance proved to be futile.

Rousey wasn’t the only woman to shine on this night, however. Miesha Tate and Julie Kedzie battled back-and-forth in a featured preliminary bout worthy of “Fight of the Year” consideration. Despite absorbing heavy punishment on the feet, Tate was able to take a page from her rival Rousey’s book and tap Kedzie with an armbar in the third frame. As women’s MMA continues to grow, it is only natural to want to take a more in-depth look at some of the sport’s female burgeoning stars. Here is a by-the-numbers look at Strikeforce “Rousey vs. Kaufman,” with statistics courtesy of FightMetric.com.

459: Seconds of fight time in six pro MMA bouts for Rousey. The Olympic judoka’s longest bout came when she submitted Tate at the 4:27 mark of the opening round in their March title tilt. Her quickest finish is 25 seconds (twice), against both Ediane Gomes and Sarah D’Alelio.

9: Armbar victories for Rousey in nine bouts – six professional and three amateur. “Rowdy” added former bantamweight titlist Kaufman to her list of victims in 54 seconds on Saturday.

134: Difference in significant strikes landed by Kaufman in her victory over Alexis Davis (135) in March and her loss to Rousey (1). The Canadian had landed at least 80 significant strikes in six of her last seven bouts prior to facing Rousey.

3: Average significant strikes landed by Rousey in her four Strikeforce bouts. The Californian landed three significant strikes against Kaufman. By comparison, she landed a career-best eight in her showdown with Tate.

.800: Submission success rate for Rousey during her Strikeforce tenure. Only once in four fights – against Tate – has her initial armbar attempt failed to elicit a tapout from her opponent.

File Photo

Jacare Souza has improved hands.

1: Knockout victory in 16 career triumphs for Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, who stopped Derek Brunson in just 41 seconds in the evening’s co-main event. Twelve of the former middleweight champion’s wins have come by way of submission, including three under the Strikeforce banner.

5-1: Tarec Saffiedine’s record in Strikeforce bouts that go the distance following his three-round verdict over Roger Bowling. The Belgian’s only defeat during that time came against Tyron Woodley at Strikeforce Challengers 13 in 2011.

.941: Percentage of Anthony Smith’s victories that have ended by knockout, technical knockout or submission. The 24-year-old submitted Lumumba Sayers with a triangle choke at the 3:52 mark of their middleweight bout on Saturday night.

1: Punch landed by Ovince St. Preux in the third round against T.J. Cook. That left hook was all the former University of Tennessee linebacker would need, as it knocked his opponent out cold 20 seconds into the final stanza of their light heavyweight clash.

85: Total strikes landed by Kedzie. “Fireball” outlanded Tate by 59 total strikes and scored three knockdowns. In the decisive final stanza, Kedzie held an 18-to-0 advantage in total strikes landed before succumbing to the Tate armbar at the 3:28 mark.

5: Submission attempts by Tate on Saturday, besting her previous total of four during a victory over Zoila Gurgel in 2010. While the Washington native struggled to take Kedzie down throughout the bantamweight bout, landing just two of her 10 attempts, she managed to keep her opponent on the defensive with an active submission game before securing the fight-ending armbar.

7: Submissions losses in 11 defeats for Kedzie, who fell victim to the armbar for the third time on Saturday night. Along with Tate, Shayna Baszler and Jen Case have forced the Jackson’s MMA representative to submit to the armbar.

2,016: Days since Kedzie lost a hard-fought decision to Gina Carano at EliteXC “Destiny” on Feb. 10, 2007. It was the first female bout to be broadcast on cable television.

14:44: Difference in cage time between Hiroko Yamanaka’s Strikeforce debut – a 16-second loss to Cristiane Santos – and her second outing, a unanimous decision defeat to Germaine de Randamie. “Cat’s Eye” was previously 8-0 in bouts that had gone the distance in her professional MMA career.

29: Significant strikes by which Bobby Green outlanded Matt Ricehouse in their lightweight bout. “King” landed 56 percent of his strikes en route to earning a unanimous decision victory.

4: Bouts on Saturday’s card in which the loser landed one significant strike or less. Keith Berry, Lumumba Sayers, Derek Brunson and Sarah Kaufman combined to land two significant strikes en route to suffering first-round defeats.