Rousey’s armbar remains unmatched; another victory in less than a minute

SAN DIEGO - There probably will come a time when an opponent will be able to avoid the vicious armbar of Ronda Rousey.

Sarah Kaufman was not that opponent, and Saturday night was not that time.

Rousey retained the Strikeforce women's bantamweight title by securing her favored finishing move and forcing the former champion to submit 54 seconds into the main event at Valley View Casino Center.

Rousey has won all six of her pro fights and all three of her amateur ones by first-round armbar submission, eight of which happened in less than a minute.

"I'm starting to get a lot more comfortable standing, but I'm still way more experienced on the ground. I don't see a need to go away from my comfort zone if I don't have to," Rousey said. "I try to be maximally efficient with minimal effort, and I feel like I did that."

Rousey threw several quick jabs to close space on Kaufman right after the opening bell, then grabbed on as soon as she got close to her near the cage. Seconds later, Kaufman was tripped to her back. Rousey quickly mounted and set up the armbar. After trying several times to roll out of trouble, Kaufman was no longer able to fight off the inevitable and was forced to tap out.

"I'm embarrassed by my performance. I don't really know what else to say," said Kaufman, who had drilled on defending the maneuver and said she was ready for it leading up to the fight.

Rousey immediately called out Cris "Cyborg" Santos, whose steroid suspension expires in December. The bout easily could be the biggest women's fight of all time, though Santos, who was stripped of the 145-pound title after the failed test, may have difficulty getting down to 135 pounds.

Former middleweight champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza staked his claim for another title shot with a devastating 41-second knockout of Derek Brunson. Souza dropped an approaching Brunson with a right hook, then twice sent him back to the mat with punches as he tried to get up. Fellow middleweight Anthony Smith submitted Lumumba Sayers with a first-round triangle choke.

Light heavyweight Ovince St. Preux, the brother of former UNLV wide receiver Renan St. Preux, put T.J. Cook to sleep with a left hook 20 seconds into the third round.

Welterweight Tarec Saffiedine outpointed Roger Bowling.

Miesha Tate, the only challenger to last more than a minute with Rousey when she lost the belt to her in March, emerged from a slugfest with a third-round submission over Julie Kedzie in the best fight on the preliminary card.

Adlan Amagov knocked out Keith Berry in 48 seconds in a middleweight bout, and Germaine de Randamie and Bobby Green won decisions.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.