Rousey: I’m going to rip off her arm and throw it at her corner

Strikeforce held a pre-event press conference yesterday in anticipation of tomorrow night’s Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman at The Players Lounge in Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California.

The media presser included Rousey and Kaufman, and additional main-card fighters Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Derek Brunson, Roger Bowling, Tarec Saffiedine. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was the host of the event.

Rousey remained true to form, saying what she had planned for Kaufman: “She might not know it, but she should thank her lucky stars that MMA is properly regulated in California. Because I respect her so much that I’m not taking any chances. If I get her in an armbar, I’m going to rip it off and throw it at her corner. If I get her in a choke, I’m going to hold on until she’s actually dead. And if I get her in a knock out all the way, I’m going to pound her face into the ground, and she’s depending on the competence of the California Athletic Commission in order to be able to walk out of that cage alive. It has nothing to do with whether I like her or respect her, she seems like a nice chick, but every single time I go in to fight I fight like my little sister’s life is depending on it. And in that kind of situation, no one can beat me.”

Kaufman to her credit smiled and nodded while the champ talked in advance of the biggest women’s MMA fight since Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos defeated Gina Carano in front of a near-sellout crowd in San Jose four years ago this weekend: “There has been a certain amount of focus on Ronda. I think she’s dealt with it well. I have no doubt she’s trained fully for this fight, the pressure hasn’t affected her at all. And I really feel the same thing. I focus on my camp, I focus on my team, whatever fight I have coming up, I train harder than I would for any other fight. I feel really confident coming into this fight, Ronda’s gonna bring it. She’s going to show up to fight, she’s gonna try to kill me, but that’s alright. At the end of the day, someone’s going to walk off with the belt and it’s going to be me.”