Sarah Kaufman shines, in cage and ratings, for STRIKEFORCE Challengers 9.

Sarah Kaufman's relationship with Strikeforce has been rocky. Earlier this year, she talked about being a free agent despite being the SF 135 lb champion. She expressed a desire to get back with Strikeforce, only to later find out that they exercised the championship clause without telling her and extended her previous contract.

Leading up to this card, she talked about being frustrated at not just being relegated to a challengers card, but not even headlining.

Then, on Saturday night, she let her skills do the talking. She stopped Roxanne Modafferi, via a wicked power bomb, in the second round. After the fight, she again talked about wanting to be on a bigger card.

Some have pointed out that very few women fighters draw and that SF is being right by simply having women's fighting. There is a saying, if you are going to do something, you should do it right.

The ratings seem to back Sarah up: While the show averaged 197,000 viewers, it peaked for Sarah's fight with 254,000 viewers.

The idea behind the Challengers cards is to showcase up and coming talent. Sarah is a champion and should be put front and center. If the average fan thinks that SF does not care about the ladies 135 champ and division, it is unlikely that he will either. I am not saying she should be headlining the main cards, but why not have the women's title fights in the middle of the regular cards. If not, why have them at all?

Finally, the Challengers cards feel almost like throwaway cards. If the idea is to use them to build up guys, they should be promoting them a hell of a lot more. less than 200k watched this card and that is a bad number no matter how you spin it. And it is not just the Challengers cards that lack the PR build, we have seen it in the past for some of the regular Showtime cards. Strikeforce is not big enough that they can let cards fly in under the radar, they need to work hard to build EVERY card. They need to not simply establish a solid fanbase, but build it up. That is something they have failed to do.

The SF cards usually have some fun fights, ones that could help convince casual fans that Strikeforce is the real deal and is must-see MMA. If not for Sarah Kaufman, I don't know that anyone would have been talking about this card at all.

If Werdum and Fedor dance again, who does Overeem face? I have a suggestion.

Last Saturday’s main event, while exciting and note worthy, has left Strikeforce with a dilemma. The obvious next step appears to be a rematch between Fedor Emilienenko and Frabrico Werdum. Personally, I don’t know that I agree with that since A) A win by Fedor leaves Werdum in a position not much better than he was in prior to beating Fedor. B) Fedor has but one more bout on his Strikeforce deal. If he wins, he could walk away and SF would be left with a weakened heavyweight division.

But Fedor and co want a rematch and Werdum wants a rematch. Since M1 has shown an unwillingness to do anything that does not appeal to them, it seems all be assured that a rematch will take place.

Now the problem with this is that it leaves the heavyweight champ, Alistar Overeem, on the sidelines twiddling his thumbs. As most know, Overeem wont the HW title two years ago and only recently defended it (when he mugged Brett Rogers). To have him sit on his ass for another six to eight months is asinine and would further reduce the credibility of the title, something SF can ill afford.

Looking at the SF HW division, while there are some solid fighters, none really are in position to challenge for the title. Big Foot Silva is one fight past his loss to Werdum and Rogers just lost to Overeem. Sergie Kaeriejre may earn a shot down the line, but he has not yet fought in SF and not only does he not deserve the fight, but he is an unknown to U.S. fans (Ok, an unknown to those that are not MMA geeks).

Fearing for the well being of Strikeforce, I pondered this and have thought of one solution. It has it’s downsides, but would give the division some depth and provide an instant challenge for the title.

Sign Mirko Cro-cop. Mirko just became a free agent, having recently completed his contract with the UFC. He is on a two fight win streak, including one on one of the biggest PPVs in MMA history. He also has some history with Overeem. The two fought in Japan for the Dream organization in a bout that was ruled a no contest after Alistar smooshed Mirko’s family jewels. Both chattered a bit about and certainly could deliver some entertaining pre-fight banter. Would Mirko win? Probably not, \but he still has the tools and name value to make him a worthy addition.

There are a couple of downsides. The first is that it will almost certainly push Dana over the edge and make Strikeforce his mortal enemy. And while that will provide hours of entertainment for MMA fans and media, it also means more road bumps for SF down the line. Dana is not without power and we all know he is more than willing to use (abuse?) it.

The second negative is that Mirko will come with a fairly high price tag. He has also expressed some doubts about his future in MMA and writing big checks to a less than motivated fighter is a dicey proposition. I think that fights with Overeem, Werdum and/or Fedor could be appealing to Mirko.
But Mirko/Overeem is a solid bout and one that would allow the Werdum/Fedor rematch to take place with keeping the title active.