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Sarah Kaufman, right, fights Marloes Coenen in a women’s welterweight (135 pounds) title fight last year. Kaufman lost her belt via third round submission and now faces Liz Carmouche in the co-main event of Strikeforce Challengers 17 in Las Vegas.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 | 4:30 p.m.
Fightcasters
UFC 131 Wrap-Up
Las Vegas Sun sports reporters Case Keefer and Ryan Greene talk about UFC 131 on their weekly radio show, which airs weekly on Mondays at 5:30 on 91.5 KUNV. Junior dos Santos, Kenny Florian and five-round main event fights are topics of conversation before they switch to a little NBA Finals talk to round off the episode.
Two of the better-known women in mixed martial arts will face each other when the Strikeforce Challengers series begins its residency at the Palms on July 22.
Strikeforce officials announced Tuesday that Sarah Kaufman (13-1) and Liz Carmouche (5-1), the last two victims of welterweight champion Marloes Coenen, would meet in the co-main event of Strikeforce Challengers 17 in Las Vegas.
Kaufman vs. Carmouche will serve in direct support of the headlining welterweight rubber match between Roger Bowling (9-1) and Bobby Voelker (23-8).
“This event on July 22 is loaded with potentially explosive fights and we’re excited to kick off our relationship with the Palms with such a great card,” Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said in a statement.
Coker announced two other fights that are slated for the main card, which will air on Showtime.
Heavyweight veterans Lavar Johnson (15-4) and Devin Cole (18-9-1) each will try to get back on track after losing to notable opponents their last time out. Shane del Rosario took out Johnson on a Strikeforce card earlier this year, while Cole has dropped two straight unanimous decisions to rising star Daniel Cormier and current UFC fighter Aaron Rosa.
Also, a middleweight bout between Adlan Amagov (7-1-1) and Ron Stallings (9-3) is scheduled. Strikeforce plans to book one more fight for the televised portion of the event and also fill out a preliminary card.
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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