Baszler vs. Kaufman fight to have five-minute rounds

It looks like the Baszler/Kaufman fight may be the one to set precedence for all future Strikeforce women’s MMA matches in the states that will allow it:

Indicating a possible upcoming change in policy for Strikeforce, the organization has slated a June 19 bout between female fighters Shayna Baszler (9-5) and Sarah Kaufman (9-0) for five-minute rounds rather than the usual three minutes.

Strikeforce executive Mike Afromowitz confirmed the change to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) just days after the organization announced a first-ever women’s title fight between Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos would also use five-minute rounds.

Strikeforce, which launched its MMA division in 2006, has traditionally limited women’s fights to three, three-minute rounds.

After getting the California State Athletic Commission to approve the five-minute rounds for the Aug. 15 Carano vs. “Cyborg” 145-pound title fight in San Jose, Afromowitz said the Washington State Athletic Commission also gave its approval for the Baszler vs. Kaufman bout. The fight takes place at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., and airs as part of the Showtime-televised main card.

“Right now we’re taking the fights on a case-by-case basis because of the athletic commissions,” Afromowitz said. “We were able to get the Carano vs. ‘Cyborg’ fight approved for five-minute rounds, and now Washington has agreed as well.”

Source: MMAJunkie