Winning a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics (wrestling) and smashing Sheila Gaff in her Octagon debut was not enough to convince Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that undefeated female bantamweight Sara McMann (7-0) was the right gal for the job.
At least, not when it came to replacing the injured Cat Zigano on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 18.
Instead, that honor goes to former Strikeforce 135-pound champion Miesha Tate, despite her previous loss to "Alpha" -- as well as opposing coach Ronda Rousey -- because people don't want the best possible match-up, they want compelling television.
Or so I'm told.
The good news is, McMann gets the next best thing. Stepping up to fight her at UFC on FOX Sports 1 (2) is Sarah Kaufman, herself a former division champion, who got back into the win column by outpointing Leslie Smith at the Invicta FC 5 event last April.
The scrappy Canadian's only two losses have come by way of submission to Marloes Coenen and the aforementioned Rousey. A win over McMann at the Aug. 28, 2013 event from the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, could get her right back into the mix.
Predictions?
UFC on FOX Sports 1 (part deux) will feature a welterweight rematch between top division contenders Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann. The pair first met at UFC Fight Night 18 back in 2009, a headlining bout that served as "The Natural Born Killer's" Octagon debut.
"The Hitman" was victorious by way of split decision.
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