Sarah Kaufman shines in lightweight debut with submission at PFL 2019, Week 1

Sarah Kaufman's lightweight debut went about as smoothly as possible when she dominated in her first fight of the PFL season.

Sarah Kaufman’s lightweight debut went about as smoothly as possible Thursday when she dominated her first fight of the PFL season.

Kaufman (21-4) earned six points in the women’s lightweight standings when she submitted Morgan Frier (4-1) with an arm-triangle choke in the opening round at PFL 2019, Week 1.

The former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champ moved up to 155 pounds for the first time and was able to use her experience to take down the larger Frier before advancing into position to finish the fight.

Check out the highlight below (via Twitter):

Kaufman has struggled to find fights since she parted ways with the UFC in December 2015. She captured the Invicta FC bantamweight title in the meantime, but said joining PFL was a “crazy opportunity” she wanted to take advantage of.

The Canadian will return to action for her second regular-season fight on July 11, and she said she’s happy to have left her first performance with the maximum points possible.

“(My fight) could’ve been better, but I’m pretty happy,” Kaufman said in her post-fight interview. “Six points and now I’m in the lead, and that’s definitely something I was hoping to get. Hoping to get the finish. I’ve been working head-and-arms for a while and this was the fight where I got it.”

For complete coverage of PFL 2019, Week 1, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

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