Jonathan Snowden: Your slam was one of the most impressive in recent memory. Gerald Harris told us his slam heard round the world was something he practiced. Do you?

Sarah Kaufman: Definitely not. It’s not. I train with a lot of people who are a little bit heavier than me. I do a lot of explosive work in the gym, but it’s not something where I say ‘Hey, I’m going to work on slamming someone and knocking them out today.’ It really just happened. When I saw Gerald Harris’s slam during his fight I remember thinking that would be awesome to get one. Knowing it would never happen. And it happened.

JS: It was incredible. And I should have asked Gerald this when we had him: how do you get training partners to come back if you train to do something like that?

SK: Definitely not something most people would sign up for or volunteer for. But you can practice that kind of motion with medicine ball slams just for that kind of finish at the end. And just getting used to standing up with people’s weight. You don’t have to drop them on their head, you can let go before slamming them. Do you use a crash mat? I don’t know. I don’t think I’d have that many people volunteering.

JS:  There has been an increasing concern, both in the medical and MMA communities, about the long term implications of concussive head traumas. Do you have any concerns about this?

SK: I think, for one, if you train smart and you fight smart you don’t necessarily have to be getting a lot of head trauma. I’ve been lucky and fortunate enough that I’ve never had a concussion. And I think a lot of concussions happen when people are snowboarding and don’t know how, or playing hockey as a kid and get smashed into the boards. If you’re ready for certain things to come at you, if you’re prepared, I think you can avoid a lot of that.

JS: Do you worry at all about your opponents like Roxy – worry that the slam might have long term effects on Roxanne’s mental health?

SK: Your goal is definitely not to maim and forever injure someone. You want to win the fight and you want to do everything you can to finish the fight. After the fight when I talked to Roxanne, I could tell she was definitely out of it for a little while. She was having trouble standing. I saw her the next day and she still seemed a little bit out of it. I followed up with her and my coach Adam Zugec followed up with her. I think it’s really important to know you haven’t actually injured someone severely. That it’s just a momentary thing.

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