‘Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy’ event review
‘Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy’ is in the bag and the Zuffa-owned promotion may be losing fan interest but it certainly doesn’t seem to be losing steam as an entertaining night of fights in Portland, Oregon was capped off with two solid title fights. What lies in store for the winners and losers? Find out after the jump…
Rockhold impresses, retains middleweight title with five-round humbling of Kennedy
Strikeforce middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold, defended his title for the second time in the main event as he brushed off the challenge of U.S army veteran, Tim Kennedy, in surprisingly easy fashion. On paper, it seemed a close contest but in reality, Rockhold made the challenger look several leagues of his depth in Portland.
All five rounds followed the same pattern – the towering champion, who looked a weight-class above his opponent, kept Kennedy at safe distance with slick, powerful strikes and kept the challenger on the back-foot. Rockhold punished him in the clinch, defended numerous takedowns with ease and even enjoyed spells of dominance on the ground – the one area some felt Kennedy would have his number.
Kennedy looked timid, and with his options limited was little more than a passenger for much of the fight, resorting to submission attempts during scrambles that were all snuffed out by a fresh-looking Rockhold. The judges all handed the clear-cut 49-46 decision to Rockhold, moving the American Kickboxing Academy man to 10-1.
Next for Rockhold: The smooth Californian shrugs off another challenge and with limited options, we should see Rockhold rematch the man from whom he took the title, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, before the end of the year. Should the matchmakers fancy something different, unbeaten striking prodigy Lorenz Larkin or BJJ sensation, Roger Gracie, could be getting the call.
Next for Kennedy: Hopefully, no more big talk about being able to beat up Michael Bisping et al at the top of the UFC middleweight division. Kennedy was expected to offer a real challenge last night but looked lost and disinterested at times meaning he’s going to need a good two to three impressive victories to get back into title contention. The military man could face an experienced journeyman such as Bristol Marunde as he tries to get his second career back on track.
Marquardt turns in show-stopping performance to take vacant welterweight title
Formerly a perennial contender in the UFC middleweight division, Nate ‘The Great’ Marquardt’s welterweight debut could not have gone any better as the experienced all-rounder force-fed Tyron Woodley his first ever defeat.
The two met for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title and the bigger Marquardt looked impressive from the off, recovering after taking an early knee-trembler from ‘T-Wood’ to come on strong and win the first round. The two exchanged the next few rounds, with Marquardt having to hang tough after being dropped in the third, but in general, edging it on the scorecards through aggression and effectively controlling the former Mizzou wrestler.
But in round four, Marquardt really turned up the heat and Woodley wilted in the furnace. ‘T-Wood’ took several right crosses and a series of kicks that put him up against the cage and Marquardt unloaded with short elbows, a left hook and an uppercut that ruined the wrestler. Woodley crumbled and Marquardt celebrated the stoppage at 1:39 of the fourth round with a back-flip, becoming the new Strikeforce welterweight champion.
Next for Marquardt: ‘The Great’ lived up to his nickname but, predictably, has already begun proclaiming himself the best welterweight on the planet just hours after winning his first ever fight at 170lbs. For this writer, Marquardt has always been difficult to like, but his abilities can’t be doubted and he schooled a previously dominant and unbeaten prospect last night, so kudos to him. Expect his first title defence to come against in-form grappler, Jason High, though don’t expect too much of a contest.
Next for Woodley: ‘T-Wood’ loses for the first time and put up a decent enough challenge but was ultimately beaten by a more versatile and powerful welterweight. Woodley will be back once his bizarre upper-lip wound has healed, probably to face another man who lost last night, Nate Moore.
Gracie makes successful middleweight debut, outclasses Jardine
Former light-heavyweight prospect, Roger Gracie, made an impressive middleweight debut in Portland, manhandling and bloodying Jackson’s MMA veteran, Keith Jardine. The BJJ world-beater quickly tripped the unorthodox Jardine to the mat and after a few choke attempts, trapped him in mount against the cage to end round one, sending ‘The Dean of Mean’ to his corner badly cut.
Another dominant round followed, as Gracie again grounded and took the back of Jardine, landing short elbows to the bloodsoaked face of the veteran to take another round handily. Jardine’s unquestionable heart almost paid off as he stalked down the visibly tired Gracie in round three but it wasn’t enough and the Brazilian took the unanimous decision.
Next for Gracie: Now 5-1, the 6ft 4in submission wizard could be an intriguing addition to the middleweight division if he can just improve on his striking. This victory will do wonders for Gracie’s confidence and if he isn’t fast-tracked to a title shot, he could face fellow BJJ guru, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, in a fight that would have grappling fanboys fending off erections.
Next for Jardine: Enough is enough. Jardine’s a true warrior – fearless, never quits and is seemingly one of the nicer guys in the sport today. But there’s only so many beatings a man’s chin and pride can take, and it cannot be easy for Jardine to motivate himself when his body, record and spirit continue to take such whippings. Time to hang ‘em up, Keith, but you were one tough cookie.
‘The Monsoon’ remains unbeaten, out-points Lawler for impressive middleweight debut
Another former 205lb’er making the headlines is Californian kung fu prodigy, Lorenz Larkin, who climbed to 13-0 last night with a sound handling of experienced head-hunter, Robbie Lawler. Despite being clobbered early in round one, Larkin immediately recovered and began picking apart the brawler with a versatile, hard-hitting onslaught of strikes.
Lawler was not helpless, landing some hard shots of his own, but he slowed down in the face of a much more technically sound striker with superior speed. Larkin chopped at his legs with kicks, and ended the final round with a defiant series of vicious standing elbow strikes, convincing all three judges to score it 30-27 for ‘The Monsoon’.
Next for Larkin: The likeable and exciting Californian is another great addition to a division that badly needed new blood. Larkin’s style will ensure he gets a big-name fight next but there aren’t too many options on the table. Perhaps a fight with last night’s losing title contender, Tim Kennedy, will be next for ‘The Monsoon’.
Next for Lawler: ‘Ruthless’ falls back into the losing column but should get another fight in Strikeforce. His aggressive style will always sit well with the matchmakers but he really needs to think about changing up his training camp as a specialist in any department will almost always have his number.
That’s ‘Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy’ in the bag, the mixed martial arts action keeps on coming next weekend with ‘UFC 149: Faber vs. Barao’ so be sure to keep tabs on MMABay as we break down all of the action set for the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
By Steve Davies
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Photo by Esther Lin – STRIKEFORCE
