Strikeforce Live Blog: Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine Updates

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This is the Strikeforce live blog for Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine, the main event of tonight's Strikeforce on Showtime event from the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Rockhold (8-1) is putting his Strikeforce middleweight belt on the line for the first time after beating Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza last September by way of unanimous decision. Jardine (17-9-2) made his Strikeforce debut last April, battling Gegard Mousasi to a majority draw. Jardine will be making his middleweight debut.

The live blog is below.



Round 1: Jardine is very active, alternating between inside and outside leg kicks. Rockhold comes over the top with an overhand right. Jardine clinches with Rockhold and looks for a single-leg takedown. Rockhold turns Jardine around and scores with knees. Rockhold breaks out of clinch with an elbow. Rockhold lands a nice spinning back kick to the body. Rockhold lands a right hook. Rockhold hits the mark with a left hand. Rockhold connects with a kick to the body. Jardine's most effective strikes have been leg kicks. Rockhold drops Jardine to his knees with a right hand but Jardine quickly recovers. Rockhold hurts Jardine with a right that backs Jardine. Rockhold throws a flurry of punches and Jardine is trying to recover. Rockhold drops Jardine with right hook. More punches and finally referee Herb Dean stops the fight when Jardine goes limp.

The finish was quite the beating. Rockhold retains his Strikeforce middleweight strap.

Luke Rockhold wins via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 4:26

In his post-fight interview, Rockhold brushed aside a question about contender Tim Kennedy to instead call for UFC fighters to come over to Strikeforce because he wants to fight the best. Time and time again, you really get a sense that the top Strikeforce guys would rather be in the UFC.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2012/01/07/strikeforce-live-blog-luke-rockhold-vs-keith-jardine-updates/

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade 

Robbie Lawler stops losing skid with exciting Strikeforce TKO

Robbie Lawler's didn't win in 2011, but started 2012 with a thrilling victory over Adlan Amagov. At Strikeforce in Las Vegas on Saturday night, Lawler won with a quick TKO.

Amagov started well with a takedown, controlling Lawler from the start. Unfortunately, he threw a knee to Lawler's head when Lawler was on the ground, and Amagov lost a point for the first round. When the fight re-started, Lawler threw a nasty flying knee. He landed the knee but still flew over Amagov's head. Lawler spun around to follow up with more strikes until the bout was stopped at 1:48 in the first round.

While Lawler only threw eight punches in the fight, it was all he needed to stop his losing streak. In 2011, Lawler lost to Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza. His record is now 19-8, while Amagov falls to 9-2-1.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/robbie-lawler-stops-losing-skid-exciting-strikeforce-tko-045048530.html

John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves 

New life at middleweight: Keith Jardine is sure he deserves a title shot

When Keith Jardine was announced as the next opponent for Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold, it was greeted with a groan by many.

Jardine is only 3-6-1 since 2008 and has never fought at middleweight. How does that warrant a title shot?

"You know what? To me, it's all about my body of work," Jardine told The MMA Fighter Corner on FoxSportsRadio920 in Las Vegas. "I fought so many world champs. I've beat some world champions. I'm going to be a terror at middleweight. Screw all those guys [on the Internet]. We'll see in a couple of days who belongs in the ring."

Knowing there be negative reaction to him getting a title shot, Jardine stayed away from the critics. What he concentrated on was a new diet. Working nutritional guru Mike Dolce, Jardine said he's eliminated all supplements and he's feeling fresher than ever at the age of 36.  That's a big deal for a guy who is attempting to fight at 185 pounds for the first time in his career.

Jardine is confident he'll make the weight today without an issue. It's all part of new outlook since he was cut from the UFC back in June of 2010.

"It was really a blessing though because it gave me the time to go back..and reinvent myself, and become the fighter I am today which is twice the fighter I was a year ago," Jardine said. "Back then, I lost a few fights. What can you say, but I wasn't resentful at all."

Jardine is a plus-400 underdog which is surprising looking at his resume versus Rockhold's. He was also quick to point that he fought to a draw against Gegard Mousasi his last time out on just eight days notice. The fighters meet tomorrow night in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock's Joint.

Listen to The MMA Fighter Corner on FoxSportsRadio 920 (Wednesdays at 8 p.m. PT & Saturdays at 4 p.m. PT)

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/life-middleweight-keith-jardine-sure-deserves-title-shot-211506575.html

Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

Look out featherweights, neophyte Jimy Hettes crushes Nam Phan at UFC 141

LAS VEGAS - The UFC must have a lot of faith in Jimy Hettes because it rolled the dice by putting the 24-year-old on the pay-per-view portion of UFC 141.

Hettes made the bosses look smart by putting on a three-round exhibition of grappling, takedowns, submissions, and ground and pound on his way to an easy win over Nam Phan, 30-25, 30-25 and 30-26 in the PPV opener at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The promotion is looking for future contenders to face featherweight champion Jose Aldo Jr. No one is saying Hettes is anywhere near ready for that type of fight, but he's certainly worthy of following as one of the brighter prospects in the division.

Hettes, 24, only had one UFC fight under his belt and he was taking on a grizzled veteran of the sport in Phan. He came out strong with takedowns just 16 and 35 seconds into the fight.

From there, Hettes used trip takedowns and Judo throws to dump Phan (17-10, 1-2 UFC) on his head whenever he wanted.

"I'm very happy right now. Whether it was 10-8 or 10-9 or if he was winning, he's such a tough competitor, so every second I had to be going forward. Just making sure I didn't let him get on the offensive," said Hettes.

On the ground, Hettes (11-0, 2-0 UFC) shifted between working for submissions and pounding away at Phan's head with super accurate punches.

"I was working on keeping him down on the ground. Everyone knows I'm a submission specialist, so it just added a whole other aspect to my game," said Hettes.

Phan has been very competitive in four fights under the Zuffa banner. The severity of tonight's loss was shocking. Phan entered the bout as a minus-225 favorite.

According to FightMetric, Hettes landed 225 shots to just 25 for Phan. He took him down 10 times and passed his guard nine times.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/look-featherweights-neophite-hettes-crushes-phan-ufc-141-034422014.html

Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo 

Picture of the day: Clay Guida, sans long locks

UFC lightweight Clay Guida is known for his relentless pace in the cage, love of "The Big Lebowski" and of course, that hair. But in the picture he just shared on Twitter, Guida showed that he hasn't always had that mop atop his head. This is from his prom in 1999, which also explains the super-cool vest and bowtie.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/picture-day-clay-guida-sans-long-locks-172746515.html

Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

WWE Champ CM Punk to Escort Chael Sonnen to Octagon at UFC on Fox 2

WWE champion CM Punk will escort UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen to the Octagon when he takes on Mark Munoz at UFC on Fox 2 on January 28 in Punk's hometown of Chicago.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27090/wwe-champ-cm-punk-to-escort-chael-sonnen-to-octagon-at-ufc-on-fox-2/

Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo AlmeidaÂ