# Strikeforce: Rockhold vs Kennedy



## dudeabides (Sep 30, 2008)

Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy
Date: Jul 14, 2012
Location: Portland, Oregon
Venue: Rose Garden
Broadcast: Showtime and Showtime Extreme












> MAIN CARD (Showtime)
> Champ Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Kennedy (for middleweight title)
> Nate Marquardt vs. Tyron Woodley (for vacant welterweight title)
> Roger Gracie vs. Keith Jardine
> ...





> Strikeforce today announced a trio of preliminary bouts set for "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy."
> 
> New additions include lightweights Pat Healy (27-16 MMA, 5-1 SF) vs. Mizuto Hirota (14-4-1 MMA, 0-0 SF), welterweights Jordan Mein (24-8 MMA, 1-1 SF) vs. Tyler Stinson (23-8 MMA, 1-1 SF) and welterweights Jason High (15-3 MMA, 2-0 SF) vs. Nate Moore (8-2 MMA, 2-1 SF).
> 
> ...


http://mmajunkie.com/news/29103/jor...-added-to-strikeforce-rockhold-vs-kennedy.mma


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Two title fights and Jardine looking to get a win. This should be interesting. Glad to see Ryan Couture getting back into it as well.


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## dudeabides (Sep 30, 2008)

Yeah it's the place to be on the 14th of July with no UFC or Bellator shows scheduled.

p.s. you guys can sign up for the pick 'em if you like this event!


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

So it's actually going to be the center of attention that weekend. Sounds good overall. The title fights should be interesting.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

Masvidal VS Wilcox could be fireworks! Prelims?? SMH


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Well getting on the prelims is the breaks of life in the world of MMA. Strikeforce is just another one of those expectations so yeah. Anyways I hope that there are a lot of fights that are great.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

Rockhold/Kennedy is the most boring fight that SF could have dreamed up...

this fight sounds as exciting as watching paint dry... we will see what happens I guess..


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

What do you expect with how dry the middleweight division is in Strikeforce?


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

This is the beat SF card in sometime.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

That's definately true.


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## dudeabides (Sep 30, 2008)

TheLyotoLegion said:


> This is the beat SF card in sometime.


Would have to be a great one to have Wilcox vs Masvidal as a prelim and so far that fight is bangin as predicted! Can't believe Wilcox is still going strong after those knees.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

How the hell does a guy score that one, I am going to Larkin but he was in a bad place for a while there.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Lawler turing a fight into a snooze fest against the cage don't see that every day.


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## dudeabides (Sep 30, 2008)

Yeah rolling up the cage was a sweet escape move, he's gonna lose on points though if he doesn't get ruthless.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Lawler needs to retire, he just can't pull the trigger anymore.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Bonuses? You better pray for Dana just to keep Strikeforce alive, hombre.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

I would love to see Jardine take the win but he is getting submitted.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Jardine just got even uglier.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Jardine did survive over a minute with Roger Gracie mounting him, may have took a beating but that was an accomplishment in itself.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Jardine did the exact same thing that got him taken down the first time.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Jardine has some badass defense on the ground, that's impressive to survive the way he did against Roger.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

This is horrible, both guys are gassed. How did Roger not finish this bum yet. Jardine needs to hang it up btw.


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## dudeabides (Sep 30, 2008)

Has Jardine ever been submitted before? I wish they would mention that during the fight sometime.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

dudeabides said:


> Has Jardine ever been submitted before? I wish they would mention that during the fight sometime.


This is SF we're talking about...

I scored it 29-28 for Jardine.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

If Jardine could throw something besides the widest haymakers in history he might have actually landed something. 

Either way Jardine not getting submitted is the story of the fight IMO.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

WTF robbery! That's bullshit


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Tyron Woodley is about to shot us once again why Nate "The Meh" Marquardt is just not championship material.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

Toxic said:


> Tyron Woodley is about to shot us once again why Nate "The Meh" Marquardt is just not championship material.


Doubt it, the only guy who could really take Nate down with any consistency is Shale Sonnen and he's a giant MW. Tyron Woodley isn't going to be able to take him down, I've got Nate via just being not a C class fighter.


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## dudeabides (Sep 30, 2008)

Wish they would show the Jason High prelim fight that didn't air, even with all these decisions they would only have to squeeze it in for 30 seconds.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Skinny Marquardt, remember when he first talked about dropping to 170, I was pretty surprised he made it.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Life B Ez said:


> Doubt it, the only guy who could really take Nate down with any consistency is Shale Sonnen and he's a giant MW. Tyron Woodley isn't going to be able to take him down, I've got Nate via just being not a C class fighter.


Really despite the fact that Marquardt is not nearly as thick as he used to be and looks drained and the fact Marquardt isn't training with Rashad and GSP anymore?


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Oh God T-Wood's mom is back....

Anyone got that 'PRAISE THE LORD JESUS GOD ALMIGHTY!' gif?


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Woodley's mama is gonna lay the smack down.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

I honestly kinda want Marquardt to knock Woodley out now just to see mama Woodley's reaction.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

She might go into the cage and kick Marquardt's ass herself.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

Toxic said:


> Really despite the fact that Marquardt is not nearly as thick as he used to be and looks drained and the fact Marquardt isn't training with Rashad and GSP anymore?


I still don't think Nate is a C level fighter and I think Woodley is. I don't see it happening.



TheLyotoLegion said:


> Oh God T-Wood's mom is back....
> 
> Anyone got that 'PRAISE THE LORD JESUS GOD ALMIGHTY!' gif?


Drives me nuts, glad I've got a mute.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Life B Ez said:


> I still don't think Nate is a C level fighter and I think Woodley is. I don't see it happening.
> 
> 
> 
> Drives me nuts, glad I've got a mute.


I think Nate is a C+ - B- fighter, Tryon is a B, B+ fighter. Neither is an elite WW but I have higher expectations of Woodley.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Nate 10-9


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

Toxic said:


> I think Nate is a C+ - B- fighter, Tryon is a B, B+ fighter. Neither is an elite WW but I have higher expectations of Woodley.


Woodley has had ten fights to show he can improve or evolve and he's the exact same fighter. I had a lot of expectations as well, I actually thought he was going to be the one to beat Diaz before Zuffa bought SF, but I'm let down everytime I see him.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Woodley is the better fighter but Nate showed the higher fighter IQ and didn't let off when he had him hurt he just hunted him down and picked his shots, Woodley shot for a TD and let Nate recover.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

I am not sure Woodley is actually dedicating himself to those TD's and isn't just trying to make Nate work to defend it. I think Woodley might be looking to outlast Nate because he has a much more defensive mind set it would appear.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

Why does Woodley even bother with corner men when he's got that fat bitch in the audience to scream at him?


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

Toxic said:


> I am not sure Woodley is actually dedicating himself to those TD's and isn't just trying to make Nate work to defend it. I think Woodley might be looking to outlast Nate because he has a much more defensive mind set it would appear.


This is what Woodley always does, uses his wrestling to turn fights into circling and staring.

Also lulz at Woodley turning and running for like the third time.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Shit got interesting there, wrestlers often have nothing off there back and I think Nate missed a big opportunity there.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Nate looks good, 10-9


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Big breath from Marquardt at the start of this round.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

Toxic said:


> Big breath from Marquardt at the start of this round.


Woodley needs to keep this up if he's trying to gas Nate, not this circle and stare garbage.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Early stand up IMO.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

They both look tired.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

I've got it 29-28 for Nate through 3.


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

T-Wood 10-9


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

holy ****! 

Squawk now mama


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## LL (Mar 12, 2011)

Nice, I had Marquardt by fourth round TKO on Tapology.


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## dudeabides (Sep 30, 2008)

Whoa ! Ker-blam.


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## IcemanJacques (Mar 18, 2009)

Damn he looked good.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

jesus god lord almighty those was some huge shots.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

Oh super another guy that has never been submitted.


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## BWoods (Apr 8, 2007)

And these guys wondered why Showtime did little to nothing to promote this fight. These guys are in a league of their own, and I mean that in the worst way possible.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

I would like to see a guy like Yushin Okami in SF because I think he is about the level these guys are at. They could be fringe top 10 maybe top 5 in the UFC if the stars align right.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

Toxic said:


> I would like to see a guy like Yushin Okami in SF because I think he is about the level these guys are at. They could be fringe top 10 maybe top 5 in the UFC if the stars align right.


Are we watching the same fight? Okami would possibly lose to these guys because he's mentally weak, but he is by far more skilled, these guys are lower end of top 15.


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## Toxic (Mar 1, 2007)

I don't think if your fighting guy who has been to an actual war you are allowed to say you won because of what you have been throuh in life and that the fight was a war. Just a thought.


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## xeberus (Apr 23, 2007)

No surprise with the UD


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## No_Mercy (Oct 17, 2006)

My respect just shot up for TK. A green beret...eh! Saw a documentary on how they get recruited. Let me tell you 99% of us wouldn't make it past the first hour, not even the first day... It's almost on par with Navy Seal training. 

Anyways workmanship fight. I thought Luke was going for a LHK KO. Props to Kennedy cuz he's durable, but lets face it there not quite top five caliber in the UFC in my mind.


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## TanyaJade (Aug 31, 2010)

- Lawler looks like he's on his way out. Not to take anything away from Larkin as he looked good, but Lawler seemed completely disinterested and way too one dimensional.

- I was pretty surprised that Gracie dominated Jardine like that. Normally Jardine has much better TDD and as long as he's not getting punched in the face he typically is pretty competitive. Both of these guys looked awful at the weigh-ins. Gracie's grappling is unreal and his striking looks improving but he needs to learn to manage his weight cut better. Jardine needs to call it quits. He's 0-2-1 after being brought back under the ZUFFA fold.

- Marquardt actually looked really good minus that gaffe in the third round. I expected him to be drained at Welterweight but he looked really solid and fresh. Those elbows were nasty. I was never on the T-Wood bandwagon, I doubt the guy will amount to much even if he gets into the UFC at some point. Marquardt I think still loses to many UFC Welterweights including GSP, Condit, Rory, Kampmann, Ellenberger, and Sanchez.

- I thought Kennedy needed to do more, he seemed a little too tentative. Rockhold completely turned him away. I think Rockhold would be a decent #7-10 in the UFC but I think Anderson, Sonnen, Weidman, Belfort, and Belcher would all beat him decisively.


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## Roflcopter (Sep 5, 2008)

I find it hilarious that Rockhold had the absolute audacity to criticize Anderson for fouling then proceeded to foul multiple times in his next fight to the point that Big John told him he was going to take a point the next time he did it.

This is why you don't be a douchebag.

I still hate Kennedy more...but Rockhold put himself on my shit list as well.


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## BrutalKO (Oct 5, 2006)

...Rockhold landed some significant shots the whole fight but Kennedy has that Army Ranger chin. Good fight but---

*...Nate Marquardt did look great last night. That was his best KO finish ever. He looked solid at 170. Survived getting caught and swarmed by Woodley. His cardio looked good. His legkicks were solid. Nate's elbows off the cage were brutal. Complete game for Nate and that ending right uppercut was sick!... *


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

Sheesh Nate looked a weight class and a half above Woodley


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

_RIVAL_ said:


> Sheesh Nate looked a weight class and a half above Woodley


Maybe because he is?


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

Life B Ez said:


> Maybe because he is?


OMG you're right!!!

It was actually more of a way of saying that Woodley should drop down since obviously there are some WWs in his path that are going to be much bigger than him.

But good stuff on not missing an opportunity to get a quick one in there.


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

_RIVAL_ said:


> OMG you're right!!!
> 
> It was actually more of a way of saying that Woodley should drop down since obviously there are some WWs in his path that are going to be much bigger than him.
> 
> But good stuff on not missing an opportunity to get a quick one in there.


I wasn't saying anything about Woodley's size, I don't think his size is what will hold him back in MMA. Even if he manages to make the cut to LW, he is a C level fighter who has not evloved in the slightest. So it would just be a matter of time before it happened again.

I wasn't taking a shot at you, on Nate being a weight class bigger, I was saying that he literally is a weight class bigger than Woddley. I have no idea how he made it to WW, he could probably beat guys at LHW.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Yeah, Woodley looked extremely small compared to Marquardt in that fight. However, I'm not sure he's a completely one dimensional fighter. Granted I do agree he needs to become more well rounded.


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## osmium (Mar 6, 2007)

This card basically confirmed everything I thought about Luke, Tim, and Tyrone.


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## No_Mercy (Oct 17, 2006)

_RIVAL_ said:


> OMG you're right!!!
> 
> It was actually more of a way of saying that Woodley should drop down since obviously there are some WWs in his path that are going to be much bigger than him.
> 
> But good stuff on not missing an opportunity to get a quick one in there.


Kinda interesting now that everybody is dropping weight classes. First it's one, then two, and three. There's a few and I won't be surprised if we see more; Vemola, Florian, and maybe Rashad now dropped three weight classes. Then we have the anomalies who fight above their weight classes; BJ, and the GOAT. 

What these fighters don't realize is that skill wise it's all the same. Marquardt is definitely a very solid fighter, but he's still going to be in the same spot in the WW division as he is in the MW in the UFC. A perennial top 10 or five at best. 

As the sport evolves it seems like everybody is trying to find the "edge" or in my books the loop holes to get the coveted "W."


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## Life B Ez (Jan 23, 2010)

No_Mercy said:


> Kinda interesting now that everybody is dropping weight classes. First it's one, then two, and three. There's a few and I won't be surprised if we see more; Vemola, Florian, and maybe Rashad now dropped three weight classes. Then we have the anomalies who fight above their weight classes; BJ, and the GOAT.


To be fair, Florian should never have been above LW. He blew up just to be on TUF then there was no LW division. Rashad did the same thing for TUF, he had no business at HW.


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## Rauno (Nov 20, 2009)

I hate hypocrits and Rockhold is one.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

How is Rockhold a hypocrite?


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## Rauno (Nov 20, 2009)

kantowrestler said:


> How is Rockhold a hypocrite?


Tweeted sth about Anderson and his behavior as a champion (knee which was proved to be legal and grabbing shorts) while he almost lost a point due to fence grabbing. I know this isn't important since he eventually made it but he missed weight on his first time as well.


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## osmium (Mar 6, 2007)

Rauno said:


> Tweeted sth about Anderson and his behavior as a champion (knee which was proved to be legal and grabbing shorts) while he almost lost a point due to fence grabbing. I know this isn't important since he eventually made it but he missed weight on his first time as well.


I view that as Big John needing to be part of the show again. The point where he started being a loud douche about fence grabbing didn't even involve a fence grab. He was anticipating Luke grabbing it again so he could make a big scene and get some camera time.


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## Roflcopter (Sep 5, 2008)

Oh he grabbed the fence, multiple times.


I don't care about minor fouls though that much and don't make big deals about them...but he did it.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

I'm not making excuses but just because Rockhold grabbed the fence doesn't mean his character goes down. Sometimes in a moment of a fight we do stuff we normally wouldn't. That might have happened in this case.


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## osmium (Mar 6, 2007)

Roflcopter said:


> Oh he grabbed the fence, multiple times.
> 
> 
> I don't care about minor fouls though that much and don't make big deals about them...but he did it.


He did grab it multiple times before that but not at that point.


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## dudeabides (Sep 30, 2008)

The prelim they didn't show, 28 second Jason High vs Nate Moore has video here:

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29743/strikeforces-jason-high-vs-nate-moore-full-fight-video.mma


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Good fight I have to say.


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## _RIVAL_ (Mar 7, 2008)

Toxic said:


> Shit got interesting there, wrestlers often have nothing off there back and I think Nate missed a big opportunity there.


I was thinking the same thing. Nate's grappling and sub ability is slick as hell.


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## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Well he ended up pulling off a knockout so I don't think it mattered. Woodly was just plainly out powered. Marquardt is huge at welterweight.


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