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Strikeforce: Rockhold vs Kennedy

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#1 ·
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
Lorenz Larkin vs. Robbie Lawler

PRELIMINARY CARD (Showtime Extreme)
Jorge Masvidal vs. Justin Wilcox
Pat Healy vs. Mizuto Hirota
Jordan Mein vs. Tyler Stinson
Jason High vs. Nate Moore
Ryan Couture vs. Joe Duarte

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).

"Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy," takes place July 14 at Rose Garden in Portland, Ore. Main-card bouts air on Showtime while preliminary-card fights air on Showtime Extreme.

Already official for the event is a middleweight title bout between champ Luke Rockhold and challenger Tim Kennedy, as well as a bout for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight belt that pits Nate Marquardt against Tyron Woodley.

Healy is on a four-fight tear that's put him in the conversation for a shot at the lightweight title. Most recently, he snapped the five-fight win streak of Carlos Fodor at "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey." Only former champ Josh Thomson has bested him under the Strikeforce banner.

Hirota brings a championship pedigree to his Strikeforce debut. A titleholder in Japanese stalwarts Cage Force, Sengoku and DEEP, he defended his DEEP title against Seichi Ikemoto this past February. Perhaps best known for an arm-breaking submission loss to Shinya Aoki at Dynamite!! 2009 that forced him to vacate the Sengoku belt, Hirota looks to reinvent himself stateside.

Longtime Canadian prospect Mein is on the road to redemption after narrowly falling short to now-contender Woodley at "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine." The loss snapped a four-fight win streak that saw him defeat onetime title challengers Marius Zaromskis and Evangelista Santos in back-to-back outings.

Stinson looks to rebound, as well, after a split decision loss to Tarec Saffiedine that ended a four-fight streak. A Bellator and Strikeforce vet, he has a notable career win over Drew Fickett.

With a six-fight win streak, High is on the ladder up the welterweight division and enjoys back-to-back wins under the Strikeforce banner. A finalist in the DREAM welterweight grand prix, he handed Mein a decision loss and outpointed Japanese veteran Hayato Sakurai at DREAM "Dynamite!! 2010."

Moore most recently put away Nathan Coy at "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg," which reversed a loss to Saffiedine in the promotion's Challengers series. A product of American Kickboxing Academy, he's earned four wins by way of submission.

A lightweight matchup between two talented prospects is the latest addition to "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy," as Ryan Couture (4-1 MMA, 4-1 SF) meets Joe Duarte (10-2 MMA, 2-0 SF).

Strikeforce officials today announced the new matchup.

Featuring a pair of title fights, including middleweight champ Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Kennedy and Nate Marquardt vs. Tyron Woodley for the vacant welterweight belt, "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy" takes place July 14 at Rose Garden in Portland, Ore.

THe evening's main card airs on Showtime. Couture vs. Duarte is expected to take place on the Showtime Extreme-broadcast preliminary card.

Couture, of course, is the son of UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture. The 29-year-old Ryan has fought his entire professional career under the Strikeforce banner, sandwiching a lone loss to Matt Ricehouse between a pair of two-fight win streaks. The Xtreme Couture product most recently fought in March, earning a TKO victory over Conor Heun.

Meanwhile, Duarte first earned national prominence during a stint on "The Ultimate Fighter 8," where he was eliminated in the opening round by eventual show finalist Phillipe Nover. Duarte has since gone 6-1 on the regional scene, with the lone loss coming in April 2010 in a Bellator bout with Carey Vanier.

Duarte currently trains in San Diego and boasts a five-fight win streak, including a pair of Strikeforce wins over Jorge Gurgel and Saad Awad.

A lightweight bout between Jorge Masvidal (22-7 MMA, 4-1 SF) and Justin Wilcox (11-4 MMA, 5-2 SF) is the latest addition to next month's "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy" event.

Strikeforce officials today announced the fight.

Featuring a pair of title fights, including middleweight champ Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Kennedy and Nate Marquardt vs. Tyron Woodley for the vacant welterweight belt, "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy" takes place July 14 at Rose Garden in Portland, Ore.

The evening's main card airs on Showtime. Masvidal vs. Wilcox is expected to take place on the Showtime Extreme-broadcast preliminary card.

The heavy-handed Masvidal recently was on a 3-1 run with victories over Billy Evangelista and K.J. Noons. However, the American Top Team fighter, who's also dabbled in the welterweight division, then suffered a title loss to reigning lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez via unanimous decision in December. He now fights for the first time since that lopsided five-round defeat.

Wilcox recently saw a five-fight Strikeforce win streak snapped with a stunning 13-second knockout loss to Caros Fodor in December. In one fight prior, his bout with Gesias Cavalcante ended in a no-contest when Wilcox took a deep eye poke in the second round. Prior to the setbacks, the American Kickboxing Academy fighter strung together an impressive streak of Strikeforce wins over David Douglas, Daisuke Nakamura, Shamar Bailey, Vitor Ribeiro and Rodrigo Damm.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/29103/jor...-added-to-strikeforce-rockhold-vs-kennedy.mma
 
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#63 ·
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.
 
#64 ·
- 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.
 
#65 ·
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.
 
#66 ·
...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!...
 
#77 ·
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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