The running trend of the night was veterans schooling their overmatched, comparatively green foes, aside from a newy middleweight Jardine blowing it in true Jardine fashion against middleweight champ, Luke Rockhold.
Tarec Saffiedine picked up a nice win in a matchup of two 170-lbers currently attempting to break into that next level. The Lebanese youngster is on a nice roll, and has proved that he’s worth keeping around. Though this fight should’ve served more to showcase potential, the current thin roster means that any win is worth twice as much. Plus, props for toughing it out to WIN a decision with a broken freaking arm! It’s harder to predict Strikeforce booking than UFC’s, but I see him being logically pitted against a struggling veteran, like the male (though he may have less testosterone than his wife) Cyborg.
If Tarec Saffiedine fought a good fight on a broken arm, what’s your excuse for a perfectly healthy stinker? Tyrone Woodley has major credentials, but thus far has done a fantastic job of ensuring everyone gets un-excited about his career at the higher level. This was a lackluster fight and quite frankly, Woodley can do better. I’m not playing armchair quarterback here, but he’s proved he’s better than this before and has thus set a better standard. If he keeps winning like this, his nickname’s gonna change from T-Wood to Bitch. As in, Black Jon Fitch, because Zuffa won’t be handing out any title shots to him. Then again, it is Strikeforce. Predicted next fight: Woodley vs. Marius Zaromskis or the winner of Daley and Kazuo Misaki. Mein can face the loser, unless this loss in a dull fight results in a trip back to prelims.
Muhammad Lawal, the ‘veteran’, gave a strong showing against his overmatched, albeit undefeated ‘rookie’, who had more fights than he. Apparently wearing a skirt only enrages your opponent, because King Mo beat Lorenz Larkin down in the second round like he owed him money. Lawal should earn an opponent with some real name value in his next bout, with possibilities including a rematch with Mousasi or Cavalcante. I’d say Sobral was a possibility, but the two are great friends who’ve publicly made their lack of interest in fighting one another apparent. As for Larkin, he’ll get another B-level foe and in the meantime, will have plenty of time to remember that only Melvin Manhoef can get away with rocking a skirt in the cage.
It’s hard to imagine blowing your big potential coming out party more than Adlan Amagov did. When your only significant offense maneuver was a blatantly illegal knee and you proceeded to get stomped in ironic fashion by an immediately returned legal flying one, you didn’t exactly make a lasting impression…unless you count being on “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler’s highlight real. Amagov was highly touted with some legitimate credentials, but in a game where you’re only as good as your last outing, people will forget him (if he was even on their radar in the first place) until he proves them otherwise. I believe he’s capable, and see him being pitted against Ronaldo Souza or Melvin Manhoef next. Lawler didn’t answer the cardio question which surprisingly popped up in his last bout, but it doesn’t matter when you blitz your opponent in such brutal fashion. Lawler did what he does best and notched another quick KO under his belt. He may have been written off as an A-lister after a recent rough patch that followed a spectacular post-UFC run, but people forget Lawler is only 29, has taken care of himself, and is still hungry. He should be around for a while longer and should have hopefully closed the book on ANY talk of him being done. Predicted next fight: Antwain Britt or Yancy Medeiros.
Let me start the main event thoughts by saying that I think Luke Rockhold has caught a case of the ‘Bones fever’. That’s not to mean he’s a Jones fan, but rather my terminology for the case of a young champion who got where he is rather quickly (and unexpectedly), only to undergo a personality switch and become cocky with a strong shot of annoying mixed in. Ever since the fight was booked, it was apparent that Rockhold went from being the young, positive, promising underdog kid everyone could relate to, to being his own biggest fan. Bones still at least seems likeable at times, and at least has, uh, I don’t know?....a reason or two to brag! Rockhold’s biggest win was a controversial decision over Ronaldo Souza and a stoppage over the newly middleweight, Keith Jardine. So, if you’re asking yourself why young Luke thinks he deserves to be in the upper echelon of the UFC when he hasn’t even exactly cleaned out the ultra-thin roster of Strikeforce, then you’re amongst friends.
As far as the fight itself, there’s much less to say. Correct me if I’m wrong, but at 6’2” with an off-season weight of 230 plus lbs, Keith Jardine seemed like one of the biggest 205’ers. Rumor has it he had to pull a James Irvin and drop nearly 20lbs on weigh in day. I hope his middleweight experiment is over. Speaking of experiments, it almost seems like fighting is an experiment for Jardine. He’s spent his whole life doing dangerous jobs like mining and bounty hunting for a paycheck, and it seems like this is no different. He’s never going to be the best or get back to the title hunt like he once was, but he’s content to throw leather with anyone and he’s going to make it a fight while it lasts, win or lose. I was never of the thought that Keith’s chin was an issue in every fight. Don’t get me wrong, it’s easier to hit lights out physically with Jardine, but sometimes he’ll turn in a performance like he did against Jackson, Hamill, or Mousasi (all loses) that show that if he actually plays defense and sticks to his defensive instincts, it doesn’t mean his chin’s a giant arrow pointing to the ‘off’ button. At the same time, I believe that if the problem hasn’t been fixed now, it won’t be. Jardine will remain just fine offensively.
The fight itself went as expected in that it was a fun scrap while it lasted. At first glance it appeared like it may have been an early stoppage, but upon replaying the video, it was clear that Jardine went limp for a moment ala Fedor in the Henderson fight and the lights were on but nobody was home. A lot of people were picking “The Dean” to win here, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Rockhold looked great while it lasted and Jardine looked much slower than usual. Again, 185 is not the answer for Jardine, and it showed. Jardine’s chin is blatantly inconsistent, but Rockhold isn’t exactly known for having scary knockout power, even the variety to put Keith to sleep. That’s why if there’s anything to learn from this fight for Keith, it’s that he should go back to light-heavyweight. As for Luke Rockhold, he looked sharp, and got a nice win over a name opponent, and he deserves proper praise. Aside from those whacky kicks, though….they may look flashy, and may even connect, but if he tried that against ANY of the guys he wants to fight, be it Silva, Belfort, etc., I don’t think the risk would be worth the reward….even a lackluster, drained “Dean of Mean” didn’t seem to care about them, much. At the end of the day, I think Tim Kennedy, Robbie Lawler, Ronaldo Souza, or even Melvin Manhoef might have something to say about Luke being ready to face the UFC’s best. All of the aforementioned present unique problems to the champ, who until recently wasn’t even seeing the light of main card on events. Somewhere in San Francisco, Gilbert Melendez is wincing (or chuckling) about Luke Rockhold’s copycat request. Predicted next fight: Tim Kennedy. Predicted next fight for Jardine: Renato Sobral.
**Update: If you’re still on the fence about Rockhold’s newfound personality, don’t hold your breath. A member of his entourage (originally incorrectly reported as a family member), was yelling things up to and including, “Keith Jardine sucks!” at a casino lobby. A bystanding woman (later reported to be Jardine’s mom) proceeded to rush, swing, and connect on the said man, who bailed as security arrived. Huge LOL at Jardine’s mom tying up the score to an even 1-1 between Team Rockhold & Team Jardine. I wonder if Jardine secretly wishes his mom would’ve never gotten involved, like a teased schoolboy whose mom calls the principal to bury her son's bullies. Till next time.
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