Strikeforce may still be kicking, but they’ve hit the bottom of their shallow talent pool with the news that ‘The Dean of Mean’ Keith Jardine (17-9-2) will face Strikeforce middleweight champ, Luke Rockhold (8-1), on January 7th at an unannounced Strikeforce event in Las Vegas.
MMAFighting.com broke the news last night, confirming the bout with sources close to the matchup.
The Rockhold vs. Jardine bout is expected to headliner Strikeforce’s first visit to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Rockhold is a familiar face to Strikeforce fans, having competed on six cards before earning a title fight with former champ Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza last September. Rockhold would battle it out for the full five rounds in an entertaining affair, winning the unanimous decision from the judges. The matchup was surprising to some, as the AKA fighter had stayed under the radar of most, with the only significant matchups coming against Jesse Taylor and Cory Devela.
Jardine will make his middleweight debut, after a career of fighting at the 205 lbs division. ‘The Dean of Mean’ has only one fight under the Strikeforce banner, stepping in as a last second replacement against Gegard Mousasi last April. The two fighters fought to a majority draw after Mousasi had a point deducted for an illegal upkick. Jardine is 2-0-1 in his last three, but the two victories were against relative unknowns for local promotions. Previous to that, Jardine had been on a five fight losing skid which saw him lose four straight in the UFC before his dismissal.
This is going to be an interesting matchup since we’ve never seen Jardine at 185 lbs. It’s possible that the new ‘Dean of Mean’ is capable of posing a real threat, but Rockhold, despite his lack of experience against tough competition, still holds a strong record of seven first round finishes to his name. I’m picking Rockhold to finish.