As the Strikeforce roster continues to dwindle, one fighter has stepped up to show that the promotion still has some depth to it.
At last night’s Strikeforce event in Cincinnati, Ohio, middleweight contender Luke Rockhold shocked the MMA world by defeating champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, taking the Strikeforce Middleweight title.
Throughout the fight, Rockhold showed that he had the better of Souza in the stand-up department, landing a variety of body and leg kicks while repeatedly landing his punching combinations.
With such an impressive performance, some fans are already looking to put this 26-year-old champion in the UFC. But is Rockhold ready for the big time?
This was obviously a huge win for the American Kickboxing Academy prodigy, who improves his Strikeforce record to a perfect 7-0 with the unanimous decision win over Souza. But considering his past competition and looking at certain parts of last night’s fight, Rockhold still has a few areas to improve before transitioning to the big time.
First, let’s analyze his skill set.
Prior to this bout, Rockhold never left the first round and took all but one of his bouts by submission. The emergence of this AKA striking only came about because both Souza and Rockhold’s grappling effectively neutralized the other’s, forcing them to strike.
Although quite impressive in the win, there were moments when Rockhold was rocked by Souza’s right hand, buckling the new champion. Against a higher-caliber striker, the punches would have done significantly more damage and may have ended his night.
Rockhold’s true bread and butter has been his grappling. Six of his eight career wins have come by submission, but his opponents have had a propensity to tap out losses.
For example, Rockhold choked out veteran Jesse Taylor in 2009, but six of Taylor’s seven losses have all been tap outs. In the UFC, the middleweight division has a plethora of well-rounded fighters, including many jiu-jitsu black belts who would not be so easily submitted.
Even against Souza, the Brazilian black belt scored numerous sweeps and near submissions even though he was unable to keep the fight on the ground.
The biggest issue Rockhold had was his mindset. After landing a ton of spinning kicks and crisp hand combinations, he began to lower his guard as he believed he was owning Souza.
This type of attitude is dangerous, especially against the better strikers at 185. If Souza did not gas in the later rounds, he could have capitalized on Rockhold’s lowered defenses and done more damage with the straight right.
Rockhold is on the right track though; this win catapults him into MMA stardom. He just needs to continue training hard and evolve certain aspects of his game.
The skill set is there, but it needs to be utilized more effectively. There is no doubt that he has champion-caliber stuff, but it is imperative for him to tighten up his game if he truly aspires to make it to the UFC.
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