The lack of depth in the Strikeforce middleweight division was on full display on Saturday night, as champion Luke Rockhold made the first title defense of his career against UFC veteran Keith Jardine.
Always a gamer no matter who he’s fighting against, Keith Jardine posed some interesting challenges for Rockhold, but the champion showcased his overall game by knocking out the “Dean of Mean” late in the first round.
The decision to book Jardine-Rockhold was met with quite a bit of controversy, as most believed that Jardine didn’t deserve to be anywhere near a title fight, especially considering that he has never even fought at 185 pounds. In Strikeforce’s defense, however, Jardine wasn’t the first choice.
Originally, it was supposed to be Luke Rockhold vs. unanimous top Strikeforce contender Tim Kennedy, but Kennedy had to pass on the fight because of an injury he sustained while helping out a teammate in preparation for another fight.
So when Rockhold won the fight on Saturday night and was asked about who he believes his next opponent should be, he answered with Kennedy’s name, right?
Wrong.
The Strikeforce champion not only didn’t mention Kennedy’s name, he actually discouraged a fight with anyone on the promotion’s current roster. Instead, he called out Zuffa as an organization and asked them to give him an opponent from the UFC’s roster of middleweights because he wants to fight someone who is in the top 10.
While there is no question that the UFC has a deeper roster that is full of potential, quality opponents for Rockhold, the truth is that he is unfairly looking past Tim Kennedy.
Even if Kennedy isn’t a consensus top 10 fighter at this point, he is right on the edge of it. It’s not like a win over Kennedy is worthless. In fact, a win over Kennedy would almost certainly cement Rockhold as a top 10 fighter himself.
The disrespect that Rockhold showed for the Strikeforce middleweight division, unfortunately, is fair. But regardless of what Rockhold says, Tim Kennedy deserves a title fight whenever he is healthy enough to get back in the cage.
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