Roger Gracie displayed great grappling tonight at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy when he dominated the first two rounds against Keith Jardine.
Gracie did really well on the ground, but that’s like saying a fish is great at swimming.
His striking seemed to improve as well outstriking Jardine on the way to earning a unanimous decision after securing a 10-8 second round in my opinion, and apparently, on two judge’s scorecards.
What we’ll remember about this fight:
The whole second round sticks out to me. It was a great display of grappling by Gracie.
What we learned about Roger Gracie:
The man is like super glue when he’s on top of you. Of course, his last name gives away that he obviously has good grappling, but his top control was absurdly good. He also outstruck Jardine. Granted, Jardine spent most of the first two rounds on his back—but still.
What we learned about Keith Jardine:
He’s at the end of his career. I think this loss should be the final time we see him out there. There really isn’t anything left for him in the sport besides fighting up-and-comers, unfortunately. His third round looked good, but it was too little, too late.
What’s next for Gracie?:
I think Gracie should get one of the top middleweights in Strikeforce. Maybe he can get a fight with Lorenz Larkin who won tonight or a fight with another good grappler, Ronaldo Souza.
I feel like Strikeforce would want Gracie to be their next title challenger simply based on what family he belongs to.
What’s next for Jardine?:
Retirement. It has to be at this point with back-to-back fights seeing him get dominated. He was able to pull out the third round, though.
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