Tag: Luke Rockhold

‘Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov’ Aftermath: UFC Auditions, Sans Mansion

King Mo, during the UFC application process post-fight interview. Props: Showtime Sports

Last night, the real story behind “Barnet vs. Kharitonov had nothing to do with the heavyweight grand prix. It had nothing to do with the middleweight championship of a sinking organization. Last night, as with every other Strikeforce show since the promotion was purchased by Zuffa, was little more than an audition. It was about who will get a UFC contract when Strikeforce goes under, and who will have to go through TUF. The fans knew it, the announcers knew it, going as far as confirming the Belfort vs. Le rumor, and the fighters definitely knew it.

Despite Strikeforce’s best efforts to hype Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov as a potentially close fight, we all knew what to expect: A repeat of Kharitonov vs. Monson, except with a far superior version of Jeff Monson. Because of this, it’s hard to be impressed with anything that Josh Barnett does at this point. The tournament’s biggest names and most intriguing matchups for Barnett- Fedor, Werdum and Overeem- were all removed well before last night. Barnett has become such an overwhelming favorite to win that when he wins, he’s simply living up to expectations. He was paired up against an opponent with weak grappling credentials, knew he would dominate the fight once Kharitonov was on the ground, and fought accordingly. At least the tournament was set up so that he would get to face a competent grappler in the finals.


King Mo, during the UFC application process post-fight interview. Props: Showtime Sports

Last night, the real story behind “Barnet vs. Kharitonov” had nothing to do with the heavyweight grand prix. It had nothing to do with the middleweight championship of a sinking organization. Last night, as with every other Strikeforce show since the promotion was purchased by Zuffa, was little more than an audition. It was about who will get a UFC contract when Strikeforce goes under, and who will have to go through TUF. The fans knew it, the announcers knew it, going as far as confirming the Belfort vs. Le rumor, and the fighters definitely knew it.

Despite Strikeforce’s best efforts to hype Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov as a potentially close fight, we all knew what to expect: A repeat of Kharitonov vs. Monson, except with a far superior version of Jeff Monson. Because of this, it’s hard to be impressed with anything that Josh Barnett does at this point. The tournament’s biggest names and most intriguing matchups for Barnett- Fedor, Werdum and Overeem- were all removed well before last night. Barnett has become such an overwhelming favorite to win that when he wins, he’s simply living up to expectations. He was paired up against an opponent with weak grappling credentials, knew he would dominate the fight once Kharitonov was on the ground, and fought accordingly. At least the tournament was set up so that he would get to face a competent grappler in the finals.

Oh, about that: Looks like the answer to overcoming Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva’s sheer size and strength lies in exploiting that glass chin. Much like he did in his fight with Jeff Monson, Cormier kept the one dimensional grappler standing as often as possible. Although he showed off his wrestling credentials with an occasional takedown, Cormier refused to fight Silva in his comfort zone by forcing the fight to be stood up every time Silva was on his back. That strategy will work against Antonio Silva, but is his striking good enough to do that against Josh Barnett? For that matter, is Josh Barnett’s grappling going to prove too much for Cormier at this point in his career? We’ll have to wait until Cormier recovers from the hand injury he suffered, which will more than likely be early 2012. Assuming that Strikeforce is around at this time, of course.

If there’s one fighter who didn’t seem to realize that last night was an audition, it was “Jacare” Souza. Souza seemed to buy into the nonsense that some people were spewing about how Jacare vs. Anderson Silva would be a fight worth watching, and seemed to believe that as long as he could go the distance against Luke Rockhold, the judges would give him the fight. Yes, it was far closer than the 50-45 fight that some people seemed to believe it was. Yes, Jacare probably should have lost by split decision instead of unanimous decision. But does it really matter? A losing effort, no matter how close, is still a losing effort. Still, give Luke Rockhold the credit that he deserves for his performance last night. After shaking off the cobwebs that come with over a year and a half away from competition during the first round, Luke Rockhold fought like someone who saw the fight for the audition that it was. It’ll be interesting to see who he gets to defend the title against (again, assuming Strikeforce is around long enough for him to do so).

Other than that, King Mo showed that having “good striking for a Gracie” is like being “a good fighter for a professional reporter”, shutting out Roger Gracie’s lights early. Do we even bother angling for a fight against Dan Henderson, or do we just assume that both guys will be in the UFC before the next Strikeforce card? That isn’t rhetorical, comments section. Also, Pat Healy managed to survive Maximo Blanco’s wild strikes- some of which illegal- long enough to spoil Blanco’s hype. Healy sure has a habit of killing the hype for Strikeforce prospects. Let’s see if that translates into a step up in competition for him.

Full results, courtesy of MMAJunkie:

OFFICIAL MAIN CARD RESULTS

Josh Barnett def. Sergei Kharitonov via submission (head-arm triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:28
Daniel Cormier def. Antonio Silva via knockout (strikes) – Round 1, 3:56
Luke Rockhold def. Ronaldo Souza via unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 48-47)
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal def. Roger Gracie via KO (punch) – Round 1, 4:33
Pat Healy def. Maximo Blanco via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:24

OFFICIAL PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS

Mike Kyle def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante def. Yoel Romero via KO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:51
Jordan Mein def. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:18
Alexis Davis def. Amanda Nunes via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:53
Dominique Steele def. Chris Mierzwiak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)

AKA Goes Undefeated at Strikeforce, to Mild Surprise of at Least One Team Member

Filed under: StrikeforceCINCINNATI — Heading into Saturday night’s Strikeforce event, American Kickboxing Academy middleweight Luke Rockhold predicted a perfect 4-0 night for himself and his teammates. It was an ambitious prediction that ended up bein…

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CINCINNATI — Heading into Saturday night’s Strikeforce event, American Kickboxing Academy middleweight Luke Rockhold predicted a perfect 4-0 night for himself and his teammates. It was an ambitious prediction that ended up being accurate, but it also seemed at least somewhat like the kind of thing you say to boost everyone’s confidence rather you really believe it or not.

But Rockhold, who took a close decision over Ronaldo Souza to claim the Strikeforce middleweight title, insisted he knew all along that his squad would end the night undefeated.

“I don’t speak nonsense,” he told reporters at the post-fight press conference. “I was just really confident in my team.”

One of Rockhold’s coaches — AKA’s Javier Mendez — wasn’t quite so sure, however.

“I was confident, honestly, with 3-1,” Mendez told MMA Fighting. “I was hoping for four, but my concern was Mike Kyle.”

As Mendez explained, it wasn’t that he thought Kyle was outmatched against Marcos Rogerio de Lima on the prelim portion of the card. Instead, he was worried about whether Kyle had been healthy enough to adequately prepare for the fight.

“He just got through going through a broken hand. He didn’t get to spar [in training],” Mendez said. “We didn’t want him sparring because we were afraid he would re-break his hand. So I was concerned with him. I wasn’t concerned with Mo [Lawal], wasn’t concerned with Daniel [Cormier], but I was most confident in Luke.”

As it turned out, Rockhold’s fight was the biggest nail-biter of the night for the AKA crew. He and Souza went back and forth for five rounds, the outcome was difficult to call as they stood in the center of the cage awaiting the judges’ decision.

“I felt good about it,” Rockhold said afterward. “I might have got a little rocked, but I came back strong and I think I won some rounds.”

Mendez was similarly confident, but even he couldn’t justify giving all five rounds to Rockhold, as judge Bruce Snell did.

“I thought we had it for sure, based on the fifth round, how he came out and what he did. It was pretty close there, but when he came out and did the most damage, being the aggressor, I knew he had it,” Mendez said. “But the score of 50-45 for Luke? Whoever that was, no. That was wrong. I thought it was 48-47 for Luke.”

However you score it, the AKA squad went home unbeaten thanks to the decision wins for Rockhold and Kyle, and knockout victories by Lawal and Cormier. With that, the whole team returned to San Jose, Calif. with smiles on their faces and a renewed swagger in their step. Just ask the new Strikeforce middleweight champ.

“AKA,” Rockhold grinned. “Watch out. Don’t step on our turf.”

 

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Luke Rockhold Explains Why He Thinks He Deserved to Beat ‘Jacare’ Souza

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CINCINNATI — MMA Fighting spoke to Luke Rockhold on Saturday following his Strikeforce middleweight title win over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, how he felt after the grueling fight, what he would like to do next and a questionable judge’s scorecard.

 

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CINCINNATI — MMA Fighting spoke to Luke Rockhold on Saturday following his Strikeforce middleweight title win over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, how he felt after the grueling fight, what he would like to do next and a questionable judge’s scorecard.

 

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‘Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov’ — Live Results + Commentary


(Dan Cormier does a dead-on impression of how his face is going to look after he gets hit with one of those fists. / Photo via MMAFighting.com)

Tonight, four big-ass dudes become two, and we mean that in the straightest way possible. Strikeforce’s lovably meaningless heavyweight tournament reaches its semi-final phase tonight at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cicinnati, Ohio, supported by a middleweight title fight and a compelling light-heavyweight feature between Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal and Roger Gracie.

Round-by-round results for the “Barnett vs. Kharitonov” Showtime main card will be piling up after the jump starting at 10:30 p.m. ET. CagePotato liveblog-mercenary Matt Kaplan will be handling business tonight, so please make him feel welcome, and refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.


(Dan Cormier does a dead-on impression of how his face is going to look after he gets hit with one of those fists. / Photo via MMAFighting.com)

Tonight, four big-ass dudes become two, and we mean that in the straightest way possible. Strikeforce’s lovably meaningless heavyweight tournament reaches its semi-final phase tonight at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cicinnati, Ohio, supported by a middleweight title fight and a compelling light-heavyweight feature between Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal and Roger Gracie.

Round-by-round results for the “Barnett vs. Kharitonov” Showtime main card will be piling up after the jump starting at 10:30 p.m. ET. CagePotato liveblog-mercenary Matt Kaplan will be handling business tonight, so please make him feel welcome, and refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.

……………..

I’ll take “liveblog-mercenary” over “Shemp Howard” any time, thank you very much.

Here we go. During the opening montage, the four remaining heavies are standing in what looks like a mini glacier forest. In their shorts. Barefoot. Hmm…

Frank Shamrock’s not sweating yet, so that’s good. Miletich says Cormier is a tougher match-up for Bigfoot than Overeem would have been. Interesting enough.

 Maximo Blanco vs. Pat Healy:  Mauro called Jimmy Lennon, Jr. the “maestro of the microphone.” He loves alliteration. Rd. 1: Healy is a big dude, but Blanco kicks out his back leg and is in half guard. Some short right hands and elbows from Blanco. Action gets back to a stand up, and Blanco connects with a right uppercut. Left head kick, knees and uppercuts from Blanco. Healy is down again and Blanco works from Healy’s open guard. Healy wants an armbar on Blanco’s right arm. Now he angles for a…what the f? Blanco just bitch slapped Healy with his toes. Healy is bleeding and the ref has stopped things for the doctors to take a look. Blanco lost a point. Rd 2: Healy pumps the jab, but Blanco moves his head well and stays safe. Blanco lands a spinning back fist, but Healy connects with harder counter punches. More Healy jabs. Healy slams Blanco to tha mat and works for the RNC, but to no avail. Healy falls, Blanco lands a right, Healy clinches and knees. Healy has Blanco’s back against the cage and looks for wrist control. Healy slams Blanco again, but Blanco is up. And back down once more. healy still wants that rear naked choke, but isn’t in position. Wait, yup he is. Dunzo. Healy wins via submission.

Big Black is sitting behind Rich Franklin ringside, in case anyone’s curious.

King Mo Lawal vs Roger Gracie: King Mo still wears the crown, huh? Oh well.  Gracie seems ot be in better shape. Rd 1: I like Gracie’s all black trunks. Very early 90s of him. Mo looks loose and poised. Gracie holds his hands high as both men feel things out with very little action. Mo throws a lead left hook. Gracie jabs. MO hits with a short left as Gracie moves in. The crowd is booing a little already. Mo catches a kick and connects with a right. A push kick from Gracie is followed up by a Gracie flying knee. Gracie jabs. Mo misses a snapping left hook from Mo. More feeling out. Big right from Mo drops Gracie, who doesn’t get back up after two more shots on the ground (that didn’t land clean). Mo put some stank on that right hand! Gracie is out of it.

In a pre-recorded interview, Barnett says he plans to rank Kharitonv amongst the dead and rip his flesh and drink his blood. The poor interviewer is incredibly uncomfortable right now. Her career plans for broadcast journalism are clearly not working out. Kharitonov’s translator is pretty hot.

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Luke Rockhold: Mauro says this fight is “pedigree vs. potential.” Rd 1: Rockhold kicks at the lead leg of the champ. Jacare shoots, but Rockhold sprawls. Big overhand right from Jacare, who drags Rockhold to floor and presses Rockhold’s hips down. Jacare is landing hard ground shots. Rockhold is up. But back down after a second. And back up we are. each man has an underhook. Jacare lands a knee against the fence. Push kick from Rockhold is answered with a right from Jacare. Another body kick from Rockhold and another right from Jacare. Rockhold catches Jacare coming in. Two good kicks from Rockhold! Jacare gets the takedown after two punches from Rockhold, but Rockhold gets right back up. Tough round to score. Rd 2: Spinning back kick and a lead leg kick from Roockhold. He just misses the head kick. More kicks and Jacare looks stymied. Jacare drops Rockhold with a right! Rockhold is back up, though. Here comes Jacare, pressing Rockhold against the fence again. Rockhold lands a straight left through Jacare’s hands. A lead right hook from Jacare lands. Knee from Rockhold in the clinch against the cage. Knee from Jacare. Knees to the thigh from Rockhold. They’re trading putting one another against the fence. And they break. Left from Rockhold. Right from Jacare. Jacare hits with another big overhand right. Rockhold ends the round with a kick. Rd 3: Front kick from Rockhold, who then lands a sharp left. Jacare switches up the stance. Body kick from Luke misses. Jacare’s kicks land. Luke kicks for real now. Jacare is kicked “in the peninsula south of the equator,” as bald Mauro says. After a break, Jacare snatches a single and dumps Luke onto the floor. Jacare is working furiously to finish, but Luke gets back to his feet. Punch-kick combo from Luke. Puch kick from Luke. Jacare blocks a left head kick. Luke kicks the lead leg once more. Jacare needs to get going. Luke is scoring with kicks and fists, high and low. Jacare cracks luke with a short right hook. Luke comes with a straight left and keeps mixing up his punches with kicks (and vice versa). Rd. 4: Three good rights from Jacare early are answered with a left from Luke. Luke charges in with kicks, but Jacare counters with that lead right hook. Jacare presses against the fence and takes some knees from Luke, who’s not got Jacare against the cage. Right hands and a right kick from Jacare have Luke backing up. Jacare drops for a double; Luke stuffs it with his back against the cage. A knee from Jacare; right hook from Luke as they break from the clinch. Good body kick from Luke, who stuffs another takedown and lands a left as Jacare stands back up. Knee from Luke as he muscles Jacare against the fence. Rd. 5: Front kick from Jacare and a body kick from Luke. Luke lands that straight left. Another front body kick from Jacare. Uppercut-left cross combo from Luke connects. Jacare swings and kicks and misses . Luke kicks low. Jacare hits a body kick and a low leg kick. Body shot from Luke is countered with a lead right hand against the cage. Jacare trips Luke and blankets him on the floor. Luke wants to sit up and slips away. They’re up. Left from Luke…and two good rights. Front kick from Jacare, but Luke keeps coming ahead. Jacare clinches but Luke escapes and lands a cool body kick, Right from Jacare. 1-2 from Luke. Left from Luke. Right from the champ. And another as he presses Luke against the fence. That was a good fight. And the winner is… Luke Rockhold by unanimous decision.

Mauro just quoted the WKRP in Cincinnati theme song. Gus Johnson who?

Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva vs. Daniel Cormier:  Bigfoot is a BJJ blackbelt “phenom”? We call that hyperbole. Miletich thinks Bigfoot Silva should be called “Giant Reach” Silva. (Because he has a big reach advantage, y’see.) Rd. 1: Rich Franklin’s bro is the ref? Head kick from Silva is blocked. Silva rushes in with punches and backs Cormier against the fence. They separate and Cormier lands a big right! Wow. Silva is down, and Cormier is in Silva’s guard. He’s out and lets the big fella back to his feet. Cormier lands a crisp left that stuns the Brazilian. And another. Silva shoots; nope. He’s pulling a Werdum and baiting Cormier into his guard. Silva’s up. Cormier sweeps him down and stays out of the guard. The crowd is restless as Silva remains down for a bit. 1-2 from Silva. Cormier drops Silva with a left jab and a right uppercut, and Silva is done! Cormier is in the finals.

Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov:This is the one fight on this card I’m really excited for.  Mauro just called Josh “Captain Catch Wrestling.”

Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov: This is the one fight on this card I’m really excited for.  Mauro just called Josh “Captain Catch Wrestling.” Rd. 1: Punches fly early from both men…and land, for the most part, Josh trips Sergei and is in the mounted position. Elbows, hammer fist. Sergei tries to buck, but in vain. And again. Josh is heavy on top. More gnp from Josh. Sergei strikes from his back. Heavy elbows from Josh. Damn. Josh fires down as Sergei punches up. Josh gets back control as Sergei covers up. Josh throws short uppercuts and hammer fists.  Sergei is flattened, pounded some more, and choked out from the side! Josh vs. Cormier in the finals.

Luke Rockhold Upsets Jacare for Strikeforce Middleweight Title

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsRonaldo “Jacare” Souza and Luke Rockhold battled for 25 minutes for the Strikeforce middleweight title on Saturday night, and in the end the judges awarded the hard-fought battle to Rockhold, making him the new middleweigh…

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Luke Rockhold Upsets Jacare for Strikeforce Middleweight Title.Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Luke Rockhold battled for 25 minutes for the Strikeforce middleweight title on Saturday night, and in the end the judges awarded the hard-fought battle to Rockhold, making him the new middleweight champion.

Jacare was a heavy favorite, but Rockhold fought toe-to-toe with him for five rounds, and in the end all three judges agreed that Rockhold had won it, with one judge scoring it 50-45 and two others scoring it 48-47.

An emotional Rockhold tried his best to thank all his coaches, training partners and sponsors afterward.

“It’s amazing,” Rockhold said through tears. “I couldn’t do it without everybody — so many people to thank, so many.”

Rockhold was extremely inexperienced going into the fight, with only eight fights on his record, all eight of which were finished in the first round. In fact, Rockhold’s 25 minutes in the cage with Jacare represented more fighting time than he had in his entire MMA career prior to Saturday night.

“I won the fight in five rounds,” Rockhold said. “I had never been out of the first round.”

The fight was almost entirely standing up, with the two of them on the ground for only about half a round of the five-round affair. That played against the strengths of Jacare, a world-class Brazilian jiu jitsu specialist. Rockhold fought the fight he wanted to fight, and he ended it a champion.

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Strikeforce Live Blog: Jacare Souza vs. Luke Rockhold Updates

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CINCINNATI — This is the Strikeforce live blog for Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Luke Rockhold, a middleweight title bout on tonight’s Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event at the U.S. Bank Arena.

Souza (14-2), coming off a submission win over Robbie Lawler in January, is making his second title defense. Rockhold (7-1) has won six straight fights under the Strikeforce banner.

The live blog is below.


Round 1: Souza flicks out a kick to start and Rockhold comes forward behind a couple low kicks of his own. Rockhold tries a knee off a Souza takedown attempt, but then gets caught with a hard right that sends him reeling across the cage. Souza follows, looking for the takedown. He struggles to get Rockhold down, but can’t do much more than hold him there. Rockhold tries to wall-walk and Souza punishes him with right hands for his trouble. Rockhold finally works to his feet and Souza nails him with a good knee in the clinch before letting him slip free. Rockhold showing some redness around his eyes, and Souza adds to it with another right hand that lands cleanly. Rockhold opens up with one flashy kick after another in the final 30 seconds, catching Souza with the second one. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Souza.

Round 2: Spinning heel kick to the body by Rockhold to start round two. He opens up with several kicks to the head and legs right afterwards, keeping Souza on the defensive. Huge right hand from Souza wobbles Rockhold. He’s in trouble. Souza goes after him and nails him with a couple more rights, but Rockhold hangs on and recovers with remarkable quickness. Another switch kick from Rockhold is mostly blocked. Souza ducks under a Rockhold punch and grabs a clinch. Rockhold works some knees to the thigh in close before Souza reverses the position. Rockhold comes forward with a nice straight left. Souza answers with another of those nasty looking rights. The horn sounds and MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Souza.

Round 3: Rockhold comes forward with a couple of kicks and Souza backs up to avoid them before firing off one of his own. Rockhold tosses out a left and then a low kick that nails Souza solidly in the groin. Referee Dan Miragliotta pauses it to give Souza a chance to recover. The fight restarts and Souza ducks under a Rockhold punch in search of a takedown, which he eventually gets. Rockhold scrambles up and Souza thinks about a standing kimura, but it was a little ambitious even for him. Rockhold winds up for a couple more kicks, but Souza can see them all coming and covers up to block. Rockhold stings Souza with a left, but Souza comes right back with another right hand that lands behind Rockhold’s ear. Rockhold spins all the way around hoping to surprise Souza with one last kick before the round ends, but no dice. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Souza.

Round 4: Rockhold slams Souza with a kick to the body in the early going of the fourth. ‘That hurt him!’ Rockhold’s corner shouts. Souza fires back with a right hand that shows he’s not too badly damaged. Souza dives in with a hook that misses, then settles for a clinch where he can fire off a nice knee before Rockhold reverses and puts his back against the fence. They separate and Rockhold misses with a hook, leaving an opening for Souza to come in behind a big right that grazes Rockhold. Souza shoots for a double-leg, but Rockhold defends well, even though he seems to be slowing down a little. Rockhold tries a spinning back heel kick and Souza grabs his leg, looking for the takedown. Rockhold defends and lands a knee in the clinch in the final seconds of the round. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Rockhold.

Round 5: Rockhold’s corner warns him that Souza is going to “come on strong” to start the final round, and they send him out with one word of advice: “Keep your hands up.” Souza doesn’t start any more aggressively than usual, however, and it’s Rockhold who’s on offense early. He backs Souza up with those long kicks and lands a nice left on a tired Souza. Souza moves into another clinch behind a right hand, and eventually gets Rockhold down. Rockhold soon works back to his feet without absorbing any damage, then goes on the attack with a couple punch combos that have Souza backing up. Rockhold follows after him and Souza snaps a front kick into his face, sending sweat flying in the final minute. Both men are tired, but Souza presses forward with a looping right and they end the fight leaning on each other in the clinch. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-10.

Luke Rockhold def. Ronaldo Souza via unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 48-47)

Well, that’s surprising. Just about every round was close, but I’m not sure how you give Rockhold every one of them.

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CINCINNATI — This is the Strikeforce live blog for Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Luke Rockhold, a middleweight title bout on tonight’s Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event at the U.S. Bank Arena.

Souza (14-2), coming off a submission win over Robbie Lawler in January, is making his second title defense. Rockhold (7-1) has won six straight fights under the Strikeforce banner.

The live blog is below.


Round 1: Souza flicks out a kick to start and Rockhold comes forward behind a couple low kicks of his own. Rockhold tries a knee off a Souza takedown attempt, but then gets caught with a hard right that sends him reeling across the cage. Souza follows, looking for the takedown. He struggles to get Rockhold down, but can’t do much more than hold him there. Rockhold tries to wall-walk and Souza punishes him with right hands for his trouble. Rockhold finally works to his feet and Souza nails him with a good knee in the clinch before letting him slip free. Rockhold showing some redness around his eyes, and Souza adds to it with another right hand that lands cleanly. Rockhold opens up with one flashy kick after another in the final 30 seconds, catching Souza with the second one. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Souza.

Round 2: Spinning heel kick to the body by Rockhold to start round two. He opens up with several kicks to the head and legs right afterwards, keeping Souza on the defensive. Huge right hand from Souza wobbles Rockhold. He’s in trouble. Souza goes after him and nails him with a couple more rights, but Rockhold hangs on and recovers with remarkable quickness. Another switch kick from Rockhold is mostly blocked. Souza ducks under a Rockhold punch and grabs a clinch. Rockhold works some knees to the thigh in close before Souza reverses the position. Rockhold comes forward with a nice straight left. Souza answers with another of those nasty looking rights. The horn sounds and MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Souza.

Round 3: Rockhold comes forward with a couple of kicks and Souza backs up to avoid them before firing off one of his own. Rockhold tosses out a left and then a low kick that nails Souza solidly in the groin. Referee Dan Miragliotta pauses it to give Souza a chance to recover. The fight restarts and Souza ducks under a Rockhold punch in search of a takedown, which he eventually gets. Rockhold scrambles up and Souza thinks about a standing kimura, but it was a little ambitious even for him. Rockhold winds up for a couple more kicks, but Souza can see them all coming and covers up to block. Rockhold stings Souza with a left, but Souza comes right back with another right hand that lands behind Rockhold’s ear. Rockhold spins all the way around hoping to surprise Souza with one last kick before the round ends, but no dice. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Souza.

Round 4: Rockhold slams Souza with a kick to the body in the early going of the fourth. ‘That hurt him!’ Rockhold’s corner shouts. Souza fires back with a right hand that shows he’s not too badly damaged. Souza dives in with a hook that misses, then settles for a clinch where he can fire off a nice knee before Rockhold reverses and puts his back against the fence. They separate and Rockhold misses with a hook, leaving an opening for Souza to come in behind a big right that grazes Rockhold. Souza shoots for a double-leg, but Rockhold defends well, even though he seems to be slowing down a little. Rockhold tries a spinning back heel kick and Souza grabs his leg, looking for the takedown. Rockhold defends and lands a knee in the clinch in the final seconds of the round. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Rockhold.

Round 5: Rockhold’s corner warns him that Souza is going to “come on strong” to start the final round, and they send him out with one word of advice: “Keep your hands up.” Souza doesn’t start any more aggressively than usual, however, and it’s Rockhold who’s on offense early. He backs Souza up with those long kicks and lands a nice left on a tired Souza. Souza moves into another clinch behind a right hand, and eventually gets Rockhold down. Rockhold soon works back to his feet without absorbing any damage, then goes on the attack with a couple punch combos that have Souza backing up. Rockhold follows after him and Souza snaps a front kick into his face, sending sweat flying in the final minute. Both men are tired, but Souza presses forward with a looping right and they end the fight leaning on each other in the clinch. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-10.

Luke Rockhold def. Ronaldo Souza via unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 48-47)

Well, that’s surprising. Just about every round was close, but I’m not sure how you give Rockhold every one of them.

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