Rockhold Retains Title; Arum Lines Up Possible Foes for Pacman
Rockhold Retains Strikeforce Crown, Dismantles Jardine
By Brian Knapp
Find more from Brian and other excellent writers at the fine MMA website www.sherdog.com
Luke Rockhold was too much for Keith Jardine Saturday in Las Vegas.
Luke Rockhold cemented his status as one of the world’s best middleweights at the expense of UFC veteran Keith Jardine.
Rockhold retained his Strikeforce middleweight championship and knocked out Jardine in savage fashion in the Strikeforce “Rockhold vs. Jardine” headliner on Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Jardine, who was making his first appearance at 185 pounds after a successful run at light heavyweight, met his end at the hands of the young champion 4:26 into round one.
“It means a lot,” said Rockhold (9-1, 8-0 SF), who will carry an eight-fight winning streak into his next bout. “He’s tough, and he came to fight. Too bad for him, I love fighting. When the cage door shuts, I feel like it’s my world.”
Aside from Jardine’s trademark leg kicks, Rockhold had no problems with the man they call “The Dean of Mean.” He softened Jardine with knees to the body from the clinch and an exquisite spinning back kick to the gut. A right hand wobbled Jardine (17-10-2, 0-1-1 SF) and sent him reeling backwards, the champion in hot pursuit. Rockhold landed another clean right that put down the challenger, and then he swarmed. With Jardine on the ground, first in a seated position and later defenseless on his side, Rockhold handed him a gnarly beating at the base of the cage.
“I knew I was too quick, a little too much footwork,” Rockhold said. “I could sit back and hit that counter right hand.”
Rockhold, who was originally booked to meet Tim Kennedy, appeared indifferent when the idea of reconstituting the matchup was brought forth.
“I like to fight, I like getting paid, but I love the competition,” he said. “Right now, all the best guys are in the UFC. Those are the guys I want.”
Lawler Knee, Punches Flatten Amagov
Former EliteXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler stopped AMA Fight Club representative Adlan Amagov with a flying knee and follow-up ground punches 1:48 into round one the co-main event. The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Lawler (19-8, 3-4 SF).
Amagov (9-2-1, 2-1 SF) scored with a takedown inside the first 15 seconds, but shot himself in the foot when he was docked a point for an illegal knee strike to the head of his grounded opponent. The blow afforded Lawler a brief respite and, more importantly, the opportunity to return to his feet.
“It bothered me a little bit but not too much,” Lawler said. “It was just a grazer. I thought he was going to go to my chest.”
After the restart, Lawler launched himself skyward and clipped Amagov with the knee. The Russian crumpled to the floor, and Lawler let loose with a series of power shots that resulted in the finish. It was the 11th first-round stoppage of his career.
“I was going to get right in his face and bomb on him,” Lawler said. “I’m happy to win. I’m going to go back to the drawing board, work on all my skills and look to keep knocking people out.”
Lawal put a beatdown on Larkin.‘King Mo’ Steamrolls Larkin
Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal smashed through Lorenz Larkin, as he stopped the previously unbeaten Californian with brutal ground-and-pound 92 seconds into round two of their featured 205-pound duel.
Outside of a few Larkin right hands at the end of the first round and the start of the second, Lawal (9-1, 4-1 SF) pitched a shutout. He grounded the striker with takedowns in both rounds and hammered away with heavy punches and elbows from inside guard. Larkin (12-1, 3-1 SF) finally broke in round two, as Lawal put him on his back and unleashed a series of hellacious right hands that forced the stoppage.
Perfect in two appearances since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery, Lawal has positioned himself as a leading contender for the vacant Strikeforce light heavyweight title.
“The next person’s taking a beating like that, too,” he said.
Woodley Stays Unbeaten, Eyes Vacant Title
American Top Team’s Tyron Woodley kept his perfect professional record intact, as he grinded his way to a split decision over fast-rising Canadian prospect Jordan Mein in a welterweight showcase. Two of the three judges, Tony Weeks and Marcos Rosales, rewarded Woodley with 29-28 and 30-27 scorecards; a third, Glenn Trowbridge, ruled it 29-28 in Mein’s favor.
Woodley worked some kicks to the body and legs in the opening moments, but it became apparent he had no interest in engaging his 21-year-old opponent on the feet. A two-time All-American wrestler at the University of Missouri, Woodley outworked Mein (23-8, 1-1 SF) in the clinch and struck for takedowns in all three rounds. Woodley kept Mein pinned to the mat, limiting the Canadian to occasional elbows from the bottom.
Content to remain in Mein’s guard, Woodley threw out short punches and scattered elbows from the top, as he went the distance for the third consecutive fight.
“He’s a long kid,” Woodley said. “He stretches you out. Jordan Mein is one of the toughest guys in our weight class, which is why the fight excited me. Overall, I think I did well. I wish I had been more aggressive with my strikes.”
Woodley (10-0, 8-0 SF) has designs on the vacant Strikeforce welterweight crown.
“I should be fighting for the title next,” he said, “no matter who it’s against.”
Saffiedine Outduels, Outpoints Stinson
Welterweight contender Tarec Saffiedine weathered a harrowing first round to win for the fifth time in six appearances, as he took a split decision from Bellator Fighting Championships veteran Tyler Stinson in a preliminary encounter at 170 pounds. Two of the three cageside judges, Adelaide Byrd and Patricia Morse-Jarman, ruled in favor of Saffiedine (12-3, 4-1 SF) by 29-28 and 30-27 counts; a third, Lester Griffin, scored it 29-28 for Stinson.
Stinson (22-8, 1-1 SF) had Saffiedine on his heels in round one, as he wobbled and bloodied the Belgian with a beautiful standing elbow in the clinch. Saffiedine survived the blow and subsequent left hooks, carrying the fight into the second period. There, the Team Quest standout turned to takedowns and ground-and-pound, altering the complexion of the fight.
Saffiedine, bleeding from multiple facial cuts, scored with a powerful double-leg takedown in the third round and again plastered his foe with short elbows and punches to the head and body. After a late restart, Stinson closed with a punches-and-kicks flourish, but it was not enough to impact the scorecards.
“It wasn’t my best performance tonight, but I got the job done,” Saffiedine said. “Tyler is a really tough opponent. He caught me in the first round.”
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Manny Pacquiao to hear fight options
by Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is headed for the Philippines on Sunday to visit Manny Pacquiao and will present him with four options for his next fight — none of whom is Floyd Mayweather Jr.
With Mayweather out of the mix for the time being, as he is scheduled to begin serving a three-month jail term on Friday for a domestic abuse conviction, Arum said the list he will offer to Pacquiao includes Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Timothy Bradley Jr. and Lamont Peterson.
“I’ll sit with Manny and explain everything to him, tell him what I think each of these fights would do on pay-per-view,” Arum told ESPN.com on Wednesday. “We’ll talk about what (trainer) Freddie (Roach) thinks and about what (Top Rank matchmaker) Bruce (Trampler) thinks. Then I’ll let Manny make the decision on which opponent he wants to fight, which I am sure he will do while I am there.”
Arum is flying to Manila with Michael Konz, Pacquiao’s adviser, who will also attend the meeting.
“Besides the opponent, the other thing we need to discuss is whether he’ll fight in May or June,” Arum said.
Mayweather had announced that he planned to fight on May 5 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas — and that he hoped to fight Pacquiao — before he was sentenced last month to six months, with three months suspended, in the Clark County Detention Center near Las Vegas.
Mayweather was sentenced after he accepted a plea deal in the domestic violence case stemming from an incident with his with ex-girlfriend, Josie Harris, the mother of three of his children.
“I’m not married to May 5, so Manny could fight on another date in May,” Arum said. “If Manny’s opponent is Marquez, I’d be much more married to the date.”
The reason is because Marquez is from Mexico and May 5 is the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo, traditionally a day when major bouts involving Mexican fighters are held.
Regardless of Pacquiao’s opponent, the fight will be carried on HBO PPV, Arum said.
A closer look at Pacquiao’s four possible opponents:
• Marquez: He is Pacquiao’s great rival. Pacquiao won a controversial majority decision against him to retain his welterweight belt on Nov. 12 in their third fight. Pacquiao now stands 2-0-1 against Marquez. All three bouts have been action-packed and ended with a debatable decision.
“All three fights were so close and this fight would be another intriguing, close fight and have a built in audience, particularly the Hispanic fans who believe that Marquez won that fight (on Nov. 12) and was robbed of the decision,” Arum said.
Arum said he does not have Marquez, who is a free agent, under contract. But he says they have a good relationship and that Marquez made his biggest payday against Pacquiao.
• Cotto: Pacquiao stopped Cotto in the 12th round of a 2009 welterweight title bout, but Cotto has won three fights in a row by knockout since, including claiming a junior middleweight title and stopping Antonio Margarito in the 10th round of a dominant performance in a much-anticipated rematch on Dec 3.
“Cotto looked terrific with Margarito, he has the biggest fan base with the Puerto Rican (pay-per-view) numbers he delivers and he’s the biggest name of the four,” Arum said. “Also, people remember that the first four rounds of his fight with Manny were hellacious. You could sell it based on the fact that, yeah, Manny beat the old Cotto, but the new Cotto is a problem and they would be fighting at a higher weight. Last time it was a welterweight fight. This would be a junior middleweight fight with the (catch weight) a little lower than 154 pounds.”
• Bradley: Last year, Arum signed Bradley, a junior welterweight titlist who would have to move up in weight for the bout, with the idea that he would be a potential future opponent for Pacquiao. Bradley, whose fights are not known for brisk ticket sales, has never headlined a pay-per-view card. He was featured on the undercard of Pacquiao’s November fight with Marquez.
“Bradley is undefeated, he’s considered to be a tough out and, for those looking at the most competitive fight, Bradley would be considered more competitive with Pacquiao than Peterson might be,” Arum said.
Bradley owns a lopsided 2009 decision win against Peterson in a junior welterweight title fight.
• Peterson: He upset Amir Khan on a controversial split decision to win a pair of junior welterweight belts on Dec. 10. Arum does not promote Peterson, who is a free agent, but used to and has a good relationship with Barry Hunter, Peterson’s manager and trainer.
“There are pluses and minuses,” Arum said of Peterson, who has never headlined a pay-per-view card but drew a raucous crowd in his hometown of Washington D.C., for the Khan fight. “Clearly, Bradley whitewashed Peterson, so you have that. But on the other hand you have Peterson coming off this fight with Khan that had a lot of publicity and it was a terrific fight.
“And you also have this wonderful back story of how Lamont grew up in poverty. It’s U.S. poverty versus Filipino-style poverty. Both guys came up in as much poverty as you could imagine. That would be a theme of a promotion if Peterson is selected as the opponent.”
Arum said he had no particular preference on which opponent Pacquiao should select.
“I’ll explain all the scenarios to Manny, but I don’t care,” he said. “I’m Switzerland. I’ll present the opponents and we’ll discuss it, but Manny makes his own decision. Now if I was leaning a particular way and I told Manny, he would probably do it because that’s the kind of guy he is.”
Arum said his trip to the Philippines is planned to coincide with a commercial shoot Pacquiao is doing for Hennessy cognac, which recently signed him as a spokesman.
“Hennessy is also doing a sponsorship deal with Top Rank, so I want to be there to show support,” Arum said.
Although many have had their doubts over the past couple of years that a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight has gone unmade, Arum said that he still hopes to make the fight when Mayweather is available.
“You can’t expect Floyd, after having been in prison, to come out and go right into a big fight,” Arum said. “He won’t be available to train or promote a fight in May or June. He’ll probably want to have a tune-up fight.
“I just hope that he swallows his ego and doesn’t get into trouble when he is in (jail), because then the incarceration can go not only the full 90 days, but he could have the 90 days added on (to his three-month suspended sentence). You know they’re not looking to do him any favors in jail.”
So the earliest the long-sought fight could be held is in November, Arum said. “And we still have not been told by Floyd who we should sit down with to hammer everything out. ”
Arum said he feels badly for Mayweather and the victim in the case.
“I really feel sad for him. You feel sorry for the guy. I know what he did was totally unacceptable in society, but you can still feel sorry for him. You feel sorry for the victim in this (Josie Harris, Mayweather’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of three of his children) but you can feel sorry for Floyd, too.”
Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter.
