Luke Rockhold Denies Tim Kennedy, Keeps Strikeforce Middleweight Title

Nothing seems to rattle Luke Rockhold, not even five hard rounds with Tim Kennedy.

Rockhold (10-1, 9-0 Strikeforce) stalked and struck his way to victory, as he retained the Strikeforce middleweight championship with a unanimous decision over Kennedy in the Strikeforce “Rockhold vs. Kennedy” headliner on Saturday at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore. All three cageside judges sided with Rockhold by identical 49-46 scores.

“The five-round wars suck, but hard work pays off,” Rockhold said. “I controlled the pace, I think. I stalked him most of the time and made him keep backing up. I defended all his takedowns, for the most part, and got a couple of my own.”

Controlling the center of the cage, the longer and taller champion backed up Kennedy throughout the grueling 25-minute bout. The challenger seemed reluctant to unleash more than one punch at a time, and it cost him. Rockhold countered effectively with straight lefts and right hooks, more than held his own in the clinch and turned away a majority of Kennedy’s takedown bids.

Rockhold connected on the most significant strike of the match in the fourth round, when he planted Kennedy with a right hand, followed him to the canvas and mounted him briefly. Kennedy (14-4, 5-2 Strikeforce) freed himself from the American Kickboxing Academy ace’s clutches but did nothing to push the champion outside of his comfort zone. Rockhold cruised from there.

“I feel good, but I think I could have let some combinations go,” he said. “I loaded up a lot and tried to head hunt. He’s got some funky strikes. They’re unorthodox, and it’s hard to read sometimes when you know he’s going to shoot.

“Kennedy is a great wrestler; he’s so tenacious,” Rockhold added. “What he lacks in technique, he makes up for in his heart and desire. He just keeps coming. I knew I couldn’t get stale for a second.”