Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy Predictions

Dave's Picks
Main Card

Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Kennedy: Great fight but hard to pick. Both guys are good everywhere but I think Rockhold will have the better striking. Kennedy might have the better ground game. I think Rockhold is just too hot right now. He is easily winning all of his fights and destroying people. I think Rockhold will control the pace and avoid submissions but he better be able to get off his back. = Rockhold by unanimous decision.

Nate Marquardt vs. Tyron Woodley: Woodley has never really impressed me. He is good but not great. Nate is an elite fighter. I will be shocked if he loses here. Nate will have the better striking and submissions. This is for the welterweight title and I see Nate taking this. = Nate by submission in round 2.

Roger Gracie vs. Keith Jardine: Jardine is done. He literally has no chin. His ground game is good but nowhere near the level of Gracie = Gracie by submission in round 1.

Lorenz Larkin vs. Robbie Lawler: Larkin actually looked pretty good against King Mo, who was jacked up with steroids. Mo is one of the best wrestlers to ever come over to MMA and Mo actually had a little trouble getting Larkin down. Lawler is a long time seasoned vet who has fought big names his whole career. Lawler is similar to Dan Henderson where he fights to land one big punch. Lawler has the power and has been successful with that style. But Larkin is going to be way faster and more technical. It is a hard one for me to pick. = Lawler by TKO in round 3.

Prelims

Jorge Masvidal vs. Justin Wilcox: Masvidal by unanimous decision.

Pat Healy vs. Mizuto Hirota: Healy by unanimous decision.

Jordan Mein vs. Tyler Stinson: Mein by unanimous decision.

Jason High vs. Nate Moore: High by unanimous decision.

Ryan Couture vs. Joe Duarte: Duarte by unanimous decision. 

Sam's Picks

Main Card

Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Kennedy: Tim Kennedy is going to be Rockhold's toughest test to date. They are both similar fighters where there standup is solid but they are best on the ground. Rockhold is the type of fighter that gets better after every fight, especially in his striking. He seriously impressed me with his performance against Keith Jardine, where he brutally finished him with punches in the first round. I think one of the big deciding factors heading into this match is the fact that Tim Kennedy hasn't fought in almost a year; while Rockhold just fought a few months ago. Rockhold should take this but it will be closer than the betting lines are showing = Rockhold by unanimous decision.

Tyron Woodley vs. Nate Marquardt:  Finally, Nate is making his welterweight debut. Woodley is a tough first test, but he has no chance. He barely won his last fight against Jordan Mein, who I thought he would easily beat, and hasn't done much else. He is a strong wrestler but Marquardt was a huge and strong middleweight. Marquardt will beat him anywhere the fight goes = Marquardt by 4th round TKO.

Roger Gracie vs. Keith Jardine: Jardine's career is over. Gracie will hurt him, take him down, and submit him. Fight over. = Gracie by 1st round submission (choke).

Lorenz Larkin vs. Robbie Lawler: Larkin has a very bright future. He has great kickboxing and decent takedown defense. Robbie Lawler has some crazy power and Larkin showed that he is susceptible to being finished = Lawler by 2nd round KO.

Prelims

Jorge Masvidal vs. Justin Wilcox: Masvidal by 3rd round TKO.

Pat Healy vs. Mizuto Hirota: Healy by unanimous decision.

Jordan Mein vs. Tyler Stinson: Mein by split decision.

Jason High vs. Nate Moore: High by 1st round submission

Ryan Couture vs. Joe Duarte: Duarte by unanimous decision. 

UFC on FX 4 Prelim Recap

                                                                                   Photo by Joe Camporeale, US PRESSWIRE

Dustin Pague vs. Ken Stone: This fight was not the most exciting but Ken Stone won by split decision over Pague who took this fight on one week notice. Ken Stone really does not gain much from this fight due to that fact and Pague barely loses any steam in the UFC brass’ eyes because he took it on extremely short notice.

Possible matchups: I can see Ken Stone facing off against Nick Denis because Stone is moving up and Denis just came down the rankings. Pague should face Jeff Hougland. That fight will determine who is UFC caliber and who needs to go.

Ricardo Funch vs. Dan Miller: This fight could have been voted Fight of the Night. It was back and forth both standing and on the ground. Every round was close and then Dan Miller pulled of a guillotine choke out of nowhere.

Possible matchups: Funch simply is not UFC quality but if he was to stay around I would say a fight with Jake Hecht in a loser gets cut match would be acceptable. Miller would have a good fight with either Brock Jardine or James Head. Both of those matchups interest me.

Matt Brown vs. Luis Ramos: This was a fun fight as well. All Matt Brown fights are fun! Matt Brown is not the best fighter in the world but can beat almost anyone at 170 when he is on. In this fight we saw Matt Brown’s endless assault finally take out Ramos in round two after a flurry of uppercuts and knees that left Ramos a bloody mess.

Possible matchups: Ramos needs to get cut and get some wins outside the UFC. Brown should fight either Rich Attonito or John Maguire. Both of those matchups would be very competitive and help us understand where Attonito and Maguire stand in the rankings.

Chris Camozzi vs. Nick Catone: This fight was okay. It was back and forth but ended with the always unsatisfying stoppage due to a cut. Chris Camozzi caused the stoppage with a brutal knee in round 3. It really sucked for Catone because he was fighting in his hometown.

Possible matchups: Camozzi keeps on winning somehow despite the fact that his skills lack technique and polish. But Camozzi has won two straight and is 4-2 in the UFC and that’s pretty dang good. I can see him facing off against Clifford Starks who is a very tough guy. Or maybe Brad Taveres who is another fighter who is not very technical but is 3-1 in the UFC.

Joey Gambino vs. Steven Siler: Going into this fight Gambino was very highly touted even though it was his Octagon debut. I know he trains at Tri-Star but I did not believe his hype. I do like Siler a lot and knew he was the real deal. Both Sam (the other writer here at CR) and I knew Siler would dominate. A lot of people disagreed with us but in the end we were right. Everyone wants to put down Siler. Before his fight with Cole Miller everyone counted him out and once he won everyone was like “Cole Miller sucks anyway, that win doesn’t mean anything”. So, ridiculous. But anyway, Siler absolutely killed this poor kid and it was a brutal, bloody display.

Possible matchups: It is time for Siler to get a contender. I think Siler should fight Jonathan Brookins. That fight would be fast and sick! Plus it would catapult one of them into title contention. For Gambino, he needs to face someone a little less seasoned. Someone like Pat Schilling. That would be a good loser goes home match. However, Gambino could always make his way back to the UFC and make a name for himself but he looked bad in this fight.

Rick Story vs. Brock Jardine: Pretty boring fight with the ultra-seasoned Rick Story taking on UFC newbie Brock Jardine. First off Brock Jardine is a crazy MMA name mixing Brock Lesnar and Keith Jardine but anyway…The fight just showed that this was a mismatch and the UFC wanted Rick Story to get back to his winning ways.

Possible matchups: Story needs to get a matchup with a guy on his own level. Someone like Jake Ellenberger or the winner of Demian Maia/Dong Hyun Kim. Both of those fights would be fun and help give some order to the welterweight division. Jardine should get someone closer to his level as well. He could take on Che Mills or Carlo Prater.

Ramsey Nijem vs. C.J. Keith: Keith looked okay in the first 45 seconds but then Nijem went on a tear and destroyed Keith at 2:29 of the first round. It was a brutal loss for Keith because he also missed weight and had to give up 20% of his purse to Nijem.

Possible matchups: Keith is not UFC caliber and after an ugly loss and not making weight he will most likely get cut and he probably should. Nijem keeps impressing me. After his horrible loss to Ferguson, I didn’t think he had much of a future but he has now won two easy victories. I think Nijem needs a step up in competition. A fight with Tim Means (our exclusive interview with Means) would be a ton of fun and prove us Nijem can handle a deadly striker.

Hatsu Hioki vs. Ricardo Lamas: Everyone and their mother told us we predicted this way wrong. Even some of the biggest MMA news sites all voted for Hioki but Sam and I were not convinced due to his other efforts in the Octagon. I have always liked Lamas, even when he was an undersized lightweight. He is always fun to watch and he has a great fighting spirit. Lamas looked great by winning the standup and almost submitting the submission ace. Ricardo ended up taking a unanimous decision. I loved how we called this correctly and it shows are MMA brains off.

Possible matchups: No doubt that Lamas fights the Korean Zombie and Hioki fights Dustin Poirier. Those fights make perfect sense with both Lamas and Zombie getting big wins and Poirier and Hioki coming off big losses. Both of those fights would be a ton of fun and I would pay to see those for sure. Make it happen Dana!

For the Main Card Recap Click here

Quick Picks: Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine

Dave’s Picks

Champ Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine: Jardine by TKO in round 3.

Adlan Amagov vs. Robbie Lawler: Lawler by KO in round 1.

Lorenz Larkin vs. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal: Lawal by TKO in round 2.

Jordan Mein vs. Tyron Woodley: Woodley by unanimous decision.

Tarec Saffiedine vs. Tyler Stinson: Tarec by unanimoud decision.

Sam’s Picks

Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine = Rockhold by 4th round TKO.

Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov = Lawler by 2nd round KO. My pick for KOTN!

Lorenz Larkin vs. Muhammad Lawal = King Mo by unanimous decision.

Jordan Mein vs. Tyron Woodley = Woodley by unanimous decision.

Tarec Saffiedine vs. Tyler Stinson = Saffiedine by unanimous decision.