Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

“Can somebody beat him up for me, please?”

Aside from a genuine, non-ironic “talk to the hand” that I had no idea people still said, that was all that Vitor Belfort had to say to reporters during the post-fight press conference last night about the elephant in the room. And frankly, I’m not going to add much else about it, either. You couldn’t talk to many fans – or even the fighters involved – about this fight without engaging in a lengthy discussion about drug usage. Naturally, Belfort winning the fight only intensified these discussions, as though there should be an asterisk next to the W on his record.

In many ways, the elephant in the room seemed to overshadow the actual fight between Belfort and Rockhold. That’s tragic, considering what we were treated to.

I won’t write that Belfort’s chemical wizardry is completely meaningless in a fight; if it was, he wouldn’t bother with it. But attributing the absolutely brilliant spinning kick that ended this fight – and made a strong case for Knockout of the Year for this year’s Potato Awards – to a loaded syringe is just as laughably misinformed. Belfort was Rockhold’s first true test, and The Phenom simply proved to be too much for him.

(And remember folks, this is a UFC main event, so the fight will be scheduled for five rounds, and both fighters will be allowed to receive injections of synthetic testosterone during training. Wait, what’s that? Only *one* of them can do that? Well how the fuck does that make any sense? / Photo via Getty Images)

Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to go live from Jaraguá do Sul — known to many* as the Kansas City of Brazil — for UFC on FX 8: Belfort vs. Rockhold. Once again, the Phenom has home-country advantage and the Lord’s blessing. Will that be enough to stave off the invasion of a young, hungry, and very amped-up former Strikeforce champ? Plus: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza makes his UFC debut against Chris Camozzi, and Rafael Dos Anjos clashes with Evan Dunham in the lightweight division.

Taking us through the play-by-play tonight will be Matt Kaplan, who will be stacking live results after the jump beginning at 9 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and toss in your own thoughts in the comments section — or just holler at us on twitter @CagePotatoMMA.

* Or perhaps, nobody?

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

During Thursday’s UFC on FX 8 pre-fight press conference, Vitor Belfort did that thing he loves to do where he held his right fist out to Luke Rockhold‘s chin during their photo-op staredown. Luke was not amused. So, after the two headliners weighed in today at Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil, Rockhold just walked straight through Belfort’s fist-pose, making body contact with the Brazilian fighter. Belfort shoved Rockhold, and Bootleg Dana had to separate them.

Video of that incident is above, and the full “Belfort vs. Rockhold” weigh-in results are after the jump. Be sure to come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night at 9 p.m. ET for our liveblog of the main card!

(Buy it now at Amazon!)

This Saturday at UFC on FX 8, Vitor Belfort will welcome Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold to the Octagon for the first time, in front of a friendly crowd in Jaraguá do Sul, Brazil. Belfort is coming off of his second-round TKO of Michael Bisping at UFC on FX 7 (which also happened to take place in Brazil), while Rockhold hasn’t competed since last July, when he picked up his ninth-consecutive win against Tim Kennedy. At this point, you should start formulating your opinion about which of these guys will win, and how — because if you can predict the future, we’ll make it worth your while.

Yes, ladies and gents, it’s fight-picking time once again. Shoot us your prediction for the Belfort vs. Rockhold fight in the comments section of this post, and the two closest guesses will each score a copy of Bruce Buffer‘s new autobiography It’s Time! My 360° View of the UFC, autographed by the Buffman himself. (If you missed our review of the book yesterday, click here.) Your predictions should be arranged like this…

(Vitor anxiously waits to find out what kinds of drugs he’ll be testing.)

Trying to get Vitor Belfort to issue a clear statement about his relationship with testosterone replacement therapy has been pretty much impossible over the past few months. So far, what we know is that the thirty-five year old Brazilian – who has failed a drug test in the past – was granted a TUE for TRT prior to his UFC on FX 7 victory over Michael Bisping, but none of that matters because when you judge people, it sounds like you are a god and freedom and privacy and all that other fun stuff. Not that I’m trying to sound like a god or anything, but shady, evasive non-answers like these are one of the many reasons that Dana White has recently promised to crack down on TRT usage.

Yet at a press conference for UFC on FX 8, Belfort gave the reporters on hand a straightforward answer about his usage, claiming not only that he tests himself regularly to ensure that his levels stay within the acceptable range, but also that the UFC has always known about his usage. Via Tatame:

“The UFC always knew that I use, do not do it to cheat. I have medical monitoring and UFC also accompanies it. Never broken through anything, always acted cleanly. Do blood tests every week to equal the testosterone levels of a person my age. Many people are averse to treatment. I am not. I am in favor of people being open and fair in what they are doing.”

(Click chart for full-size version. For previous Databombs, click here.)

By Reed Kuhn, @Fightnomics

The UFC Middleweight division has long been ruled by the most feared and successful striker in MMA history, champion Anderson Silva. And perhaps more so than in smaller divisions, striking has been a good predictor of success at Middleweight. So examining this division in core striking performance metrics should provide good insight to how fighters will fare against each other in standup. A full explanation of the chart and variables is included at the end of this post.

But first, let’s see how the whole division stacks up against each other, and look at the winners and losers.

The Winners

Sniper Award: Two fights into his UFC career, cross-trained Dutchman Michael Kuiper has landed 49% of his power head strikes. We’ll see if he can maintain this in his upcoming matchup with veteran brawler Tom Lawlor in Sweden. Honorable mention must be given to Anderson Silva who has maintained 40% accuracy over his lengthy and dominant career. And also noteworthy is Italian boxer, Alessio Sakara, currently on the bench for health reasons.

Energizer Bunny Award: Strikeforce veteran Roger Gracie has been almost doubling the striking output of opponents on his way to a string of submission wins in typical Gracie fashion. Some grapplers use strikes to set up their mat-work, others don’t. Honorable mentions go to former champ Rich Franklin, and Strikeforce champ and crossover contender Luke Rockhold, who each tend to outpace their opponents by over 80%.

Biggest Ball(s) Award: The UFC record holder for knockdowns is Anderson Silva. He is literally the best in the business at dropping dudes. Statistically, when Silva lands a power head strike, there’s a 27% chance it will result in a knockdown, which is just ridiculous. These skills have won him Knockout of the Night honors seven times in the UFC.

(“OH GOD, OH GOD. I CAN’T FIND A PULSE, YOSEMITE!”) 

Considering Anderson Silva has all but left the middleweight division for the more lucrative worlds of light-heavyweight squash matches and straight-to-DVD cop films, we think it’s going to be pretty difficult for the UFC to put their patented “winner gets a title shot” rub on the upcoming UFC on FX 8 card scheduled for May 18th. Sure, the event features both a headlining fight between top contenders Vitor Belfort and Luke Rockhold and now a middleweight clash between Ronaldo Souza and Costa Philippou, but when your division’s champion has been turning down the matchups that have been offered to him for months now, to what extent can you start promoting number one contenders?

Be that as it may, UFC on FX 8 will now feature a pair of middleweight showdowns that should have title implications written all over them, as the pairing of Souza and Philippou was just made official a few hours ago. Since losing his Strikeforce middleweight title to Rockhold in September of 2011, “Jacare” has collected three straight stoppage victories, including a first round kimura submission of Ed Herman at Strikeforce’s final event last month.

(Image via CombatLifestyle)

Fight bookings continue to dominate the MMA headlines, Potato Nation. Fortunately for us, it looks like 2013 will be a year where at least half of these announced fights actually make it to the cards they were originally intended to be on.

Although the matchup was hinted at a few weeks ago, both Vitor Belfort and Luke Rockhold vehemently denied that a bout between them was anywhere near a done deal. In fact, the final Strikeforce middleweight champ even went as far as to call out Costa Philippou for his promotional debut, a move that seems like a classic bait and switch in hindsight. In either case, it has been announced that Belfort and Rockhold will indeed be facing off next at a yet-to-be-named event in Brazil, go figure.

Belfort is fresh off a second round destruction of Michael Bisping at UFC on FX 7 that was first attributed to an omniscient higher power but later revealed to be at least partially influenced by the highest power of them all (other than bath salts, of course): testosterone. Rockhold, on the other hand, was scheduled to face Lorenz Larkin at Strikeforce’s once-named Champions event last month, but was forced to pull out from the fight with a wrist injury. Or as Lorenz would call it, a “wrist injury.”

(Let’s just say that one of these men doesn’t start each morning with six ounces of lean protein. / Photo via AllElbows)

Following Vitor Belfort‘s stunning head-kick finish of Michael Bisping last weekend, UFC president Dana White threw out an interesting suggestion for the Brazilian’s next opponent: “[Luke] Rockhold. That’s what we’re talking about.”

Rockhold, who is now officially a UFC middleweight following a flawless nine-fight run in Strikeforce, hasn’t competed since his decision win over Tim Kennedy last July, and recently called out Costa Philippou for his UFC debut — a move that now seems pretty damn humble. By comparison, a match against Belfort would give the AKA product a much higher profile for his Octagon debut, and could help break him as a new UFC star if he’s victorious.

In a related story, Anderson Silva‘s manager Jorge Guimaraes told SporTV that they’d like to face Rockhold next: ”It would be champion against champion. It’s a good fight to promote.” And it would, in the same way that Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez is a good fight to promote. We just can’t shake the feeling that there’s at least one other guy in the UFC middleweight division who’s a little more deserving.

So here’s my idea — a single-night four-man tournament to determine the next middleweight title contender, featuring Belfort, Rockhold, Chris Weidman, and Hector Lombard, in which all fighters would be required to be on TRT. (An alternate bout between Jacare Souza and Minowaman would be slated on the prelims.) I know, I know, I should have Joe Silva’s job. It’s all politics, bro.

(We’re sorry for your loss, Lorenz, but believe us when we say that we know how it feels to be passed over.)

A few hours ago, we made the foolish suggestion that once all of Strikeforce’s chosen ones made their way over to the UFC, Luke Rockhold, should finally give Lorenz Larkin the title shot he had so rightfully earned by collecting four victories in their former promotion over mostly unknowns and nearly getting beaten to death by a roided up King Mo. Rockhold has been ducking him nursing various injuries for months now, and we figured it would be in the champ’s best interest to put all the doubt to rest in regard to Larkin once and for all.

Which is why it makes perfect sense that Rockhold has now called out Costa Philippou and completely invalidated our work in the process. Rockhold recently spoke with MMAFighting – but only because we were totally busy doing some research at the time — and not only did he pick a potential opponent for his UFC debut, but he picked a venue as well:

I think Costa Philippou makes the most sense right now. He’s coming off a win, and I think he’s a good opponent. Let’s get it on at [UFC on FOX 7].

As you can see, Rockhold is going to need to step up his shit-talking game if he ever wants a shot at becoming the real middleweight champion. Acknowledging a potential opponents victories? Calling him “a good opponent?” Jesus, Luke, if you don’t start making name-related insults (Can’t-stand-ya Tulip-poo?) or start mocking “the dirt poor Pygmy people of Cyprus” pretty soon, it’s going to be all FX and FUEL undercards for you from here on out.

(Oh yeah, this guy is headed over as well. Thank God for that.)

As we reported yesterday, Jorge Gurgel’s claim that the fighters who came up short at Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine would find themselves out of a UFC contract was not exactly truthful. KJ Noons, Kurt Holobaugh, and Anthony Smith, for example, all suffered defeats at the event and were ironically the first names to be mentioned in the Strikeforce/UFC…migration, I guess?

On last night’s edition of UFC Tonight, the full list of Strikeforce fighters who would be making the transition to the big leagues was announced, and suffice it to say, there were a couple rather puzzling omissions and inclusions. After the jump is that full list, along with our thoughts on who some of these gentlemen should face in their UFC debuts.

HEAVYWEIGHT 
-Daniel Cormier (11-0 MMA, 8-0 SF)

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT 
-Gegard Mousasi (33-3-2 MMA, 4-1-1 SF)
-Gian Villante (10-3 MMA, 3-2 SF)

CagePotato Conspiracy Theory: Rockhold isn’t hurt, but he already sold the belt on eBay while people were still willing to bid on his treasure.

There’s no need for a wordy introduction here: Strikeforce has officially become so incompetent that it can’t even die correctly.

After canceling two consecutive events, Strikeforce planned to have an absolutely stacked grand finale on January 12, 2013 featuring three title fights and Heavyweight Grand Prix champion Daniel Cormier. Much like everything else that Strikeforce has planned since being purchased by Zuffa, things quickly went wrong. First, lightweight kingpin Gilbert Melendez got injured/realized he was in a no-win scenario fighting for Strikeforce again and pulled out of the event. Now, middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is also off of the card, citing a wrist injury as the reason for his departure. According to The MMA Corner:

The MMA Corner has learned from sources close to the camp of Rockhold that the middleweight champion has suffered a wrist injury and has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled Jan. 12 title defense against Lorenz Larkin.

(Between the facial hair and the t-shirt, the dude was kind of asking for it. / Photo via @RockholdMMA)

Strikeforce’s already-struggling November 3rd event just lost a title fight. Multiple sources have reported that middleweight champ Luke Rockhold recently suffered a wrist injury, and has withdrawn from his scheduled belt-defense against Lorenz Larkin next month in Oklahoma City.

The 11/3 event was originally headlined by Daniel Cormier vs. Frank Mir, before Mir dropped out last month due to an injury of his own. A replacement opponent for Cormier still hasn’t been booked yet — no thanks to Meathead — and now that the card has lost its co-main event as well, the lineup has gone from “damn good” to “damn, are they going to cancel this one too?”

The supporting bouts still scheduled for the card include Jorge Masvidal vs. Bobby Green, Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Smith, and Sara McMann vs. Liz Carmouche. We’ll update you when Strikeforce figures out what the hell its going to do. Our suggestion: Put the remaining fights on Showtime Extreme, and use the original timeslot for Gigolos reruns.

(“Hey girl, you must be a comb because you’re been running through my hair all day. Wait, no, I fucked that up.”)

The previously reported UFC/Strikeforce crossover bout between Frank Mir and Daniel Cormier finally has a date and location. According to new reports from MMAFighting and USA Today, the fight will headline a November 3rd Strikeforce card at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Barring some bizarre post-fight fiasco, both fighters are expected to head (back) to the UFC after the event, no matter the outcome of the match.

As Cormier told USA Today, “I am excited to be going back to Oklahoma for this fight because it’s been like my second home. My first fight was in Oklahoma, and the biggest fight of my Strikeforce career will be there…Fighting Frank Mir is an honor, as I’ve always viewed him as a great warrior and champion of the sport. This matchup shows that Zuffa is committed to putting me in big fights, and for that I thank them.”

Cormier is a perfect 10-0 in his MMA career, most recently outpointing Josh Barnett in the finals of Strikeforce’s heavyweight grand prix. Cormier broke his right hand during the fight and was forced to undergo surgery. Mir’s last performance was a TKO loss to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 146, which snapped a three-fight winning streak in the Octagon.

Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is also expected to be on the 11/3 card, against an opponent to be named later. Update: Rockhold will defend his belt against former light-heavyweight contender Lorenz Larkin, whose middleweight debut in July resulted in a unanimous decision victory over Robbie Lawler.

(Hey, who says we don’t give this guy enough coverage? Props: TheSHOOT! via MMAMania)

We’re no strangers to cauliflower-ear draining videos around these parts. But Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has definitely raised the grossness bar here by draining his ear, then — after threatening to eat his harvest — shooting it out into his bathroom sink, spelling the word “champ” in perfect cursive. Fuck, dude. No.

(I’ve got 25, 25, do I hear 26 for this authentic Cuban-born champion? I’ve got 25, do I hear 26? 26?! 26?!!! Sold at 25!) 

After battering and busting up Urijah Faber en route to his 29th straight victory, newly-crowned interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao proved to the world at UFC 149 that his win streak was the product of hard work and dedication, not the culmination of years spent crushing cans that seemed to be the case for a certain somebody making his long awaited debut just one fight before. This is not to say that Hector Lombard doesn’t push himself as a fighter — by all accounts he does the exact opposite, in fact — but to say that Lombard was the first fighter to come to the UFC on a huge win streak, only to have said streak invalidated almost immediately would be a bold faced lie (Jason Reinhardt, anyone? How about our buddy Sean McCorkle?).

But when guys who have spent years fighting below their level come up short on the big stage, it just makes it all the more impressive to see the Barao’s and Ryan Jimmo‘s of the world succeed in living up to their hype. Simply put, it’s no coincidence that most of the guys with the greatest win streaks in the sport are all champions, and the rest are either made up (I shall refer you to the infamous tale of Craig Rehage as my primary example) or busted as soon as the fighter faces some legit competition.

However, when trying to determine which champion has the most impressive win streak of them all, we surprisingly found ourselves at odds. Some of us went with the obvious choice in Anderson Silva, some of us thought that Jon Jones’ streak was more impressive, and ReX thought that Ronda Rousey’s run stood atop them all before snatching a copy of her ESPN magazine shoot and running off to our executive bathroom. He has yet to return.

So as is often the case when we are struggling to decide upon an issue, we will hand the power over to you, Potato Nation. After the jump, you will find a survey. The topic: “Which Current Champion Has the Greatest Win Streak in MMA?” You WILL vote on this poll, and you WILL leave us your convincing arguments in the comments section. Sound good?

(This. / Photo via Sherdog)

Yesterday, Jared wrote up a detailed assessment of the UFC’s middleweight contenders in an attempt to bring some clarity to the pecking order at 185, because sometimes we want to be part of the solution instead of the problem. Anderson Silva‘s management is doing the opposite of that — shooting down logical suggestions and casually calling out a guy who can’t even fight Silva, contractually speaking. It’s a bit of a dick move, to be honest. Here’s the current situation, as reported on Fuel TV’s UFC Tonight (via MMAMania):

“One of Anderson Silva’s managers said that one of the issues with Hector Lombard is he thinks he needs at least three more impressive wins* in the UFC. He said that 85 percent** of UFC fans don’t even know who Hector Lombard is, who is of course making his Octagon debut on Saturday night…As for Chris Weidman, he said, ‘Well, there’s another great unknown fighter.’*** He doesn’t see those match ups as being money making pay-per-view events…He did mention Luke Rockhold, who is the Strikeforce middleweight champion. Alas, Rockhold is contractually tied to Strikeforce, so that fight’s not happening.**** We’ll have to wait and see, but right now, the Anderson Silva camp [is] not too excited about the options out there.”*****

“And now there’s a tree in the woods involved? Geez, throw me some more curveballs, Dana!”

Judging by the activity in our liveblog’s comments section, there weren’t many of you who tuned in to last night’s Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy. Judging by the “advertising” that went into this event, which included Frank Shamrock’s acting chops and a last second plug on the UFC’s Facebook page (to which one of the comments with the most “likes” asked who the guys were in the main event that looked more like accountants than fighters), Zuffa is perfectly okay with this. And from the two – yes, two – reporters who even bothered to show up to the pre-event press conference, we have to admit that the ghost ship that has become Strikeforce is partially all of our faults.

It’s a shame that Strikeforce is getting the Bamboo Lounge treatment, but after the entertaining main card that those of us who watched were treated to, at least the promotion is fading into obscurity with dignity.

Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold earned a convincing unanimous decision over the formidable Tim Kennedy. He came forward with an aggressive striking attack throughout the fight, managing to stuff numerous takedown attempts as well. Granted, Kennedy never seemed like he was in danger of being knocked out or submitted, but that’s far more of a testament to how game Kennedy is than it is a criticism of Luke Rockhold.

(Luckily, Scott Coker was there to break the tension with one of his trademark sauerkraut farts. I’m sorry, I usually don’t go that lowbrow, but nobody’s reading this, right? / Props: Esther Lin/Showtime)

Here’s a quick list of things that people are more interested in than Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy, according to Google trends: Bastille Day. Chick-fil-A. Wayne Gretsky’s foxy daughter, Paulina Gretsky. Steam. Yes, steam, like vaporized water. Now, was all that just a cheap ploy to draw more search traffic to our liveblog? Sure. But you know what? These guys need all the attention they can get.

If you’re here with us tonight, we thank you and welcome you. Tonight, Strikeforce is presenting a title fight double-bill, with Luke Rockhold attempting to make his second middleweight belt-defense against Tim Kennedy, and Nate Marquardt and Tyron Woodley throwing down for the vacant 170-pound strap. Plus, Robbie Lawler welcomes Lorenz Larkin to the middleweight division, and Keith Jardine gets a third chance to earn a win in Strikeforce, this time against BJJ scion Roger Gracie.

We’ll be giving you round-by-round results from the Showtime main card starting at 10 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and feel free to discuss Gustav Klimt and Michael Clark Duncan’s heart-attack in the comments section.

(Meh. / Photo via Strikeforce)

I get it; we’re all a little burned out right now. With two UFC events over the last six days and a Strikeforce event scheduled for tomorrow night in Portland, you might be thinking, well, maybe I can sit this one out and come back strong for Rousey vs. Kaufman. Over-saturation must be the culprit, because there’s no other explanation for why a card with two title fights — featuring the always-thrilling Luke Rockhold and the return of Nate Marquardt — should be completely ignored by fans and media alike. You want to talk about lack of heat? Wikipedia hasn’t even bothered to create a page for this event. That is cold, brother.

Unfortunately, the fighters have to compete whether you guys care or not. And they know you don’t care. And that really sucks for them. Strikeforce held a press conference yesterday to promote the Rockhold vs. Kennedy card, in which the headliners answered questions from “two reporters in four rows of chairs,” according to this thoroughly depressing account by Steven Marrocco of MMA Junkie.

“I just came from Vegas, where they had 2,000 people at the weigh-in,” said Tyron Woodley, who will be fighting Marquardt for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title. “I think it’s a disrespect to Strikeforce. It should be advertised a little bit more.” Marrocco points out that the UFC 148 weigh-in attendance was closer to 8,000 if you want to split hairs.

Tim Kennedy, as you can imagine, was even less courteous in his assessment:

Come on, Strikeforce. A simple MOM MADE PIZZA ROLLS would have been far less embarrassing

You know what? I honestly try to be optimistic about the future of Strikeforce. Even when the promotion is hemorrhaging money, even when their website is reduced to an MS Word document, I want to believe that the promotion is run by competent individuals who will find a way to keep it alive.

And then I see the vignette made to promote the upcoming “Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy” on July 14, and feel stupid for learning nothing from the death of WCW. Case in point:

Video after the jump

(Never go up against a thespian when death is on the line.)

According to new reports, Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold will defend his belt at Strikeforce’s July 14th event in Portland, where he’ll face off against former title contender/video-parodist Tim Kennedy.

Luke Rockhold has won his last eight fights, most recently beating the crap out of Keith Jardine in a somewhat farcical title defense in January. Kennedy has won his last two bouts under the Strikeforce banner, but hasn’t competed since a unanimous decision win over Robbie Lawler in July 2011. Rockhold and Kennedy were briefly scheduled to face each other last year before Rockhold pulled out of the matchup, and were matched up again earlier this year before Tim had to withdraw due to injury, so this one’s been a long time coming. Can the Special Forces sniper shock Rockhold and take that belt?

Also on the card…

And it was here, in this blighted place, that Strikeforce learned to live again… (Props: FoxSports.com)

The fact that a Strikeforce aftermath is being broken down into two separate posts is probably confusing most of our longtime readers, considering we’ve had so little to say about the organization leading up to last night’s Strikeforce card. Ever since Zuffa’s acquisition of the organization, our post-event recaps have focused on Strikeforce’s lack of a direction, now-meaningless titles and ever-diminishing roster. The organization clearly wasn’t going anywhere (i.e. going under), yet it also, well, wasn’t going anywhere (i.e. it wasn’t planning future growth). Yet last night, for the first time in a while, Strikeforce looked like an organization that could consistently provide MMA fans with intriguing, relevant matchups.

After all of the hype that Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate managed to create for last night’s bout, the ending could not have possibly gone better for Strikeforce. Exciting fight? Check. Dramatic finish? Check. And most importantly, Sarah Kaufman’s victory over Alexis Davis on the undercard established a clear challenger for the new champion who actually stands a chance at beating the champion. The biggest problem with Strikeforce’s title fights as of late has been the fact that the champions are simply too much better than anyone that Strikeforce can match them up with (Rockhold vs. Jardine, anyone?). While Rousey continued to look phenomenal in her short MMA career last night, former champion Sarah Kaufman provides another intriguing matchup for her. Back to back championship fights in a Strikeforce weight class that will pit the champion against a formidable opponent who is coming off of a victory: Now that’s encouraging.

(This is when we’d normally tell you to keep your chin up, Keith, but that seems to be what got you here in the first place.) 

Perhaps this might not come as a shocking revelation to most of the Potato Nation, but Strikeforce is in some bad shape. Like, Bubba on the beaches of Vietnam kind of shape. Let’s put it this way, if we were gambling men, and someone were taking bets on its probable death, we’d bet everything we own on death.

What are we jawing on about? Well, the Nevada State Athletic Commission just released its figures for “Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine” today, which took place at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 7th, and the live gate for the event totaled LESS THAN HALF OF WHAT ROBBIE LAWLER WAS PAID TO FIGHT. As ridiculous as it may seem, Lawler did manage to knock out Aldan Amagov with the power of his testicles alone, so the somewhat exuberant compensation he received seems fair in this case. But boy does it not look good for Strikeforce.

Hauling in an abysmal 68,805 dollars, “Rockhold vs. Jardine” achieved a final attendance of just under 2000 (1992) with only 927 tickets sold. The other 1,065 tickets were comped, and 727 tickets remained unsold. The total fighter purse for this event was an even $566,000.

(Alistair Overeem vs. Junior Dos Santos fan-made trailer via TheAzyunyh4)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

- Anthony Johnson Finds New Life at New Weight, Thanks in Part to ‘Blackzilians’ (MMA Fighting)

- Strikeforce Champ Luke Rockhold Suffers Broken Hand in Win Over Keith Jardine (MMA Mania)

- 50 Random MMA Facts You Never Knew (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Ronda Rousey on Cyborg: ‘I Always Knew She Was a Cheater’ (FightLine)

- Review: ‘Haywire’, Starring Gina Carano (MMA Convert)

- Atlanta to Host UFC 146 on April 21st (5th Round)

- A Running Journal of MTV’s ‘Caged’ (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Chael Sonnen: My MMA Career Will Be a Colossal Failure Without That 12 Pounds of Gold (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

- Here’s Video of Keith Jardine’s Mom Confronting Luke Rockhold’s Brother After Strikeforce (MiddleEasy)

- Rampage and King Mo Still Want to Fight Each Other — Can the UFC Make It Happen? (The Fight Nerd)

- Is the Pro-Wrestling Influence in UFC Unattractive to Female Sports Fans? (Fight Opinion)

- Update on Zuffa vs. New York: NY Files Motion (MMA Payout)

(“Really? That’s it?”)

The Nevada State Athletic Commission  released the salary amounts from Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine event at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and it appears that Robbie Lawler was the big winner of the night, taking home more than a quarter of the night’s $566,000 in total purses.

Lawler was paid a flat rate of $150,000 for his first-round TKO over Adian Amagov.

To put things into perspective, the total purse for UFC 141 was $1369714.28, or nearly two-and-a-half times as much.

Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal picked up the second highest paycheck of the night with $95,000 for his second round KO of Lorenz Larkin, while middleweight champ Luke Rockhold netted the night’s third highest amount with $90,000, including a $25,000 win bonus, for his first-round drubbing of Keith Jardine.

Tyron Woodley, whose conservative lay and pray victory over Canadian Jordan Mein, took home $60,000 for his non-performance — half of which was made up of a win bonus.

Check out what the other fighters on the card were paid after the jump.

(Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine full fight video via mmanewsdog)

In case you missed the show on Saturday night, take a look at the main card’s three knockouts. More after the jump…

Related:
- ‘Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine’ — Live Results + Commentary
- ‘Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine’ Aftermath: Going through the Motions, as Usual

In a disturbing instance of foreshadowing, Scott Coker waits way too long to intervene. Props: Five Ounces of Pain

We’ll be honest: It’s getting pretty hard to write Strikeforce aftermath articles anymore. With a Strikeforce event, you already know that the favorite is going to win. You already know that the champions have run out of legitimate challengers. Every aftermath piece we’ve written for a Strikeforce event since the UFC’s acquisition of the organization demonstrates this. Essentially, the organization is going through the motions, yet we have to find a way to write something original about it.

Heading into Rockhold vs. Jardine, it was pretty clear that the organization was giving Jardine a title shot out of convenience. He was healthy, available and had a name that fans recognized. Because Strikeforce isn’t planning on growing as an organization, those qualifications were enough to earn him a title shot against Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold, despite never having competed at middleweight before. The fight didn’t come off as a legitimate title fight- it came off as a litmus test for Rockhold.

Keith Jardine gave us the same performance that we’ve come to expect from him. His awkward movement and looping punches seemed to confuse Rockhold at first, but once Luke Rockhold managed to figure out Jardine’s style he controlled the fight. While looking like a guy who hadn’t weighed 185 pounds since the ninth grade didn’t help Keith Jardine’s cause, it’s hard to imagine that a less fatigued Dean of Mean would have done significantly better. Luke Rockhold is the younger, more diverse fighter. Jardine is the same fighter that had been figured out years ago, except now he’s in the twilight of his career. A prospect that’s ready for the big leagues can beat an opponent like Keith Jardine, and that’s exactly what Rockhold did.

(Worst. Charity bachelor auction. Ever. / Photo via Strikeforce)

Okay, let’s go through this one more time: Luke Rockhold is Strikeforce’s middleweight champion. Keith Jardine is the former UFC light-heavyweight contender who Rousey’d his way into a title shot at 185. They’ll be fighting in the main event of tonight’s Strikeforce card on Showtime. Also, King Mo returns against Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin, Robbie Lawler faces off against Russkie McFancykicks, and Jordan Mein will try to snap Tyron Woodley’s undefeated record with those bionic elbows of his.

I fully expect tonight’s liveblog turnout to be more of an “intimate” affair, but that doesn’t mean we won’t do our best to give you a good show. Round-by-round results from the “Rockhold vs. Jardine” main card broadcast will be piling up after the jump starting at 10 p.m. ET, courtesy of CagePotato liveblog up-and-comer Steve Silverman. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for coming, guys.

I’m sorry, is that Mauro Renallo or J.T.??? (Video: Youtube/AllElbows)

If you’ve been sleeping on tonight’s Strikeforce event, we’re not going to throw stones. When even the defending Middleweight Champion has trouble getting excited for his bout, how can you be expected to? And though the MMA world may be talking ‘Strikeforce’ this morning, it has very little to do with what’s going down at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino this evening.

But the truth is that Showtime subscribers (and you filthy, rotten streamers) can rightfully expect a night of action packed fights. This card has a great mix of seasoned veterans and wildly unorthodox strikers, and last night they all hit the scales. We won’t dangle any false promises of funny weigh-in costumes or pushing-and-shoving; there was little in the form of excitement at these proceedings. On the bright side, everyone (eventually) hit their mark.

Weigh-In results after the jump. Make sure you come back tonight—we’ll be liveblogging this card like nobody’s business.