By Carlin Bardsley
Luke Rockhold and Tim Kennedy will step into the cage Saturday and clash over Strikeforce’s middleweight championship. The two men are from two of the greatest MMA camps in the world; Rockhold from the American Kickboxing Academy and Kennedy from Jackson’s Submission Fighting. They are both known as two of the nicest athletes in the sport, and Kennedy is rightfully lauded for his service in the United States military. Yet despite all of that, their title fight is largely flying under the radar.
Rockhold, the former World Jiu-Jitsu Championships Purple Belt No-Gi Gold Medalist, became Strikeforce champion last September by defeating Brazilian grappling wizard Ronaldo (Jacare) Souza in a hard-fought decision. His only title defense came in January against UFC veteran Keith Jardine, who was making his middleweight debut — Rockhold originally scheduled to fight Kennedy on that card but the Staff Sergeant was forced to withdraw due to injury. What Jardine lacked in the way of a middleweight resume, he would make up for in star power, the conventional wisdom stated. Jardine was a well-recognized name from the UFC and held victories over Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. A Rockhold victory over the Dean of Mean would do more to elevate his profile than a win over one of Strikeforce’s ranked contenders.
Rockhold did indeed look impressive in dispatching Jardine via first round TKO, but the victory appears to have done little to translate into more recognition from casual MMA fans. Inactive since the Jardine fight, which took place on Jan. 7, his name remains outside the discussion when talk turns to the sport’s top middleweights. Hector Lombard appeared to be a more recognizable name even when he was still in Bellator.
Kennedy, on the surface, should be a fight promoter’s dream. In addition to being a well-rounded fighter who owns the majority of his wins by stoppage, he also was awarded the Bronze Star from the U.S. Army for valor under fire. Beyond his MMA and army credentials, Kennedy is a genuinely funny and entertaining personality who regularly pokes fun at himself in his videos with the group from the Ranger Up clothing line. But despite everything Kennedy has going for him, he has yet to break through to the mainstream consciousness.
Part of the problem is the fact that both men compete for Strikeforce. Despite being owned by Zuffa, Strikeforce is seen as a second-tier brand. Zuffa has done little to nothing to combat that image, despite having both the financial means and incentive to do so. Indeed, they have instead decided to take almost every marketable piece of talent and bring them to the UFC. Strikeforce’s entire heavyweight division has now been transferred to the UFC, along with notable names like Dan Henderson, Nick Diaz, Cung Le and Alistair Overeem. If Zuffa is willing to allow Strikeforce to look like a feeder league, public perception will absolutely follow.
Another part of the problem is that the card Rockhold and Kennedy are headlining has received next to nothing in terms of promotion. The card is less than seven days removed from two separate UFC events, including arguably the biggest one of the year, UFC 148. Zuffa’s promotional dollars have allowed this event to go ignored. Any promotional efforts going in the direction of Strikeforce have been earmarked for Ronda Rousey’s upcoming title defence against Canadian Sarah Kaufman.
Therein lies the rub. Strikeforce’s women’s division is seen as its most marketable, so it gets the promotional push. But without a promotional push, the rest of Strikeforce remains less marketable. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy and fighters like Rockhold and Kennedy, in addition to Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, are the ones who wind up paying the price.
That isn’t to say that the two combatants haven’t been trying to draw attention to the fight. The two shot a promotional video with Strikeforce legend and Showtime commentator Frank Shamrock where Shamrock was (unsuccessfully) trying to teach Rockhold and Kennedy how to break the rules and be “bad.” The video was hilarious, but interest in the fight doesn’t appear to have increased.
The two have tried to volley back and forth in the media. During the Strikeforce media conference call for the event Rockhold blasted Kennedy’s team at Jackson’s, calling their gameplans “less than exciting,” and referring to Jackson himself and his constant stream of praise in the judges’ ears to be “cheating … to some extent.” Kennedy stuck up for his camp, but a war of the words like Silva-Sonnen it certainly wasn’t.
They have even attempted to piggyback off the (mild) controversy over the actual Silva-Sonnen fight to draw attention. Both Rockhold and Kennedy criticized Silva’s shorts-grabbing and apparent attempt to grease himself in the Sonnen fight but that remains the closest their names have come to being in the same sentence as either of the two UFC middleweight combatants.
In the end, the easiest way for Rockhold and Kennedy to draw attention to themselves will be to engage in a classic fight that even the most jaded or tunnel-visioned fan will be hard-pressed to ignore. If the two have an all-out war Saturday night, thousands of eyeballs will be pulled in their direction and, no matter who wins, fans will be eagerly anticipating the next scrap from both gentlemen. Even the promotion they fight for and the company that owns it will be forced to take notice. Both men are capable of pulling off such a feat, and both men deserve the notoriety that would come with it.
Carlin Bardsley is a writer for MMASucka.com and the host of a daily MMA radio show on NextSportStar.com.
