Luke Rockhold defeats Keith Jardine by Knockout at 4:26 in the first round.
Luke Rockhold entered the cage without his Strikeforce middleweight title, almost saying that he wasn't losing the fight as Jardine was undeserving of the title shot. There was a lot of criticism as most assumed that Rockhold's first defense would be against Tim Kennedy. However, an undisclosed injury kept Kennedy sidelined. Announcer Mauro Renallo called Jardine's stand up "herky-jerky" throughout much of the fight while Rockhold attempted to cut the cage off.
Luke Rockhold landed several punches which stunned Jardine. He collapsed Jardine against the cage before raining down punches. It got to the point that the announcers were asking outloud when the referee would stop the fight. It would come to an end with under a minute left in the first round. Herb Dean stepped in at 4:26 to save Jardine from more damage.
Rockhold is undefeated in Strikeforce and has successfully defended his title in ninth career victory. Keith Jardine was an underdog. He is now 17-10-2 in his career.
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