Luke Rockhold and the Strikeforce Middleweight Division

Strikeforce's 185-pound class has had a champion presiding over the division since 2008, when Cung Le defeated Frank Shamrock by TKO. Despite two of its middleweight champions having since vacated the title (first Le, and then his successor Jake Shields), Strikeforce has also been relatively quick in establishing a new one. Most recently installed at the top spot is Luke Rockhold. Given that the weight class has more or less always had a standard bearer in place, then, it's surprising the division is in such disarray.

The confusing middleweight state of affairs is no more clearly characterized than in Rockhold's upcoming title defense against Keith Jardine-a challenger who has never fought at middleweight, and whose promotional record stands at zero wins, zero losses, and one draw. And while I think Jardine is actually a much more dangerous opponent than most are giving him credit for, I don't think it's good for the organization's legitimacy when a contender is picked seemingly out of the blue, irrespective of promotional rank. More coherent matchmaking and a greater sense of divisional hierarchy is a must. I believe Strikeforce has the talent to make it happen. Let's take a look...

The Top Five

Former champ Ronaldo Souza has put together a 4-1-0 record in Strikeforce on the strength of his phenomenal grappling game and ever-improving, surprisingly effective striking skills. His multi-faceted approach served him well in his victory against Tim Kennedy. He nearly duplicated this success in his fight against Rockhold, but gassed badly in the third round. Despite questions about his endurance, Jacare remains one of the pillars of the middleweight division.

Though he was billed early in his career as a kick boxer, Tim Kennedy has displayed a knack for the ground game during his time with Strikeforce, outwrestling Robbie Lawler and submitting Zak Cummings, Melvin Manhoef, and Trevor Prangley. He's easily in the top three of the division.

Strikeforce has an interesting trio in Yancy Medeiros (9-0-0), Derek Brunson (9-0-0), and Adlan Amagov (9-1-1). All three have remained undefeated in the organization--Medeiros and Amagov throughout two bouts each, and Brunson across three--and all have a tendency to put away their opposition by either submission or TKO. They've been flying under the radar, but Amagov, at least, will soon get a chance to break away when he takes on Robbie Lawler this January.

More middleweights after the jump...

Best of the Rest

Neither Robbie Lawler nor Trevor Prangley have faired quite as well in Strikeforce as I'd expected. At nearly 40 years old, Prangley's best days are most probably behind him, while Lawler seems to have lost much of the fury that characterized his early career. I myself have something of a soft spot for both of them, though, and since they've both done a little bit of division-hopping for Strikeforce (Lawler in his catch-weight bout with Renato Sobral and Prangley in a light-heavyweight fight against Roger Gracie), I think they each deserve another low-key shot in Strikeforce. Lawler, at least, gets one against Amagov in January.

Much the same can be said of Benji Radach. Being prone to injury, Radach hasn't had much of a chance to show that he's better than his 0-2-0 Strikeforce record suggests. Radach deserves another chance following his gutsy, if lopsided, decision loss to light-heavyweight Ovince St. Preux.

Melvin Manhoef has gone winless in two Strikeforce appearances. However, given his wrecking-ball style, international cred, and relatively low fee (he received 10K in his fight with Kennedy) I think Manhoef adds a lot of valuable wattage to a card.

Similar to Medeiros, Brunson, and Amagov, Andreas Spang, Nate James, and Lumumba Sayers have done some decent but little-seen work in Strikeforce. Spang remains undefeated in the organization, debuting last November with a TKO over Willie Parks. James most recently suffered a decision loss to Brunson, but a win over UFC vet Danillo Villefort remains to his credit. And though Sayers stumbled in his promotional debut (also against Brunson), he made quite a turnaround with his KO win over Antwain Britt. Being relative novices, it's hard to know where they figure in among the Strikeforce middleweights, but with a division in flux, there's no better time than now to find out.

And so...

As with the lightweights, I think a tournament would sort out this division in definitive and entertaining fashion. After a glance at its roster, it seems that Strikeforce has not only enough fighters but the right mix of new and veteran talent needed to keep an eight-man series both interesting and affordable. Of course, in the past year, Strikeforce had already considered and then declined to put on a middleweight tournament, though the "why" of the decision was never entirely clear. Maybe the concept will resurface now that the deal with Showtime has been firmly renewed.