Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Kennedy title bout headlines Strikeforce in Portland on July 14; Gracie vs. Jardine, Lawler vs. Larkin official

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Strikeforce returns to their former home base of San Jose, Calif. next weekend with the finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix on Showtime, but their next event after that is now official as well.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced on Thursday that the organization will head to Portland, Ore. on July 14 with an event headlined by a Middleweight Championship bout between Luke Rockhold and Tim Kennedy. In addition to the headliner, he confirmed a previously rumored bout between Roger Gracie and Keith Jardine in the middleweight division, as well as announcing a middleweight bout between Robbie Lawler and Lorenz Larkin.

Rockhold looks to defend his title for a second time after a January win over Jardine. He captured the belt in a decision win over Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza late in 2011. After a loss to Souza for the title in 2010, Kennedy added stoppage wins over Melvin Manhoef and Robbie Lawler in 2011 to earn this shot.

Gracie is no longer the only fighter making his middleweight debut on the card, as Larkin will drop down following a loss to Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal in January. That defeat has since been overturned to a "no contest" in light of Lawal's failed steroid test, but Larkin is dropping down regardless of that ruling.

Lawler hopes to keep his momentum going after a January stoppage of Adlan Amagov in Las Vegas. That win snapped a two fight losing streak.

The other rumored bout for the card is a welterweight fight between Nate Marquardt and Tyron Woodley for the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight Championship, but Coker did not confirm the fight with his announcement.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_13253.shtml

Mikey Burnett  Murilo Bustamante  Grant Campbell  Gesias JZ Calvancante