It’s official – Army Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy will step back into the mixed-martial arts ring for another shot at the Strikeforce middleweight title.
Kennedy will fight reigning champ Luke Rockhold July 14 in Portland, Ore.
Kennedy, a decorated Special Forces soldier who is now serving in the Texas Army National Guard, has a 14-3 record. During his last fight, in July, Kennedy defeated Robbie Lawler by unanimous decision.
Rockhold holds a 9-1 record, and according to MMAjunkie.com, he is looking for his second successful title defense since narrowly winning the belt from Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and then defending it with a January knockout of Keith Jardine.
Kennedy fought for the vacant Strikeforce title in August 2010, according to MMAjunkie.com, but suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Souza. Since then, Kennedy returned to title contention with a submission victory against Melvin Manhoef and his most recent win against Lawler.
On his Facebook page, Kennedy wrote: “At last, I will be fighting Luke Rockhold July 14 in Portland. Super excited!”
The fights will air July 14 on Showtime.
Until then, check out the Kennedy-Lawler fight from last summer:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tysxCkM2LCw[/youtube]
