PORTLAND, Ore. . - Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold became the first fighter in the promotions history to defend the 185-pound belt twice successfully, earning a unanimous-decision over Tim Kennedy on Saturday night. Rockhold used a sizable reach advantage to pick Kennedy apart while outmuscling and outscrambling the challenger on the ground en route to claiming four of five rounds on all three judges cards. Kennedy showed moments of brilliance, especially early in the fight, but it quickly became obvious that he lacked the intensity necessary to unseat the champion. Rockhold was simply too big and too strong for five rounds, and his work ethic matched his physical tools. Despite the impressive performance, Rockhold was not entirely pleased with the result. "I couldve let a couple combinations go," Rockhold said. "He does some funky stuff. Its hard to let things go when you know hes going to shoot." With the win, Rockhold (10-1) has now earned nine-straight victories and is generating some real buzz among MMA pundits about his place among the worlds best middleweights. Kennedy (14-4), meanwhile, failed in his second bid for the Strikeforce middleweight title. In the nights co-main event, Strikeforce newcomer Nate Marquardt claimed the promotions vacant welterweight title with a vicious fourth-round knockout of the previously-undefeated Tyron Woodley [url=http://www.ravensofficialteamstore.com/autographed-michael-oher-jersey-zb-6... Oher Jersey . The six-foot-four 296-pound lineman played 11 games this season, mainly as a backup and in short yardage situations. . The ride along four small hills took the pack 222.5 kilometres (138 miles) from Blagnac to Brive-la-Gaillarde, seen as a transitional stage before Saturdays time trial. Wiggins, Cavendish and the Sky team made it look easy with an almost textbook sprint setup. [url=http://www.ravensofficialteamstore.com/autographed-jameel-mcclain-jersey-ui... . The underperforming English champions are last in Group D with only two points from four matches after opening the campaign with a 3-2 loss at Madrid. "It is very difficult, because probably we did some mistakes in the first game," City manager Roberto Mancini said Tuesday. [url=http://www.ravensofficialteamstore.com/autographed-james-ihedigbo-jersey-cf... Ihedigbo Jersey . Louis Blues have been a young team on the rise for several years now, but finally took a step forward in 2011-2012, reaching the second round of the playoffs after finishing with the second-highest point total in franchise history. . Price beat Texas for the first time in his career and the Tampa Bay Rays won 5-2 on Sunday night, becoming the first team to take a series from the Rangers this year. ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia reached the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open, beating seventh-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 on Friday. Also advancing to the last four were third-seeded Martin Klizan of Slovakia, fourth-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy and Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain. Youzhny, the 2004 champion and a two-time runner-up, managed only five points on his serve in the second set but recovered after an early break in the third set and won four consecutive games for a 5-2 lead. He landed a high volley down the line to earn two match points and wrapped up the victory with a low volley at the net. "If I cut off the second set, I can say that Im satisfied with the level of my tennis and the result of the match," Youzhny said. "The first set was a really tough one and my current physical form was not enough to play the whole match on a high level.&qquot; The Russian will next face Klizan, who eliminated Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 6-3, 6-2. [url=http://www.ravensofficialteamstore.com/autographed-bobby-rainey-jersey-db-6... Rainey Jersey. The 45th-ranked Klizan, who mostly plays on the Challenger Tour, saved four break points and broke Berankis twice in each set to reach his second career semifinal. Fognini defeated Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain 6-4, 7-6 (1). "I broke him just one time in the first set but it was a tough set," Fognini said. "I was 5-3 up in the second set but he (Bautista-Agut) played three perfect games. I was serving for the match at 6-5 down and won that game, which was very important. And I then served well at the tiebreaker and won it easily." The Italian won his first title in Bucharest, Romania, in April. In his second semifinal appearance this season, Fognini will play Gimeno-Traver. The Spaniard eliminated Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-2, 7-5 to reach his first semifinal in more than two years. ' ' '