Strikeforce Champ Rockhold Sidelined with Broken Right Hand

Rockhold confirmed Tuesday via Twitter that he suffered a clean break of his right hand during the Jan. 7 fight at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

“S---,” he wrote on Monday, tweeting a picture of his X-ray. “Not exactly what I wanted to see!”

The 27-year-old American Kickboxing Academy product expects the hand to remain in a cast for four weeks, followed by two to three weeks of rehabilitation before he can resume training. Rockhold has been medically suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission until July 6 due to the hand injury, though he can compete sooner if cleared by a physician.

During the 4:26 they spent in the cage, Rockhold’s right hand repeatedly found Jardine’s head, eventually setting up the fight-ending ground-and-pound sequence. Rockhold, who improved to 9-1 with the victory, is no stranger to injury: He spent more than 18 months on the shelf between February 2010 and September 2011, a layoff due in part to a separated acromioclavicular joint in his left shoulder.