I have been reading your blog for about a year, and I have turned into a huge fan of this place. But this is the first time you have said something to make me sign up and comment. Maybe its because you attacked my favorite fighter of all time. As someone who also works on the print journalism side of the sport, I thought it was sort of irresponsible of you to say Wanderlei would lose to Jardine but offer no analysis to back up your point. I normally stay pretty even keeled about these things, but when you are essentially throwing dirt on the grave of the second best 205lb fighter of all time, I expect a little bit more than “because I said so”. i know he hasn’t looked like the Wanderlei of old, an maybe the wars have finally taken their toll, but I have to believe this old warhorse has enough left in him to take out a slightly overated Jardine. Jardine is vulnerable to an aggressive fighter who pushed the pace, as we saw in the Houston Alexander fight. I can’t think of anyone in that division that fits the bill better than Silva. I can’t see to many ways that Silva loses this fight. I would love to hear your reasoning. Let me end by saying I love your blog and please keep up the awesome work.

But I did, specifically, allude to why Jardine is stylistically a bad match-up. He’s big enough to withstand Silva’s forward attacking style and to deliver power, but more importantly, Jardine likes the outside game on the feet and that’s very hard for Silva to deal with ESPECIALLY with a fighter who uses kicks and reach:

“Silva has almost always had a problem with larger fighters even when he tries to match their size, e.g. versus CroCop at the 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix. Silva doesn’t have the reach or the ability to fight an outside game and when he tries to against larger opponents he pays for it. Jardine, who relies on kicks and his reach and power, is just the type of fighter to give Silva problems.”

I really want Wandy to win this fight, and I still think he will. But if Jardine wins, it would be a crime if he weren’t awarded the next available title shot.

Will Silva be cut if he tightens?

I can see this one going either way. I know Jardine is one a mission, but so is Silva. He’s said in the past that he didn’t care if he won or lost, only that he put on the best fight he could. But now he needs to win and he knows it. (I recall hearing him say something like that, but can’t remember where I heard it from). I would love to see Silva win, cause it would be a shame if he became just another stepping stone to other fighters.

As for his losses, Luke said it best. He lost to Crocop at his peak, Dan Henderson and Chuck. It’s not like he lost to three cans. He lost to three of MMA’s best. I suspect win or lose, he’ll be asked to drop in weight regardless. Just shows how tight that weightclass is, with no easy fights anymore in the UFC (mostly no easy fights).

With Jardine’s situation, I feel kinda bad for him, cause he probably deserved a title shot before Forrest, but whatever. I’d kinda like to see Jardine/Liddell 2.

They should have paired Jardine with Machida instead of Wandy.

Wanderlei is one of the most watchable fighters of all time, and that is why the UFC will not cut him even if he loses. If you watch a Wanderlei fight you are guaranteed an Entertaining fights – and that is exactly what the UFC want and need.

Fingers crosses Wand Axe Murderized Jardine :)

Jardine’s chin has been kinda inconsistent during his career, which makes me wonder if he can withstand a Wanderlei onslaught. I say that not just because of the alexander fight. Jardine got dropped several times in his TUF match with rashad, bonnar dropped him twice in their fight, and Gouveia was working him over in the standup in the first round of their fight. I was surprised he was able to withstand Chuck’s striking, but with Liddell’s robotic style he had to keep resetting because of Jardine’s legkicks and unorthodix style breaking his rhythm. i think wanderlei will force a helter skelter style fight on Keith, that will cause his game-planning to go out the window and test his chin again.

Every fighter will loose a few fights; they need to feel their organization is behind them at all times though. The fact that Dana is such a prick just shows two things to me. One, he is not a fan of the sport. You can tell because he never fought MMA, and he always disparages his fighters. Classic hanger-on. Yet he goes on photoshoots for magazines and brags that he can bench a whole 300 lbs in the press. Who cares, Dana? Worst thing that ever happened to the sport. Two, several of his actives go beyond idiotic WWE style grandstanding and soap opera. If he is going to try and influence betting odds by screwing with his fighters heads and careers, he could at least be more subtle. Yes, I’m saying gangster wannabe is… not exactly fixing fights, but clearly manipulating them against the interest of the fans, fighters, and the sport itself. Going to the press about Wanderlei was pointless and redundant. Wandy isn’t lazy, and already knows what three losses means, as do we all. Public pressure right before a fight is nothing but harmful, and Dana knows it. If you have to cut him after a loss, then do it then; no drama necessary. I smell a rat. There are already two fantasy sports run by Don King and Vince McMahon. MMA is going to be different and stay a true sport, one way or another even if it means the UFC goes under.

Sorry for ranting, and good point about Wanderlei facing opponents at their peak. Still that is a gift, really, and he will just have to get better or drop down in rankings. That’s OK, he’s competitor and knows that intuitively. (I haven’t seen Jardine yet other than webclips, but nothing is certain if Wanderlei can land one good knee to the face on a duck.) Mr. White should get out of the spotlight and learn to better care for his fighters as well as the finances of the UFC. If he wants to be champion, he can be champion of pushing papers, because that is what he is paid to do, despite his outsized ego.