How Good Is Keith Jardine?

by Luke Thomas on May 22, 2008 1:04 PM EDT in MMA News

Even UFC president Dana White said it would be hard to deny Jardine with wins over Griffin, Liddell and Silva in his last four bouts.

“For the longest time, nobody would take guys from ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ seriously and it drove me crazy,” White said. “When I told you Jardine was going to be fighting Chuck, you acted like you couldn’t believe it. This guy is a very good fighter. I think finally after what he’s done, he’s starting to get the respect his talent demands. But, even now, not everyone recognizes it. I still hear a lot of that.

“There are people out there who think Wanderlei is going to walk right through him,” White continued. “You know what I think of Wanderlei, but I don’t think he’s going to walk through Keith. And if (Silva) beats (Jardine), that’s a very big, very significant win for him.”

I agree. After Jardine's fight with Chuck, I said to myself, "Something's up here." Jardine lost a very questionable decision to Bonnar, defeated Gouveia, defeated Whitehead, defeated Griffin and then defeated Liddell. And he took punishment in all of those fights, which is particularly notable because he doesn't have the sturdiest chin. The loss to Alexander, in my estimation, is a reminder of the randomness of MMA than anything else. Does anyone believe the same would happen if they fought again?

As for the Saturday's fight with Wanderlei Silva, I've gone on the record as saying Jardine will win. I still believe that even if I do get a little less convinced of my own opinion as fight time approaches. But win or lose, I think it's worth noting that Machida isn't the only dark horse in the light heavyweight division.

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Couldn’t agree more Luke. Jardine just goes to show how small the margin of error in the mma is. If he might have done things a little bit differently (although I thought he won the fight) against Bonnar and not rushed in when he knocked down Houston Alexander (noticed how he didn’t rush over when he knocked down Liddell), we could be talking about the guy who should be fighting Rampage next. Just crazy how this sport works.

by mattwatt on May 22, 2008 3:12 PM EDT reply actions

MMA seems to be the one sport where the math just doesn’t add up. With Jardine beating Chuck, and Silva losing to Chuck, there’s no guarantee Jardine will beat Silva. That’s sort of what’s great about the sport: you’re constantly surprised and noone knows for sure.

by pud333 on May 22, 2008 4:26 PM EDT reply actions

Prediction - Jardine Take Wanderlei Down

I know it sounds crazy, but I think Jardine is going to take the fight to the ground and suprise everyone. In Greg Jackson’s interview on the Beatdown radio show yesterday, he seemed to hint at it. Jardine’s ground game is actually pretty good. I have seen YouTube videos of him competing in grappling tournaments and he showed good ground skills in the Mike Whitehead fight. All of Jackson’s fighters are extremely good grapplers (surprisingly enough). If Keith does not take Wanderlei down, I think Wanderlei will take him down. Regardless, this fight will go to the ground.

I’m sure I’ll be wrong on this one but if I’m not – you heard it here first. If it never goes to the ground – I never said this.

(the poster formerly known as holden636)

by TheFightJournal on May 23, 2008 3:16 AM EDT reply actions