Fighter Profile: Keith Jardine

Profiling UFC Fighter Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine

With wins over Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Brandon Vera, the “Dean of Mean” is a force to be reckoned with.

At 6’2, 206 lbs, Keith Jardine got his start in the UFC while appearing on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter. Though he lost to the winner of the show, Rashad Evans, in the semi-finals, Jardine’s career didn’t end there. He went on to fight in the finale, defeating Kerry Schall by way of TKO in the second round.

One of the biggest fights in terms of gaining a fan base came in April of ‘06, when Jardine was set to fight TUF 1 finalist Stephan Bonner. In a closely contested fight, Bonner won over the judges score cards in unanimous decision to win the fight, (even though Jardine thought otherwise).

His next big fight would be at UFC 66, when he was up against Forrest Griffin, Jardine TKO’d Griffin 4:41 seconds into the first round. With his win over Griffin, Keith believed he deserved more of a big name match up in his next fight, instead of facing a fighter nobody knew – Houston Alexander. Jardine was quick to eat his words when Alexander brutally sent him unconscious, 48 seconds into the very first round.

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Trying to regain his credibility as a threat in the Light Heavyweight division, Jardine was set to face Chuck Liddell at UFC 76. In a hard-fought fight, Jardine edged out the victory in a split decision after 3 rounds of fighting. Looking to climb further up the division’s ladder, Keith fought Wanderlei Silva in UFC 84. O.K, more like Silva punched Jardine at UFC 84. 36 seconds into the fight, Wanderlei brutally knocked out Keith with a swarm of punches to the head.

In his most recent fight, Jardine was up against Brandon Vera. Jardine won by split decision after 3 rounds. At (14-4-1), he is now set to headline UFC 96 against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

It should be a good brawl, either it will go the distance or end in under a minute. In my mind, I think I’m leaning towards the notion that this one will end with some body falling unconscious - seeing as there’s 20 knockouts between the two.

Recent Keith Jardine MMA News:

• Lost to Thiago Silva by TKO at UFC 102 on August 29, 2009 - UFC 102 results

• Lost to Ryan Bader by KO at UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia on February 20, 2010 - UFC 110 results

• Lost to Matt Hamill by Majority Decision at the TUF 11 finale on June 19, 2010 - TUF 11 finale results

By Ryan DeClerck
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer
Published February 2009