Keith Jardine

MMAstatsbox|name=Keith Jardine


nick=The Dean of Mean
height=6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
weight=206 lbs (93 kg)
nationality= American
birthdate=birth date and age|year=1975|month=10|day=31
fightingfrom=Albuquerque, N.M.
hometown=Butte, Montana, U.S.
fightteam=Jackson's Submission Fighting
fightstyle=Gaidojutsu, Kickboxing
wins=13
losses=4
draws=1
ko=6
submissions=2
nocontest=0|

Keith Hector Jardine (born October 31, 1975) is an American mixed martial artist (MMA), currently fighting at light heavyweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He made his debut with the organization on "The Ultimate Fighter 2", where he was cast as a heavyweight under coach Rich Franklin. He currently trains with Jackson's Submission Fighting.

Career

Before martial arts, Jardine worked in many different jobs including debt collector, miner, bounty hunter, and football coach. He was also involved in a semi-pro football league. During this time, he started participating in wrestling tournaments without having any experience or background in wrestling. fact|date=December 2007 He won these tournaments and then became interested in kickboxing; that's when he met Greg Jackson and decided to leave everything behind and move to New Mexico.

Jardine made his professional mixed martial Arts debut in 2001, defeating Amir Rahnavardi by armbar submission. He would win five out of his next six bouts, suffering one knockout loss to Travis Wiuff, before debuting in the Japanese Pancrase organization in 2003. Jardine's bout in Pancrase, with Keiichiro Yamamiya, ended in a draw. Jardine defeated his next two opponents, including a submission win over Red Devil Sport Club fighter Arman Gambaryan, before appearing on "The Ultimate Fighter 2".

The Ultimate Fighter

In 2005, Jardine was cast on "The Ultimate Fighter", a team-based reality television show created by the UFC, as a heavyweight competitor, and was the first heavyweight to be recruited to the team of then UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin. Jardine was one of the favorites to proceed to the heavyweight division's finals, but was not selected to fight until the semi-finals, where he was defeated by eventual season two heavyweight winner, and his future teammate at Greg Jackson's camp, Rashad Evans.

UFC career

Although Jardine was eliminated from "The Ultimate Fighter", his tenure with the Ultimate Fighting Championship continued. Jardine made his first appearance on an official UFC fight card at the "The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale", defeating fellow season two heavyweight Kerry Schall by TKO due to leg kicks. Jardine subsequently dropped down a weight class to the light heavyweight division, and defeated Mike Whitehead, another "TUF 2" competitor, by unanimous decision at "UFC 57".

In April, 2006, Jardine fought "The Ultimate Fighter 1" light heavyweight finalist Stephan Bonnar at "Ultimate Fight Night 4". In a closely contested bout, Jardine lost a unanimous decision, but gained a great deal of fan and media support after the bout. Quoting Jardine, "Everyone knows that that Bonnar fight should have been my fight [...] I still get approached everyday about that. I am 3-1, but I don't necessarily look at it that way."cite web
url=http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=5861
title=Keith Jardine: Climbing to the Top
last=Archuleta
first=Daniel
date=October 13, 2006
publisher=Sherdog]

His next fight in the UFC was against American Top Team's Wilson Gouveia at "The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale". Although Jardine appeared to lose the first round according to color commentator Joe Rogan, he defeated Gouveia by unanimous decision after three rounds. Jardine was then scheduled to fight Mike Nickels, a light heavyweight competitor from the third season of "The Ultimate Fighter", but Nickels was forced to withdraw due to a back injury. [ [http://www.mmaontap.com/mma/entry/nickels-vs-jardine-is-off/ Nickels vs. Jardine is Off - MMA on Tap ] ]

At "UFC 66", Jardine scored a TKO victory in the first round over winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 1", Forrest Griffin. Jardine's next fight was against UFC newcomer Houston Alexander at "UFC 71". After having complained about having to face an unknown fighter when he felt he deserved a more high profile match, Jardine was brutally knocked out 48 seconds into the first round by Alexander.

At the fight against former UFC light heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell at "UFC 76". Jardine defeated Liddell by split decisioncite web
url=http://www.hacnews.com/jardineinterview1.html
title=Keith Jardine Interview
last=Houck
first=John
publisher=HACNews] cite web
url=http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=eventDetail.FightCard&eid=822
title=UFC 76 Fight Card
publisher=UFC ] and was considered one of the competitive candidates challenging the UFC light heavyweight championship.However, at the fight against the former PRIDE middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva at UFC 84, Jardine lost by knockout due punches at 36 seconds in round one. Jardine had to be helped up after the fight and was sent to the local hospital for observation.cite web
url=http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=EventDetail.FightCard&eid=1105
title=UFC 84: Ill Will
publisher=UFC.com
accessdate=2008-03-08]

In an interview with an Albuquerque radio station Jardine announced he would be fighting against Brandon Vera at UFC 89. [ [http://mmajunkie.com/news/4872/keith-jardine-says-hes-fighting-brandon-vera-at-ufc-89.mma Keith Jardine says he's fighting Brandon Vera at UFC 89 | MMAjunkie.com ] ]

Mixed martial arts record

MMArecordbox
wins=13
losses=4
draws=1
ko-wins=6
ko-losses=3
sub-wins=2
sub-losses=0
dec-wins=5
dec-losses=1

ee also

* List of male mixed martial artists

References

External links

*Sherdog|id=2638|name=Keith Jardine