MMA fighter Keith Jardine should retire
Shortly after his loss to Matt Hamill at the “The Ultimate Fighter” 11 Finale in Las Vegas, Keith Jardine found himself an MMA fighter without a home. The majority decision loss to Hamill marked his fourth loss in a row with the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion. Shortly after the fight he was released by the UFC.
The release did not come as a surprise, but it did not come easy for UFC president Dana White. White had this to say about releasing the man known as 'The Dean of Mean': “It sucks. I have nothing but respect for him and I hope to see him back soon.”
Jardine’s run with the UFC lasted five years and 13 fights. Jardine was cast on the second season of 'The Ultimate Fighter' television program. Rashad Evans defeated Jardine in a semi-final bout. Evans would go on to win the heavyweight portion of the program.
Jardine’s performance on TUF got him noticed and he was signed to UFC, dropping down a weight class to fight in the light heavyweight division. Early in his UFC career, Jardine had a record of 4-1. The one loss being a decision to Stephen Bonnar that many felt could have gone Jardine’s way.
In an early UFC bout, Jardine scored a first round TKO victory over future UFC champion Forrest Griffin. The victory over the favoured Griffin should have been the stepping-stone that launched Jardine to the upper echelon of the UFC light heavyweight division. However his next fight saw him take a step back as Houston Alexander, who was making his UFC debut, upset him, scoring a 48 second knock-out.
Jardine bounced back at UFC 76, facing Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell in the main event. Many fans were anticipating a Wanderlei Silva vs. Liddell fight as the main event on this card and were disappointed when Jardine was named as Lidell’s opponent. Jardine came into the fight as a heavy underdog to the former UFC champion. Jardine fought a smart fight, staying out of the way of Liddell’s potent fists and slowly breaking Liddell down with leg and body kicks. Jardine walked away from UFC 76 with a split decision victory and his name back on the list of light-heavyweight contenders.
Jardine’s next fight was against Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva at UFC 84. The fight lasted only 36 seconds as Silva knocked Jardine out cold with punches.
Jardine’s last victory in the UFC came against Brandon Vera at UFC 89. The split decision victory was enough to keep him in the light-heavyweight contender mix, but it was not enough to elevate him to a title bout.
Next, Jardine took on Quinton “Rampage’ Jackson at UFC 96. This fight was thought to be an elimination fight, with the winner getting a shot at the champion, Rashad Evans. Jackson was the favourite in the fight, but Jardine fought a good fight, albeit not good enough to win on a single judge’s card. Jackson took the unanimous victory.
Jardine’s next two UFC fights would end with him being knocked out. At UFC 102, Thiago Silva used a short left to drop Jardine and then swarmed him after he fell, knocking him out at the 1:35 mark of the first round.
At UFC 110 Jardine battled Ryan Bader. Bader overcame Jardine’s unorthodox style, once described by Joe Rogan as chimpanzee style, and knocked Jardine out in the third round with a combination flying knee and left hook to the chin.
The Hamill loss was next on Jardine’s fight card, followed by his UFC release.
Jardine found himself at a crossroads when he was released by UFC. He still wanted to fight and in his mind the UFC was the most prestigious promotion to fight for. Jardine was rumoured to be signing with Strikeforce at one point, but that never came to fruition. Jardine wisely stayed away from the UFC’s main competition, knowing that the UFC may be reluctant to take him back had he fought under the Strikeforce banner.
Instead, Jardine signed a one-fight deal with Shark Fights to take on Trevor Prangley. A convincing victory in the fight would help to get his confidence back as well as open the door a crack back at UFC. Prangley, another fighter that needed a win to move up to the larger promotions, was an uncooperative opponent and Jardine dropped a split decision to the South African.
Jardine’s record now stands at 15-9-1. Not a terrible record, but again, five of those losses have come in his last five fights. The 34-year-old Jardine has not won a fight since 2008. The road back to UFC got much more difficult with the loss to Prangley, and since he shunned Strikeforce earlier this summer, one wonders if they would be willing to bring Jardine into their promotion.
At this point Jardine’s options seem limited to fighting in smaller promotions or retiring. For some athletes it is hard to know when to walk away, but right now I would say that signs point to the fact that Jardine should do so. His run near the top of the UFC was a good one and no one has a bad thing to say about him as a person. This loss at Shark Fights 13 should be the last fight of Jardine’s career.
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