As we come to the conclusion of this series of articles on Keith Jardine, we continue on from Keith's brutal loss to Wanderlei Silva.
As reluctant as UFC brass was to promote Jardine, many fans seemed equally unwilling to back him has a fighter. They all had their reasons, whether it was his awkward style, his inconsistency, or his "weak chin."
As a result of this, it made it harder for the UFC to effectively "guide" his matchmaking, as—let’s not lie to ourselves—they do from time to time with fighters they think have "star potential."
He had losses against a few fighters he was supposed to beat on paper, yet he had also made a habit of upsetting people he was supposed to lose to. When promoting a fighter with that sort of volatility, there isn't much to do besides put him in his fights and admit that no one has any idea what's going to happen.
Coupled with this is the fact that Jardine never really did anything to make himself stand out from the crowd; he doesn't sport a wacky haircut, he doesn't cover himself with tattoos, and talk endless smack about his opponents.
As a person, Jardine comes across as humble, down to earth, and a genuinely likable, if bland, guy. The most exciting thing about him is his goatee.
But inside that cage, Jardine is a beast of a man, fearless in exchanges, unpredictable, unorthodox, and willing to do anything he can do win. He also has a habit of being involved in the fight of the night, whether he wants to or not.
Coming off the loss to Silva, Jardine was matched up against newly-minted light heavyweight Brandon Vera. Once a heavyweight prospect, Vera had run up against some enormous stumbling blocks in Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum, and had decided to make the drop to his more natural weight class of 205 pounds.
However, his first fight in LHW was an uninspired decision victory over Reese Andy, a fight that was apparently boring enough to have people sounding the death knell of Vera's career, despite it being a win.
The solution? Put him in the cage with Jardine.
The UFC had finally found a niche for the “Dean of Mean” as a measuring stick, a credible opponent, and as a bonus, someone that it was nearly impossible to have a boring fight with.
The result? In a back and forth battle, Vera looked to improve much over his form in his last fight, and Jardine was his usual tenacious self, edging out Vera on two of the judges' scorecards to win the nod in a split decision.
Jardine's post fight interview was key in defining his newly-emerging role as the working-class fighter. He admitted that the fight was close, gave respect, and credit to his opponent, and simply said, "I'm getting to fight the best fighters in the world. What more could a guy ask for?"
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