Wanderlei Silva-Keith Jardine: What to Expect

As both Keith Jardine and Wanderlei Silva prepare for their light-heavyweight bout, we ask the question, "Who should win?"

Both of them are coming off hard-fought bouts against the same man, the former light-heavyweight champion, Chuck "Ice Man" Liddell.  Keith won a split decision while Silva lost a unanimous decision.

Wanderlei Silva (31-8-1-1) is a very experienced veteran and a former world champion. He has beaten some of the world's best fighters, most notably, the current light-heavyweight champion, Quentin "Rampage" Jackson. 

Not only did he win, but he won TWICE, both by knockout.  He may be on a three fight losing skid, but those fights were against Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Dan Henderson and of course, Chuck Liddell. 

All three men are former champions.  He hasn't been labeled "The Axe Murderer" for nothing.  If he can land a good punch, Keith Jardine could be asleep before he hits the ground.

Keith Jardine (13-3-1) is no slouch.  He has beaten some of the best fighters in the world in his short MMA career.  

His win over Chuck Liddell is enough to place him in the elite category of light-heavyweights. He has also knocked out the current number one contender for the light-heavyweight title, Forrest Griffin.

My prediction is that this will be a hard-fought fist fight that will more than likely go the distance with Jardine pulling out the win.  I am making the assumption that the winner of this fight will become the number one contender and fight the winner of the Jackson/Griffin fight sometime in the fall.

Advertising Spotlight [winners of the two fights in brackets]

• (Silva/Jackson): Jackson is the champ, has yet to defeat Silva.
• (Silva/Griffin): Griffin has beaten a prominent PRIDE fighter already (Mauricio "Shogun" Rua), can he beat Silva?
• (Jardine/Jackson): Jackson and Jardine have hard hands, will someone get knocked out?
• (Jardine/Griffin): UFC 66...Boo hoo....Enough said.