Keith Jardine: "I'm doing things I've never done before in training."
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"It's a great fight for me. I haven't fought a wrestler since Mike Whitehead when I did my first pay-per-view event. I'm real excited to get back in there and test my skills that I've been working out with Rashad all this time. Working on my wrestling, now I get a chance to test myself against a wrestler. He's not a very polished boxer. He doesn't do a lot of things. But what he does do, he does very well. He throws that right hand and it comes very fast and very hard. Of course, I've been looking at that a lot the last couple months. I'll expect he'll try to come up with something different, too. I've been in camp for four to five months straight. I approach this fight as if a championship fight. I'm in the best shape ever. I'm doing things I've never done before in training. For me, it's a championship fight."ย - Keith Jardine
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Next Saturday feels like do or die for Keith Jardine. After two straight losses inside the Octagon, Jardine (15-6-1) has a reason to be worried. He currently holds a UFC record of 6-5, and would like to add another victory to the win column.
For his upcoming fight against Ryan Bader at UFC 110, Jardine has continued training with fellow TUF alum Rashad Evans in order to beef up his weakness - wrestling. Bader, who is a NCAA Division I wrestler, will be looking to use his strong suit in order to defeat The Dean of Mean. However, Evans is also an NCAA Division I wrestler, and will be looking to give Jardine some tips.
If Jardine to Bader, it might mark the end of Jardine's run in the UFC. Althought UFC President Dana White has shown some favoritism to some TUF members from the early seasons, three straight losses on Jardine's card could send him out of the organization. However, with a solid win, Jardine could be pushed back into the mix at light-heavyweight.
UFC 110 will take place in Sydney, Australia on Feb. 20. Headlining the UFC's first-ever trip Down Under will be a heavyweight clash between Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. A highly-anticipated middleweight bout between Wanderlei Silva and Michael Bisping will also take place.
