Written by Grady Roy
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Tuesday, May 20 2008
Keith Jardine heads to the ring prior to fighting Chuck Liddell. A win over Silva would give him victories over the two dominant lightheavyweights of the decade.
The Wanderlei Silva/Keith Jardine fight at UFC 84 may not have a championship title involved, but there is no doubt it has all the ingredients of being a show stealer if not an all time classic. This fight is extremely hard to pick a clear favorite and neither fighter should be favored or counted out regardless of their recent wins or losses.
With Wanderlei Silva losing three of his last four fights he has a lot to prove to fans of the UFC. He has appeared to have faded in the last couple of years, but even though he dropped his last bout to former champion Chuck Liddell, Silva showed that he may be once again regaining his old form. The same aggressive form led him to a five year reign as PRIDE Champion in the 205 lb. class. During that time he defeated Quinton "Rampage" Jackson twice and the legendary Kazushi Sakuraba three times along with victories over other top names such as Kazuyuki Fujita and judo master Hidehiko Yoshida.
On the other hand, Keith Jardine is riding the momentum of his split decision victory over arguably the most popular fighter in the UFC, longtime light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. A decisive win over Wanderlei Silva could be just the push he needs to legitimize himself as a top fighter in UFC's light heavyweight division and boost him into the status of top condender for the championship currently held by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
Jardine must not expose himself as he has shown in the past while in the standup if he wants to win this matchup. He has a tendency to lean forward and drop his left hand, which could lead to a quick end to this fight given the experience and versatility of Silva. But Jardine has been known to end fights early also simply from the continuous crippling leg kicks from which he forced opponents to throw in the towel between rounds due to not being able to continue.
For either fighter to be successful, they must play to their strengths in this contest. While that seems overly obvious to seasoned fans, this fight will be decided on the little things in the match that often go overlooked. The fighter who takes advantage of what few opportunities arise between each other will no doubt be the victor. This battle will have minimum room for error.
At all costs, Jardine must avoid Silva's Thai clinch and not become a victim of his devastating knee strikes. By not allowing himself to be pinned or hooked against the cage will give him the necessary distance to work his kicks and exchange punches with Silva. One thing that history has proven is that Wanderlei Silva can be taken down by an experienced counter puncher. Perfect example of this was Silva's fight against MMA superstar Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic at PRIDE's Final Conflict Absolute, where Filipovic KO'd him with a punishing kick to the head.
Don’t expect this fight to take place on the ground much either. Whereas Wanderlei Silva does possess good submission skills and Jardine possesses an equally solid takedown defense, this fight is destined to be a slugfest. If the action does turn to the ground Silva will most likely struggle trying to pass Jardine's guard and will eventually turn into a stalemate. With neither fighter really in a position to dominate the other don't expect to see any lengthy 'ground and pound' exchanges.
If this fight stays close Silva will probably have the advantage and his reputation alone could give him a slight edge in the event it goes to the judges' scorecards. At the same time, Jardine has the KO power to end it at any moment and his win over Liddell demonstrated his ability to execute a tactical fight plan against a dangerous striker. This matchup is simply too close to call and either fighter could emerge victorious. In any case, fans will be treated to a fight that has all of the ingredients of a potential classic.
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