Keith Jardine Cut From The UFC Following Recent Loss
Posted on June 24, 2010, 04:28 PM by MMAWAfter five years, 13 fights and four straight losses, Keith Jardine's tenure with the UFC is over.
UFC President Dana White confirmed to MMA Fighting that the company has cut ties with the Ultimate Fighter season two alumni after his recent majority decision loss to Matt Hamill at last Saturday's TUF 11 finale.
"It sucks," White said. "I have nothing but respect for him and I hope to see him back soon."
Jardine -- nicknamed "The Dean of Mean -- first gained national attention in 2005 while on TUF, where he was eliminated from the competition by future friend and training partner Rashad Evans. He started his official UFC tenure with wins in four of his first five fights, including a TKO win over future champion Forrest Griffin at UFC 66. That win was expected to rocket him into contender status in the light-heavyweight division, but a shocking upset derailed his forward momentum.
At UFC 71, he'd been scheduled to face David Heath, but after Heath was moved into a different match, Jardine was paired with little-known Houston Alexander. At the time, Jardine was a huge favorite, but Alexander knocked him out in just 48 seconds. That began a see-saw stretch in which he struggled to find the consistency he needed to establish himself as a true championship contender.
After seemingly bouncing back with a split-decision win over Chuck Liddell, Jardine was ranked by some sites among the top ten light-heavyweights in the world, but in his next bout, he was knocked out by Wanderlei Silva. After another split-decision win, this time over Brandon Vera, Jardine hit the skids, dropping four straight, with losses to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Thiago Silva, Ryan Bader and finally, Hamill.
Prior to his final bout, Jardine was aware his future could be on the line, but he couldn't hold off Hamill in a closely fought match. Ironically, the bout was competitive enough to earn Jardine a $25,000 "Fight of the Night" bonus, but was not enough to save his job.
The 34-year-old Jardine (15-8-1 overall) finished his UFC run with a 6-7 mark.
Comments
it sucks he had to go out like that but he should be thankful they even kept him around after his loss to Bader. After a few wins in smaller shows i think he'll be back
good greg jackson fighters should be banned from mma!!!hahaa
Greg Jackson is a great coach and holds a camp of great fighters..why do you say that?
about time, I thought he was going to be cut after the 2 back to back KO losses
Cant say we didnt see it coming, Im sure he knew it was.
Jardine is too stiff a fighter and too twitchy, its like hes standing there stiff as a board waiting to get KTFO. Hes a likeable guy though, sad to see it.
He looked awesome in round 1 of his most recent fight though. I bet if the eye poke never happened he would have won... that threw him off his game trying to rush things.
These guys are under a lot of pressure in this organization. If you lose too many times you don't have a job. Sad really, but that's how Dana likes it. Heath Herring will be the next to go if he loses again.
And the one no one wants to hear, Wand
Heath Herring has been out of the UFC for a while.
"Thats how Dana likes it"..... Yea he loves it. It has nothing at all to do with the amount of talent waiting to get their shot in the UFC. Dana just likes to see the look on their face. He probably takes a picture with his camera phone so he can get off on it later. Glad you are on site with us here on LowKick, nothing gets by you. You're so smart!
I wonder how many wins he has to get outside of ufc in order to come back?
He should be cool with it. The UFC made him a lot of money by settting him up with a lot of big name fights. I didn't always think he deserved them but he always had exciting fights.
About time.... His record in the UFC is shit, specially in the last couple of years.
yeah we saw this coming, he did look better in his last fight though.
We'll see if Jardine goes to Strikeforce, he will add to the the needed competition in LHW division there.
This is a guy I feel will land in SF. If SF doesnt pick him up I will be pretty puzzled. They can definitely use more talented LHW's. Not that the guys they have arent talented, but I am speaking in terms of the number of fighters in that division.
Although, after the remarks Karo Parisyan made, I am starting to wonder if Dana doesnt tell them on the way out the door that if they ever want to come back they better not sign with SF... I mean, maybe he does feel SF is unprofessional, but then goes to fight under the IFC banner?
I think the Karo thing was just Karo kissing Danas ass. I highly doubt he tells people not to sign with SF. As he said many times, he doesnt consider them different from any other (lesser) MMA promotion.
It's not like he has anything to fear from SF anyway if they take the UFC scraps.
If anything, it gives them a place to go and see if they improve in to the future.
I would personally think that SF would be smacking their lips waiting for the UFC fallout, to jump on them and sign the better fighters right away, but it doesn't seem to be happening that way. I'm sure SF's either got more internal issues than at first look, or the UFC is pulling a power move like you said. And, to my point on a different thread, SF does have good fighters, just not ENOUGH in each weight division to keep it really competitive on all levels, as you see on their latest cards.
2nd thoughts, he could team up with the TechnoViking
Cutting guys like KJ makes no sense, to me.
The UFC needs good, mid-level fighters...gatekeepers; KJ is an excellent gatekeeper.
Jardine had and has no real chance of being a champ in the UFC; he's a tough guy, a solid fighter, but he's not champ material. If he goes outside the UFC and wins some fights, he'll just get back in...lose some more and be out...it's the yo-yo mentality of the UFC.
I fail to understand why the UFC can't or won't expand its roster and keep guys like Jardine and Leben (you know he's been close to being cut) around; Rich Franklin...guys like that. These guys may never be champs in the (improving) UFC, but they are solid, sometime great fighters, with - fans. I'd much rather see these guys in the UFC, not some backwater show.
Bottom line - I don't know why the UFC can't expand the roster and put on more shows; and in particular, more shows and free fights on SPIKE or any other network.
I just don't think Dana really gets the appetite that is out there, for this sport. I would watch a fight card every night on SPIKE if they'd put it on and they don't all have to be superstars; I'd be more then happy to see guys the caliber of KJ fighting on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. It would beat watching the other crap that is on TV. And heck, I'm already watching the same day (repeat) fights on SPIKE, that I"ve already seen a million times.
Conclusion - Keep Keith Jardine and fighters like him and give us more free fights on SPIKE.
More programing, more shows, more viewers, more revenue...expanding the market, sport and brand - I thought that's what DW wanted.
4 conescutive losses...... enough said
@ griffin
...look at who he lost too, though.
i agree he has faced the best but so has chuck liddel do you still think he should be in the ufc? yes liddel keeps getting Kod but so has jardine 2 of his last 4 by ko
Did you just say Rich Franklin will never be a UFC champ??
Franklin was already a UFC Champ....idiot....
@ NikMegamanHulstein
...Thank You for bring that to my attention. I don't know what I would do without people such as yourself; surely you must be a flight attendant or something; helping people with all sorts of things including, but not restricted to, I'm sure, UFC trivia.
Please everyone, if you have any questions about the UFC, MMA or fighter records, feel free to contact fight attendant NikMegamanHulstein or just sit still and he'll be along sooner-or-later, with a drink, magazine and a correction of any post that he was either too dimwitted enough to understand or to follow (referring to the thread); for I clearly stated in another post, that I was aware of the fact that Rich had been champ.
Good for you NikMegamanHulstein. It's awesome with the knuckle dragging, slope heads chime in with the obvious, because they were too stupid to understand the gist of the argument.
Again, I thank your humble genius for pointing this fact out to me. Now I will forever know who it was that I saw Anderson Silva beat, for the belt. It all makes so much sense, now; that was Rich.
...now that's how you call someone an idiot.
I thank you for reading my comments and encourage you to continue doing so.
Cheers,
Wing Chun
Maybe you would like to see fighters with 4 straight losses fight week in week out but heck i wouldn't. Btw did you say rich franklin was a gate keeper damn most fighters in the UFC would be lucky to have a record as good as his....3 worst fights of his career were against arguably the two best strikers in the world....silva n belfort....get off richs back and danas hes trying to push the sport forward he hasnt taken it this far by allowing fighters with a 4 streak loss continue fighting...theres hundreds of fresh hungry fighters out there trying to prove themselves i bet he has fighters knockin on his office every day begging to be signed...you really think keith Jardine is that vauluable to him??
@ Predator
If they are good fighters and the fights are good - yes, I would. I'd rather see a KJ fight any day of the week, regardless of his record, then, lets say, a Mike Bisping fight. Heck, I'd probably rather watch a KJ fight then an Anderson Silva fight, if the best AS has to offer is dancing, keeping away and BS...culminating in, yet another, boring AS decision victory.
People make too much of the wins and losses and not enough about the quality of the fight and the fighter. Jardine comes to fight every time; win or lose; taking the beating or giving it.
And yes, I called RF a gatkeeper (high level, for sure), because at this stage of his career, that is what he is. And again, his fights with Belfort and Silva prove that; he can't beat the best in his division(s). That, by definition, makes you a gatekeeper.
I say this not to give offense to Rich; I love Rich. And the funny thing about all of this is, that I'm not even a KJ fan; not really. I like him, but he doesn't wow me. And I've pulled for other fighters over him.
I am simply trying to make a case for why guys like Jardine should stay; that is all I am trying to do.
@ Spyidon
RF won't be champ, again. I realize RF was. That's why I qualified the statement with the "improving" UFC. The UFC has improved, in terms of fighter quality, since RF was champ. I think when you look at his loses to Belfort and Silva, says all that needs to be said about Rich's chances of being champ - again.
And for the record - I am a fan of Ace's. I think he's great, but he won't be champ of either 185 or 205. And also for the record, short of a right hand to Liddell's jaw, he loses that fight. He had lost the round and I don't see how he could have continued on, come the second; particularly when Chuck put it together that the wind was broken.
Again, I love Rich, but he's a gatekeeper. A gatekeeper I'd like to see stay in the UFC; my only point.
Vitor and Anderson are not only two of the best fighters in the UFC but in the world - Rich Franklin beats legends and losses to the best and has done for years now hes beat guys like Shamrock, Liddell and Wanderlei but he losses to guys like Machida, Anderson and Vitor. One of the niciest and best guys in MMA.
I think Rich Franklin is more than a "gatekeeper" as you call it, but it is very difficult to get a belt back after having lost it. Fighters track records for holding titles, losing them, and then getting them back is not that great, as the competition level increases constantly. Let's keep in mind that Franklin held the belt for a considerable time, and is one of the better champions the UFC has ever had.
I've never really been a Jardine fan but I don't think he should have been cut
He lost like 4 straight times, why would Dana not cut him??? Its too bad though :(
I was just over at MMAFighting, bro you cannot copy and paste articles like this.... Bad news all around. When you went through the steps to post this article in 2.0, it clearly states in the guidelines that you are not to do so.
Unless you are the author, Mike Chiappetta, which I doubt.....
Keiths had some great victories over people like Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell but had some bad losses to the likes of Wand, Rampage, Thiago, Bader and Hammill so i understand that decision
Keith Jardine is a very likeable guy, and the UFC gave him more chances than most, so the cut is very understandeable. There are a lot of hungry LHW fighters waiting to get in for a chance, and this is what happens when an organization gets this big and only so many fighters can stay. If Jardine wins and proves himself outside the UFC, he'll be back for sure, so it's really up to Jardine now.
The gene pool in MMA is always going up, if you dont stay at the top, chances are your falling to the bottom.......reality101