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Keith Jardine - The Dean of Mean
Born Keith Hector Jardine on October 31st, 1975, he was a star in both wrestling and football in high school. After graduation, he attended Pierce College and then transferred to New Mexico Highlands University, where he continued to compete at football. Afterwards, Keith Jardine decided to pursue a career in boxing and kickboxing. In 2001, he decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts. He won his first match, defeating Amir Rahnavardi by armbar submission. He would go on to win five of his next six bouts, with his only loss coming by way of knockout to Travis Wiuff. In 2003, the Dean of Mean made his debut in the Pancrase organization and ended up drawing with Keiichiro Yamamiya. He then won his next two matches (one by KO and the other by submission) before appearing on The Ultimate Fighter 2 in 2005. He was the first heavyweight chosen for the team of Rich Franklin, and most considered him a favorite to move on the finals of the show. He was not selected to fight until the semi-finals of the show, and he was defeated by the eventual winner of the heavyweight side of the tournament, Rashad Evans. Despite his elimination from the tournament, Keith Jardine was booked to compete on The Ultimate Fighter 2 finale. There, he defeated fellow cast member Kerry Schall with a series of devastating leg kicks. His next move in the UFC was to drop down in weight to compete in the light heavyweight division. His first match in this division was against Mike Whitehead, another alum of the TUF 2 competition. Jardine won by unanimous decision. His next fight would take place at Ultimate Fight Night 4 on April 6th, 2006. He faced off against Stephan Bonnar, a finalist from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. The fight was closely contested, but Jardine would ultimately lose by a unanimous decision. He did, however, greatly increase his fan base during the fight. According to Jardine, “Everyone knows that that Bonnar fight should have been my fight. I still get approached everyday about that.” He defeated Wilson Gouveia by unanimous decision at The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale. In regard to his opponent, Jardine said, “He surprised me. He came out and he was really fast, and he hit real hard and he’s a really good fighter.” He was then paired up against Mike Nickels. This fight never happened, though, as Nickels was forced to withdraw due to a back injury. Keith Jardine defeated the popular Forrest Griffin at UFC 66 via a TKO in the first round. He was then scheduled to face Houston Alexander at UFC 71. Jardine was unhappy about having to face a relative unknown following his victory over Griffin, but Alexander shocked everyone by knocking out Jardine 48 seconds into the fight. “I had him hurt and I lost focus for a minute,” said Jardine. “He had a pretty good punch on him.” At UFC 76, he faced off against Chuck Liddell. At the time, both men were coming off of a loss. In what was considered a major upset, Jardine captured a split decision victory over the former light heavyweight champion. Keith Jardine lives and trains in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has attained a black belt in the art of Giadojutsu from Jack Jackson of Jackson’s Submission Fighting. There, Jardine has trained with fighters such as Rashad Evans, Diego Sanchez, Joey Villasenor and Nate Marquadt. When he’s not fighting, Keith Jardine enjoys going to coffee shops, watching movies and reading books. He also enjoys camping in order to get away from the noise of the city. See also: Betting articles:
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