MMA Double Standard?

Promoted to the Front Page by Zak Woods

With all the talk of how Chuck Liddell should never fight again. This weekend we turn our sights to another company man with exploding jaw syndrome (EJS), Keith Jardine.

 Keith Jardine, Sufferer of EJS and Freddy Krueger face.

 More After the Jump...

Jardine was never known for a good chin as was displayed early on in his career by Travis Wiuff.

 The magic happens at 2:20.  

This was Keith's first KO loss. It would be 5 years until he met Houston "The Problem" Alexander, and had years of grammar school forcibly removed from his memory. This started a downward spiral in which Keith Jardine would go 2-4 with 3 train wreck losses in his next 6 fights.  

Who could forget Wanderlei Silva's coming out party? With Wanderlei Silva needing a win, he was matched up with Jarinde who looked to be on the upswing after shocking Chuck Liddell. Silva baited Jardine to throw a leg kick, countered it, rape choked him, and went all Ed Norton in Fight Club over him. All in under a minute.

 "I wanted to destroy something beautiful." doesn't quite fit here.  

His next loss would come courtesy of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Jackson, on the shortlist of Jardine's opponents who did not contend for knockout of the night, still managed to drop Jardine twice, and put a good beating on him. However, Jardine did well in this fight, and was arguably 10 seconds away from winning the decision. This no doubt helped him get a few more cracks at UFC glory.  

Jardine's next fight vs Thiago Silva saw Silva looking for a home for his lead left hook. It only took a little over a minute for this punch to find a home that sent Jardine down to the canvas where he was put unconcious by strikes again. Silva later revealed in interviews that the left hook was something he had worked in his camp because of holes he spotted in Jardine's boxing.

 His most recent fight (and KO loss) was at the hand of Ryan Bader. Bader clipped Jardine with a right that left him wobbled and finished the fight with a strong left hook in the 3rd round. This marked Jardine's 3rd KO loss in less than 2 years, and what will likely be the start of a long relationship with Velcro shoes.

I hear they're calling them "Chucks"

With all the talk of Chuck Liddell being forced into retirement, I think it's more important for some of the lower pay-grade fighters who don't make that kind of money. Chuck may have made the money to support himself well after his mind goes, but the same can not be said for Keith Jardine who at 35 years old, is headlining a UFC card, and has no immediate end to his career in sight.

What do you think?