Keith Jardine | Source: MMAWeekly.com
You wouldn’t think a fighter who holds career victories over former UFC champions Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin would be unsatisfied. Enter Keith Jardine, former contender in the UFC’s most stacked weight division, light heavyweight. Although he has beaten some of the best in the division, a recent losing streak that got him bounced from the world’s top MMA promotion has only fueled his desire to reach the pinnacle of the sport.
In an exclusive interview with Tapology, Jardine revealed why he believes he is in the midst of the worst losing streak of his professional career heading into tomorrow’s fight against Trevor Prangley. Jardine also revealed his introspective side, as he spoke about his evolution as a mixed martial artist and delved into the relationship between his professional career and his personal self.
Jardine will take on Prangley in the main event of Shark Fights 13, which takes place tomorrow night from the Amarillo Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas.
Tapology: I wanted to start by talking about your last fight in the UFC against Matt Hamill. How did you assess your performance in that fight and do you think you deserved the decision?
Jardine: Yeah I thought that I won that fight, but it didn’t look good, as bloody as I was and everything. That’s just me, though; sometimes I feel like I get cut just walking into the cage. I thought my performance was okay, but I definitely got too tired in that fight. The reason why is I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately and every fight that I’ve had I just got back to work after the fights, back to killing myself in training and each one just got harder and harder and harder with these real killer conditioning routines.
Now that I’ve changed it up a little bit I have definitely noticed that I was over-trained for that fight. It would be so easy if harder work translated to better results automatically. If that were the case, I don’t think too many people would be able to compete with me.
Tapology: After that loss—your fourth in a row in the UFC—did you expect to be cut from the promotion?
Jardine: Absolutely. When Joe Silva called me I think it was harder for him than it was for me. I knew it was coming and I expected it. I’ve got a more personal relationship with the UFC. I’m not one of those guys who is going to hide behind his manager.
I know where they’re coming from. They want me to get a few wins outside of the UFC in order to come back in and get back into the title picture. I mean, what better story would there be than that?
Tapology: Even though you lost four fights in a row, two of them were very competitive battles with top light heavyweights. With that said, are you confident that you can still hang with the best light heavyweights in the world both mentally and physically?
Jardine: Yeah, absolutely. You said it right. I thought the Hamill fight was something that I should have won. I just look at it like I’m in this spot for a reason. I need to work on some things and make some improvements and then I’ll be back in the title picture. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think if I can climb my way back into the UFC and get a title shot it would be an incredible story.
Tapology: If you had to attribute this losing streak to one specific reason, whether it is mental, physical, or technical in nature, what would that reason be? Is it just a matter of re-tooling your entire physical and mental approach to the game?
Jardine: The re-tooling actually has a lot to do with it. I’ve been changing my game a lot and trying to get better and it’s just one of those things where you’ve got to get a little worse in order to get better. I feel like I’m finally at the point now where I can show some stuff that people haven’t seen yet, a real top notch Keith Jardine.
Tapology: It seems like it would have been easier for you to just go back to your old approach to fighting after a pair of losses. Was it a difficult decision between yourself and your coaches to stay with this approach to re-tooling your game?
Jardine: No, I know I’m on the right road. I think everything was coming together in that Hamill fight, except I couldn’t breath. You’re exactly right in that, if I never changed my style, I would have a different record than I do today, but I’m in this for the long run. Looking down the line, I know I’ll be much better off in the future with this approach.
Tapology: Onto your next fight. You will be fighting Trevor Prangley Saturday night at Shark Fights 13. I think a lot of people were surprised that you are taking on such a good opponent in your first comeback fight. Are you viewing this fight as a do-or-die for your professional career or are you just taking it as another fight?
Jardine: I’m ignoring all of that and just focusing solely on the fight. It’s funny you bring that up; you have a point in that I could have taken a few easy fights in order to work my way back up, but if you’ve followed my career it never works out that way. Actually, the first fight they offered me was Houston Alexander, which would have been a great main event, but for some reason that didn’t work out and now I have a much better guy in Trevor Prangley.
Tapology: What are your thoughts on Prangley taking you on at 205lbs, since he has been fighting at 185lbs recently?
Jardine: Those wrestlers cut so much weight. I’m sure he walks around just as big as I do. I’d like to think I’ll be able to bully him around a little bit, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Tapology: Shark Fights is a regional promotion, but they have definitely stepped up their game with this event. Do you think this could turn into a new career direction for you or is it still a means to an end as far as re-signing with the UFC?
Jardine: I look at it as the latter. It definitely could become a career move. I love the way they have treated me, but I don’t really know what their game plan in the future is. I think there’s a good chance I’ll fight for them again, though.
Tapology: What are your thoughts on Prangley’s overall technical game?
Jardine: Trevor has an incredible chin, he’s real tough, and I think it should be a great match-up because I’m not one to dodge a fight either.
Tapology: You mentioned Trevor’s chin. I wanted to ask about your own. You have been knocked out in several of your recent losses. Do you attribute that to not taking shots as well as you used to, the level of opposition, or this new fighting style you have adopted?
Jardine: It’s a little bit with me changing up. I would leave some holes open, but if you look at fights like the Rampage fight, he put some pretty good leather on me and I never got knocked out. It’s just my style, man. I’m not one to back away from a fight and that’s how it ends sometimes. You can’t pay attention to that stuff though. I’m in the game to fight, I have complete confidence in myself, and I don’t listen to the chat room lines.
Tapology: In a general sense, how are you going to get the job done in there on Saturday night?
Jardine: I haven’t really worked on Trevor that much, I’ve been working on myself. He doesn’t really bring anything special to the table. He has good power, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen before. To me, it’s about me taking the right approach to the fight.
Tapology: I wanted to ask, since you and many other fighters got into this sport because of your love of the martial arts and fighting in general. When you look back at everything you’ve accomplished to date, would you be satisfied with that no matter what happens in the future?
Jardine: No, I’m not satisfied with it. I’ve beat some UFC champions and I’ve lost to some. I’ve fought some very tough guys and I’m proud of that, but I need to get that UFC title shot. Until that happens I’m not going to be satisfied.
Other than that it is about the fight. Fighting is a strange thing. If you’re a real fighter, it’s more about living life. It’s the same thing as people who want to climb Mount Everest. It’s not a fun thing to do; it’s grueling, it’s very hard, but it’s about living and experiencing life.
Tapology: How does your perception of your career carry over into your perception of your personal life?
Jardine: I separate it. I’ve learned to really separate it. I’m not a professional fighter. I don’t walk around every day as Keith Jardine the professional fighter. I’m Keith Jardine the fighter, I’m Keith Jardine the businessman, and I’m Keith Jardine, the guy sitting in the bookstore doing the crossword puzzle. If you walk around as a fighter all of the time then you live and die in that fight.
If you walk into a fight where you have to win and this is who you are, then you are at a disadvantage right away. I’m in a fight because I love being here and I’m going to have fun getting in a tangle with this guy.
Tapology: Yeah, I wanted to ask that because I feel bad for some of these guys, the way their careers turn. I think you’ve got to be able to separate your success and health of your career with that of your personal life and your position as a human being.
Jardine: You’re right about that, but it’s hard to do. It’s hard to separate it because so much money is on the line. If I had won my last four fights, I wouldn’t have to worry about money for a very long time and now things are a little bit different.
Interview Conducted by Steven Kelliher
