The curious case of Keith Jardine

Saturday night’s UFC 96 from Columbus, Ohio, is headlined by the match that in some ways makes no sense.

Keith Jardine could come out of the show as having beaten three of the most popular champions in the history of the light heavyweight division, and not only not get a title shot but also not even want one.

Jardine is looking to play spoiler and eliminate Quinton Jackson as a title contender for training partner and best friend, current light heavyweight king Rashad Evans. That creates a nice little story to sell the match. But it’s a rare example of Ultimate Fighting Championship salvaging a show, and in doing so, sacrificing a bigger pay-per-view main event that’s already on the table.

Jackson, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, lost the title in a close decision to Forrest Griffin last summer. He rebounded by destroying Wanderlei Silva on Dec. 27 in Las Vegas, knocking the ghost of his past cold on the first punch that landed. Silva had brutally finished Jackson in both 2003 and 2004 when both were stars in Japan for the Pride Fighting Championships.

On the same night, Evans finished Griffin to win the championship. The promotion learned its lesson after running more shows than it had major-title main events to headline – that you don’t mess with a big match when it’s handed to you.

In most cases, that wouldn’t be an issue, because if a top contender is matched with another top contender and loses, that opponent can step right into the spot.

But it’s not happening. Jardine vs. Evans is off the table, according to Jardine, who demonstrates a very unique point of view at this stage of his career by being adamant about walking away from a golden ticket.

“After I win, and me and Rashad have always talked about this, he’s helping me train for this fight and there’s no way we’re going to fight after this,” said Jardine, 33. “People ask me this all the time. The people love this sport, but we’re not businessmen. We give the audience what they deserve, but I’m not fighting one of my best friends. It’s not going to happen.”

There are plenty of sets of teammates in this sport who prefer not to fight each other. One of the issues UFC has had in the welterweight division of late is that three of the top contenders, Jon Fitch, Mike Swick and Josh Koscheck, are all from the American Kickboxing Academy and refuse to face each other. But Koscheck noted a few weeks ago that their agreement only stands until one of them wins the title, because at that point the other two will not turn down a title shot.

But Evans and Jardine have been adamant about this for years. There was even a confrontation publicly with Evans and UFC president Dana White when the subject was brought up by reporters. Evans said under no circumstances would he fight Jardine. White, who has gotten people to fight in matches they haven’t really wanted to for years, said that if it was the right match, the UFC would make it and they would fight. Evans shot back that they would not.

The two actually have fought before, when both were cast members of Season 2 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show in 2005. Fighting as heavyweights, Jardine lost a decision to Evans in the semifinals. Evans went on to beat Brad Imes and win the show. But the friendship developed once the show ended, when Jardine asked Evans to come to Albuquerque, N.M., with him to train at the Greg Jackson camp.

At the time, Jardine was a solid wrestler who had developed into a good striker. Evans was a strong Division I wrestler who was just developing his stand-up game.

“The thing is, it’s different,” said Jardine. “We got together right out of the show. We shared everything and became best friends. I wasn’t a very good wrestler [Jardine was a very good high school wrestler in California], and he wasn’t a very good striker. We know each other’s families and have been to each other’s homes.”

So the big question is, why is the Jardine-Jackson match happening? While Jackson hovers between a 3-to-1 and 4-to-1 favorite, whenever you have top-level fighters the outcome is never predictable. UFC has learned that the hard way, and generally the company’s goal is to put together a main event where it has a viable direction to go no matter what the outcome.

Scheduling has actually been more of an issue to date. The UFC had a pay-per-view show slated for March 7, but between injuries, top stars wanting time off or being booked on other shows, there were no main event level fighters ready for the date. For a time, it appeared the UFC would be forced to feature Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shane Carwin as the main event. But Gonzaga is not a drawing card and Carwin has never appeared on a major televised UFC event, so the decision was made to risk a ready-made, bigger event to save this show.

Jackson was expected to fight Evans for the title during the summer, but he was agreeable to take this fight first.

“I’ve got mouths to feed,” said Jackson. “If I can do it, I can do it.”

Evans, still banged up from the Griffin fight, wasn’t ready this early.

Jardine actually had a fight booked for April 19 in Montreal against Luiz Cane, but he was agreeable to move the date up.

Obviously, if Jackson wins, he’s added to the title fight by having just beaten Evans’ best friend and training partner.

“I got a call,” said Jardine. “They think they’ll get a good fight from me. I like to strike and I won’t have a boring fight. They’ll expect me to put on a good show, but they don’t expect me to win.”

But nobody expected Jardine (14-4-1) to beat Chuck Liddell on Sept. 22, 2007, when Jardine spoiled a Jackson vs. Liddell rematch that likely would have been the second biggest pay-per-view event in company history. Jardine won a split decision there, and also knocked out Griffin before Griffin won the title from Jackson. He was overwhelmed by Wanderlei Silva on May 24 in Las Vegas in just 36 seconds but rebounded to win a split decision Oct. 18 over Brandon Vera.

More than 11,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday’s fight. Due to the economic situation, UFC has scaled down ticket prices compared to its two previous events in Columbus. It’s become a UFC tradition to run Columbus on the weekend the city becomes the center of the physical fitness world with the Arnold Classic, which attracts tens of thousands of tourists.

If Jardine wins, UFC will have lost a big match. But the company does have Lyoto Machida (14-0) on deck, ready for a shot at Evans this summer in the event Jackson loses, gets hurt or perhaps even wins in a lackluster fashion. If Jackson (29-7) gets a solid win, there becomes a debate over who gets the shot. Jackson will hold more wins over tougher opponents and is the bigger-name fighter. But Machida not only hasn’t lost a match in his career but also hasn’t even lost a round since coming to the UFC.

From a style standpoint, Jardine’s unorthodox style, particularly his hard low kicks, could be a problem for Jackson, who did nothing to block Griffin’s low kicks in his title loss. But Jardine doesn’t see it that way: “Everyone knows I like to leg kick, so I think he’ll have an answer for that.”

“I’m glad people think I’ve got no low kick defense,” said Jackson. “I was a kickboxer before I was a boxer. I’ve been working on everything.”

Jardine also has an answer if he does win.

“I’m going to have a long career,” he said. “I have no problem jumping to heavyweight. I’m going to be here a long time and things will work out.”