UFC 84: Silva Questions Whether Jardine Will Standup and Bang
In a recent interview with RawVegas.com from the UFC Gym in Las Vegas, “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva stated that he was coming out to standup and bang, but questioned whether Keith Jardine would be scared to stand up to him and fight?
The comments came after a training session with 3 weeks left before their tilt as one of the co-main events at UFC 84, on May 24th, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Training intensively with tape over his nose, a snorkel on his mouth, and a weighted vest, Silva stated that he is in great shape and is ready for this fight. The techniques are to increase his cardio levels so that he can fight a much younger opponent.
With revenge clearly on his mind following a late-2007 UFC 79 unanimous decision loss to Chuck Liddle he said, “I want to fight with Chuck Liddell again, last time I didn’t have the best condition as I do now. I have good sparring, good teachers, as well as new teachers so I want to fight with him again before he stops fighting.â€
With Keith Jardine having won a decision over Liddell last year this has all the makings of a super fight. UFC 84 looks to answer allot of light heavyweight questions as the card is stacked with top contenders Lyoto Machida, Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva, and Thierry Sokoudjou.
Tags: Keith Jardine, Wanderlei Silva
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I hope that Silva and Jardine go hard and heavy. The 2 of them trading could possibly be the best “BRAWL/BOX” fight the UFC has ever had. I think that if Wanderlei is granted another shot at Lidell it would be a different fight all together. Now he knows what to expect and could train accordingly all in all he is one of my favorite fighters ever.
While I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Axe Murderer, I think it is very presumptuous of him to question Jardine’s stand up game. Jardine clearly bested Chuck Liddell in his last fight (who also happens to be the last guy to beat Wanderlei) and also owns a brutal TKO win over Forrest Griffin, who is currently the #1 LHW contender. Wanderlei has lost his last 3 fights, two of them by KO. Like I said earlier, I have nothing but respect for Silva and his numerous highlight-reel KO’s over the years, but the past is the past. Jardine is a smart fighter, and very under-rated and under-appreciated. I hope Silva isn’t taking this fight too lightly.
Jardine has proven he can fight with the best of them but I don’t see Jardine taking the Axe Murderer down. The leg and mostly body kicks were a big factor in winning that fight with Liddell, great game plan and it worked. Thats not gonna work very well with Silva so he better be ready to swing !!!!!!!!!
This is going to be a good fight. Jardine is a great fighter and right now the number one contender in the lightheavyweight divison. Forrest is not the #1 contender (not even top 5 IMO). Jardine has an awesome resume beating Liddell and Griffin. Wanderlai has a great resume too with wins over Rampage. The winner will have to be discussed in the next title shot after Griffin/Jackson. I am going to pick Wanderlei in this one because of how hard he works and the experience he has.
I think the question was more of a challenge.
Wanderlei likes to stand and trade punches as he has been very successful with this approach in the past and since Jardine has been knocked out before he feels that would be the most successful approach.
So I don’t think it is a sign of disrespect, but a chess move, Wanderlei appreciates that Jardine is a top ranked guy at the moment and as evidenced by his workout regime isn’t taking this fight lightly.
The other fact is that Wanderlei also likes to put on a good show, he wants to win fights in exciting fashion, he is not happy with a decision, so expect him to come out guns a blazing.
The Axe Murderer should go down in MMA history as one of the best ever. However, Jardine is the better fighter at this present time. Silva is one of my top 3 favorite fighters and I want nothing more than for him to KO Jardine for a win. It kills me to say it, but I really think Silva is more at the decline point of his career oppose to Jardine being on the horizon of title contention. Jardine picked Liddell apart and with the KO over Griffin I do not see why he would have much difficulty with the current Axe Murderer. The Axe murderer of the past is another story. My heart says Silva but my gut tells me Jardine takes this one.
Jardine beat Chuck by scoring points and winning the rounds. He didnt own chuck in any sense of the word. Jardine had a game plan to score points with kicks and it worked. Had Chuck taken the approach he did against Silva and looked to win rounds with points and not only look for the KO he would have taken Jardine.
I agree the Silva is on the decline of his career but I believe he has just enough left to own Jardine.I see Silva winning by TKO!
As far as Forrest being the number one contender; he deserves to be where he is. Overall Forrest is a better fighter than Jardine; anyone could get caught and he did by Jardine. The Jackson/Forrest fight will be not as one sided as everyone may think. Forrest has a good shot at an upset!
Jardine is going to knock out silva with his right hand and keep silva guessing with his foot work. Jardin is trainning harder in Albuquerque and they will prepare him right. Jackson is the man.