Jardine: ‘I didn’t even know who Bader was’

When browsing Keith Jardine’s most recent five assignments (Thiago Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Brandon Vera, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Chuck Liddell), it’s safe to say the Greg Jackson product is not one to turn down a challenge. So when he was offered a fight at UFC 110 in Australia against The Ultimate Fighter 8 winner Ryan Bader, there was no way he would decline.

But first, who’s Ryan Bader?

“I didn’t even know who Ryan Bader was when he was first mentioned to me by the UFC,” Jardine said. “It took me a little while to realize who they wanted me to fight. All I heard was that they wanted me to appear in Australia and that was all I needed to hear. That was all my incentive right there. It didn’t matter who was in the other corner facing me.”

Invested in the belief to ever improve and not let the sport pass him by, the 34-year-old Jardine says he’s been training nonstop for five months ever since the 95-second TKO loss to Thiago Silva last August at UFC 102

“I haven’t necessarily had separate camps, but one long training period,” Jardine said. “I was straight back in the gym after the Thiago Silva fight and I’ve been there ever since.”

Jardine says every loss opens his eyes and forces him to evaluate what was working and what wasn’t working in his game. Known for striking at odd angles, an adjustment Jardine recently made was to restore his unpredictability.

“I’m always called unorthodox by people and, to be honest, I didn’t even know I was all that unorthodox until people started saying it to me,” Jardine said. “I’ve actually started straying from that kind of style in recent times and have tried to clean my style up a little bit too much. In hindsight, I think that’s actually hurt me in some ways. I tried fixing some things that weren’t actually broken and it really didn’t suit me. I lost parts of what I did naturally.”

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