No one said it's easy to get to the UFC. Keith Jardine realized his dream back in 2006 when made the cast of Season 2 of "The Ultimate Fighter" and over the course of 13 fights he became a fan and promotional favorite. But the "Dean of Mean" ran into some hard luck and was on the wrong side of too many close decisions. For that, he got his pink slip. In an effort to get back to the big show, Jardine jumped at the chance to fight Trevor Prangley, another former UFC veteran. Unfortunately tonight at Shark Fights 13, he didn't have enough to beat Prangley either. The South African got off to a quick start and held on down the stretch to get a split decision win, 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28, over Jardine in the main event in Amarillo, Tx.
That makes it five straight losses and 6-of-8 for Jardine.
"It’s the biggest win of my career," said Prangley.
Prangley (23-6) is a true middleweight and weighed in well under the light heavyweight limit at 202 3/4 pounds. But power wasn't an issue. He sent a message early in the fight by muscling Jardine in the clinch and landing a big knee right on his chin. Jardine's knees buckled and the shot opened up a nice gash over his left eye. Bleeding badly, Jardine was on his back underneath a nasty ground and pound fighter just two minutes into the fight. It stayed down on the mat for another two-plus minutes with Prangley landing some good elbows.
The action stayed on the feet in the second but it was Prangley who once again landed the best shot when he put Jardine on his butt with an uppercut. Jardine wouldn't quit.
"Moving up a weight class, and to fight a guy of his caliber (was great). He sat there and ate everything I had to give him," said Prangley. "There were a couple of times when he buckled a little bit. I said 'yes it‘s over', but man he just kept coming back. I just couldn’t kill the guy."
Jardine (15-9) really turned it on in the final minutes as Prangley tired badly. The South African took a ton of wicked shots but wouldn't go down. It was just enough to get the split decision.
"I know he’s got great cardio working at altitude. I knew I had to win the first two and hopefully I'd have enough to finish and win the third," said Prangley. "Everyone kept asking what’s your gameplan. I kept saying 'I have no idea what to do against this guy' but I did pull off a victory."
The lack of a gameplan might be Jardine's biggest problem right now. He's a well-rounded fighter but too often he fights into his opponent's style or doesn't push the pace enough. Prangley's had conditioning issues in the past. If that weakness had been seized upon by Jardine, we might be looking at a return to UFC relatively soon. Now he needs to go back to the drawing board.
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