UFC 89 Brandon Vera vs Keith Jardine Fight Analysis Prediction

Brandon “The Truth” Vera (9-2) and Keith “The Dean Of Mean” Jardine (13-5-1) are going to fight each other in UFC 89 on Oct. 18, 2008. This fight is very significant as both fighters need to redeem themselves after their last disappointing performances, a victory in UFC 89 can to establish themselves as top contenders at 205 pounds.

Keith Jardine, was a product of The Ultimate Fighter season 2. Recently he has had very inconsistent performances of wins and losses. He beat Chuck Liddell, Wilson Gouveia and dominated current Light-heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin. However, he lost a decision to Stephan Bonner and was knocked out in within the first minute by Houston Alexander and Wanderlei Silva (Jardine was KTFO!) These inconsistent performances can be attributed to Jardine’s aggressiveness and unorthodox fighting stances. He usually rushes into his opponent like an animal, which has left him wide open, but sometimes it works, like when he fought Forrest Griffin. Anyways, Jardine trains out of the Greg Jackson camp, the same as GSP and Rashad Evans. So that might be an advantage.

Brandon Vera was originally a heavyweight, but he was on the smaller side and his move to light-heavyweight is better suited for his frame. Vera’s last fight against Resse Andy was not exciting at all, Vera won by decision but he seemed really out of shape. Perhaps he cut weight too aggressively. Regardless, Vera is a very formidable opponent with very well rounded skills. He is a top Muay Thai fighter and also has great submission skills, trains with submission specialist Lloyd Irvin. The main question for Vera is if he has trained and conditioned himself to be more explosive.

This is a very important fight for both Jardine and Vera, simply because a victory would give them the momentum to stay alive in the race for title contention in the Light-Heavyweight division. A loss in this fight can be very detrimental in each fighter’s quest for the belt.

I give this fight to Vera because he is the more technical fighter, has a better chin (Jardine’s chin is unpredictable) and Vera has excellent submission skills. What’s also important is that Vera can handle considerably bigger and stronger opponents as he did when he was a heavyweight.