UFC 102 Preview: The Main Card

Thiago Silva vs. Keith Jardine

The Breakdown: Two of the light heavyweight division’s forgotten men look to restart their title runs, as Silva and Jardine try to bounce back from demoralizing losses by bouncing their fists off of each other’s heads. While Jardine is at his best snapping leg kicks and confounding opponents with his off-kilter timing and angles, Silva is at his best on the mat, using his slick guard passing and positioning to pound out opponents. However, Silva often confuses himself with a striker, and that bit of identity crisis could cost him a fight he can ill afford to lose.

The X Factor: As uncoordinated as Jardine looks inside the cage, he actually has shown stout takedown defense. That could become a major factor, as Silva has the bad habit of going into Clubber Lang mode when his takedowns come up short. Discipline and proper game planning have been absent from Silva’s game before, and he’ll need both to deal with Jardine.

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The Bottom Line: My personal betting favorite for “Fight of the Night,” expect a wild one, with Jardine loading up on the leg kicks and Silva answering with his underrated clinch game. Eventually, Silva’s struggle for the takedown will tax his cardio and leave him gasping for air as Jardine starts finding a home for his unorthodox arsenal. Do not expect Silva’s chin to be up to the punishment, as Jardine scores an impressive third-round technical knockout and immediately goes into Techno Viking mode.