Stephan began wrestling at age 10 and tae kwon do at age 12. As his desire for knowledge in the martial arts continued, he took up Brazilian jiu-jitsu at age 20 and boxing and Muay Thai at 24. He started fighting MMA in 2001 at the Ironheart Crown 3 four-man tournament, where he submitted Brian Ebersole (Pictures) and Josh Kruger in the same night. In 2002 Bonnar beat Jay Massey (Pictures) at the Ultimate Athlete 1 show and won a decision over Terry Martin (Pictures) at the Maximum Fight Challenge later that year.
A trip to Japan and a bout in the Jungle Fight promotion with Antonio Inoki protégé Ryoto Machida (Pictures) served as Stephan’s first loss in the sport. He scored a submission win over Brad Lynde in the Ironheart Crown and then stopped William Hill (Pictures) with strikes at the Total Fight Challenge. He finished ’04 with another win in the Ironheart show and the opportunity came up to take part in The Ultimate Fighter.
Stephan beat Bobby Southworth (Pictures) by split decision and later submitted Mike Swick (Pictures) to advance to the final round. The legendary bout with Forrest Griffin (Pictures) took place on the finale. Bonnar lost a decision but the fight was so impressive, the UFC gave him a contract, too. Four months later Stephan was back in the cage with Miletich fighter Sam Hoger (Pictures). It was a tougher fight than most expected but Bonnar came away with a unanimous decision. In his most recent fight, Bonnar beat James Irvin (Pictures) by submission in the first round.
JARDINE: Submission fighter Keith Jardine (Pictures) trains out of New Mexico with and fights as part of the Jackson’s Submission Fighting under the direction of Greg Jackson. Keith brings a professional MMA record of 10-1-1 and is also 3-0-1 as a professional boxer (defeating three opponents who were undefeated at the time) and 1-0 as a professional kickboxer.
Jardine was a football coach and player (played defensive end at New Mexico Highlands University), firefighter, miner, former bounty hunter and avid wrestler who was always interested in fighting and aspired to be in the UFC more than a decade ago.
He began fighting in ’01 in the Gladiator Challenge promotion. There he fought the Bas Rutten (Pictures)-trained Amir Rahnavardi (Pictures) and submitted him via armbar. Keith went on to fight in Rage in the Cage in Arizona and the Extreme Challenge in the Midwest (losing to Travis Wiuff (Pictures) by KO) before hooking up with the New Mexico division of the King of the Cage.
Keith won all four of his fights and battled experienced competition including Bryan Pardoe (Pictures), Allan Sullivan (Pictures) and George Allen. A trip to Japan in ’03 pitted Jardine against seasoned fighter Keiichiro Yamamiya (Pictures). They fought to a draw but it was an important international experience and the first time he fought out of the country.
Russia’s biggest MMA promotion, the M-1, was next and Keith was back racking up air miles to fight in the M-1 Heavyweight GP. He battled Arman Gambaryan, a member of the prestigious Red Devil Sports Club, and armbarred the highly touted Russian midway through the first round.
Work began on season two of The Ultimate Fighter and Keith was selected to take part in the show. He lost a unanimous decision to eventual contract winner Rashad Evans (Pictures), but still fought on the finale. There he faced Kerry Schall (Pictures) and punished “Meat Truck” with leg kicks before the ref called a stop to the action late in the second round.
At UFC 57, Keith met yet another TUF cast mate in the form of Miletich fighter Mike Whitehead (Pictures) and scored a unanimous decision victory.
MY PICK: This is another really solid match-up for this card and I’m going with Bonnar. Every time we see this guy he adds a new wrinkle to his game. He had his problems with Hoger but I think we now know Hoger is better than he appeared to be. Jardine has fought good competition his entire career but I don’t think many of those opponents could take the fight anywhere the way Bonnar can. I see Stephan taking control early and making a real statement with this bout. A win here should put him in line for a shot against the best the UFC light heavyweight division can offer. Bonnar by TKO in the first round.