The words -- though he may have suspected the news they brought -- cut Keith Jardine to the bone. In wake of his hard-fought unanimous decision defeat to former light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the UFC 96 main event on Saturday at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, Jardine was stung by a revelation from one of the cage-side judges.
The knockdown he suffered in the closing seconds of the fight may have cost him a victory. “I’m pretty pissed off right now,” Jardine said. “One of the judges told me I lost the fight in the last 10 seconds, and that’s pretty hard to take.” Jackson won by scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27. The 30-year-old Memphis, Tenn., native had a difficult time adjusting to Jardine’s unorthodox style but still knocked him down twice en route to the 30th win of his career. Jackson admitted that Jardine surprised him with his fortitude and his ability to absorb punishment. “I hit Jardine with everything but the kitchen sink,” he said. “He wouldn’t let up. He went down [in the second round], and I tried to pounce on him, but he recovered and got up. He was pissing me off. I was, like, ‘Man, why don’t you just stay your ugly ass down. Let me knock you out.’ He wouldn’t go.”
Jardine has alternated between wins and losses in his past six bouts. Even in defeat, he reaffirmed his place as one of the sport’s top 205-pound competitors. “It was a tough fight,” he said. “I thought I did everything right training for this fight. I thought I was on. I came into this fight in the best shape of my life.”
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