UFC 96: Was Keith Jardine 10 Seconds Away From Beating Rampage Jackson?

Posted Mar 09, 2009 2:17PM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)

Filed Under: UFC

In Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's UFC 96 win over Keith Jardine Saturday night was close enough that Jardine says a judge told him that until the last 10 seconds of the third round, he was winning the fight.

But is it really true that through the first 4:50 of the third round, Jardine was winning?

I have my doubts. I gave the first round to Jardine (as did two of the three judges) and the second to Jackson (as did all three judges), so I agree with the judges that the winner of the third round was going to be the winner of the fight. But I disagree with the judge who told Jardine that he was winning through 4:50. I thought Jackson was the more effective fighter in the third, and the left hook that dropped Jardine with just seconds remaining was only the clinching blow.

The stats at CompuStrike.com basically back up what I thought while watching it live: In the third round, CompuStrike says Jackson landed 42 strikes to 27 for Jardine. That last punch at the very end of the third round was a big one, but Jackson had done more than Jardine leading up to that punch.

So was Jardine really just 10 seconds away from beating Jackson? Apparently he was on one judge's scorecard. But I'm betting the other two judges would have given the third round to Jackson even without that final knockdown, and Jackson would still have won the decision.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-09-2009 @ 2:51PM

Thiago Costa said...

The first round to Jardine? Are you crazy? Off course Rampage has dominated the whole fight and Jardine never brought problems to Quinton. Rampage controled the fight and he was very confident in himself all the time. Jardine is not bad fighter, but he is far from top fighters like Rampage, Wanderlei Silva, Machida, Evans, Liddell, Shogun, etc.

3-09-2009 @ 8:55PM

M13 said...

I think was relatively even up until the last round (1st round to Jardine and 2nd round to Rampage) when Rampage scored a good takedown and almost knocked Jardine out. I thought Jardine did a good job scoring points against Jackson. Either way Rampage didn't look very impressive in that fight. Hopefully he'll be ready in time to fight Rashad Evans next at UFC 98.

3-11-2009 @ 9:19AM

Big Mofo Jhinson said...

I CANT AGREE MORE WITH YA.. I THINK ALOT OF THESE COMMENTS ON HERE ARE JUST BY RAMPAGE FANS AND NOT NECESSARILY FANS "OF THE SPORT"!! AS MUCH AS I REALLY DONT THINK EVANS IS THAT GREAT, I STILL DO HOPE HE BEATS THE HELL OUTTA RAMPAGE!

3-09-2009 @ 9:40PM

where am i? said...

I was watching pretty close and I actually gave all three rounds to Jackson. Most of the punches Jardine threw on Jackson grazed and barely connected at all. His leg kicks were consistant, but none looked like they damaged Jackson any.
There was a point where Jackson seemed a little overcome, but in the same round he floored Jardine. In my book, knocking someone on their ass outweights making someone stagger any day.
Jackson was actually fighting it seemed. He was composed, his hands were up and he was feinting, bobbing and weaving.
Jardine looked pretty much the whole time like he wasn't sure what to do, and he definitly did NOT look like a professional martial artist. Brainless brawler... sure.. but not pro-fighter.
Jackson had all 3.

3-10-2009 @ 10:40AM

Paul said...

There is a big difference between watching it on TV and watching it live, close to the fight. You can hear the strikes when you are there and unless you watch a slow-motion on a particular punch or kick, it is very hard to see which punches (and/or kicks) hit hard, or just graze someone. The first round easily went to Jardine. He kicked Rampage on the opening of the round, very hard and it hurt. Jardine kicked Rampage multiple times and he was hurt. On TV, you cannot hear which kicks really hurt and which do not--whereas you are there--For instance, when Matt (Hamill's) kick to Munoz's head--that kick echoed all over the arena. The refs had this right-on. If Rrampage didn't knock down Jardine with seconds to go, the score would have been no different, but Jardine deserves credit for winning the first round and almost pulling off what Griffin did a year ago (win on point). I really think Rampage is slower than his days in Pride. There was an interesting show on one day a few years back (Bio-mechanics and power of impact in athletics) and out of all of the athletes who hit each other, none was as deadly as Rampage picking up the two-hundred pound dummy and smashing it on its head on the floor. More power than any linebacker could generate hitting the dummy, more than any punch or kick--slamming a guy down on the floor by Rampage was the most leathal. Once again, I think he has lost a bit of that, but he still is a very dangerous dude.

3-10-2009 @ 4:50PM

i have to totally agree with that... That is exactly what i was saying when the fight ended.. "that last knock down is what won rampage the fight".. it doesnt matter if rampage was never in any real trouble.. neither was jardine.. anytime jardine went to the ground he got up soo easy that it actually made it look bad for rampage.. Jardine was in the best shape i have ever seen him in and i can tell you that jardine was way more busy during the fight, constantly throwing punches and kicks,, and thats why he should have won that fight! Rampage is soo far from being an "all around" great fighter he is just a good brawler.. God i only wish GSP was in his weight class,, he would destroy rampage in One round!

3-11-2009 @ 5:13AM

pickledraage said...

This was a good fight. Thats what makes it hard for people to say one another because both guys went out there and performed like they were suppose to. However only one can win the fight. And that was Rampage. Hats off to Jardine though. I felt rampage was in more control over the whole fight than jardine ever was. It would have been dissappointing had the decision went the other way with how the fight went down. Looking forward to Rampage vs Evans!

3-11-2009 @ 9:16AM

BY THE WAY,, IF RAMPAGES JAW KEEPS GROWING BIGGER AND BIGGER(TITO ORTIZ LIKE)IT WILL BECOME PRETTY OBVIOUS TO ANYONE THAT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT GROWTH HORMONE THAT HE'S DEFINATELY BEEN TAKING IT THROUGH HIS ENTIRE CAREER! SERIOUSLY GUYS COME ON?? ANYONE THAT KNOWS ABOUT HGH KNOWS HOW GROWTH OF BONES ESPECIALLY THE JAW IS A VERY COMMON THING! JUST LOOK AT TITO AND RAMPAGE BACK IN THE BEGINING (THEY LOOKED NORMAL) THAN LOOK AT THEM NOW! (JAW BONE STRUCTURE GREW MORE TO LOOK LIKE AN APE THAN HUMAN.. JUST GO LOOK AT THE PICTURES.. THE PROOF IS RIGHT THERE.. CHEATERS!! JARDINE IM SURE IS PRETTTY CLEAN FROM JUST WHAT I CAN SEE..

3-12-2009 @ 11:59AM

I think there needs to be more folks that look at the the complete scope like you and me. lol

3-12-2009 @ 6:07PM

DANGIT!!! NOW IT LOOKS LIKE RAMPAGE GOT AN "OUT" ON HIS LITTLE FIGHT WITH EVANS.. PISSED!! AS MUCH AS I DONT CARE FOR EVANS I WAS REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING HIM BEAT RAMPAGE.. GUESS ILL HAVE TO WAIT.. I WOULDNT MIND SEEING OUR BOY FOREST GRIFFIN BEAT RAMPAGE DOWN AGAIN!! THAT WOULD MAKE ME VERY HAPPY..