Light heavyweight powerhouses Keith Jardine and Luis Cane could throwdown at UFC 97 on April 18 from The Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, according to a recent report on MMABay.com.
Banha” destroyed Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via second round technical knockout at UFC 89: “Bisping vs. Leben” back in October. It was his second straight win — the Brazilian heel stopped Jason Lambert at UFC 85: “Bedlam” back in June.
His only loss is to James Irvin, which was ruled a disqualification because of an errant knee to the face. The 27-year-old fighter is tough as nails and comes prepared to bang, making any match up with a top 205-pound competitor like Jardine a juicy one.
“Dean of Mean” has put together a solid record of (6-3) during his time in the Octagon. His resume is highlighted with wins over some of the top names in the sport such as Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, Brandon Vera and others.
In fact, it seemed likely that a rematch with he “Iceman” was on the near horizon with the way Liddell was calling Jardine out a couple of weeks ago. But apparently company president Dana White has other plans for Chuck — he recently shot that idea down and instead announced that the former champ would likely be on the UFC 96 card against a yet to be determined opponent.
While that might be disappointing, the good news for the fans is that there’s no shortage of talent in the 205-pound division in the UFC. And super talented guys like Luis Cane seem to always be in the shadows just waiting for their opportunities to face a big name guy like Jardine.
The bad news for Jardine is that this time of year has not been very kind to him since joining the UFC. In April of 2006 he dropped a razor close decision to Stephan Bonnar at UFN 4, in May of 2007 he was annihilated by Houston Alexander at UFC 71, and then in May of last year he ran into the same fate against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 84.
Perhaps thats much ado about nothing and is simply an odd coincidence. To make matters worse for Jardine, Cane fits the mold of fighters who have given him fits in the past. This is going to be a very difficult match up for the Greg Jackson-trained fighter and a great fight for the fans.
UFC 97 will likely feature middleweight champion Anderson Silva, defending his 185-pound strap against Thales Leites. Hometown hero and welterweight golden boy, Georges St. Pierre, could also be booked for the card if he escapes his fight against BJ Penn later this month injury-free.
For more on UFC 97 and potential fights planned for the card click here.
46 Comments »
If GSP escapes injury free I will give Kevin my motorcycle.
***ATTENTION MANIACS***
Rampage pleaded guilty today and was given probation. Told all you haters from the beginning that he wasnt going to Jail!
Bring on Rashad!
I like Rampage, but he would loose to Rashad. Hear Me Now!!!!!! Rashad IS under-rated!! He has lined fighters up and beats them down. I am not a Rashad fan, but he is good.
hold me to it
you bet…Kevin thinks GSP will escape injury freee????
No.. no one does.. I just feel as though he deserves it for being one of the top posters on here… And el mex makes me mad most of the time
I like Cane in this one! THis guy is nASTY! Stager lee put me onto him a while back and I have been watching his fights since! THe guy is a THiago Silva like killer. Funny him and tHiago have a feud…and I would love to see them fight down the road!
what is the beef with those 2? Who you think with the Machida Silva fight?
Geez… Jardine just constantly gets feed to the wolves. I will be amazed if he can pull out the win. I am curious as to what the odds will be for this fight. Cane is the major favorite in my eyes, but does Jardine get some points for name recognition and a couple good wins?
ehoglund: From what I understand about their feud. THiago says he talks to much and doesnt have the right because he hasnt accomplished anything in mma yet…or something like that! Not sure, but I am positive that they dont like each other and we will probably be seeing them down the road!
BNF: Love Jardine or hate him, he is a bad dude willing to fight anyone…..like you said, he is probably being fed to the wolves! Cane is just Brutal!
I hope they do fight then, i love thiago tho i think to many ppl sleep on him. That would be a straight dog fight between to ruthless guys. Do you think he could make 185 (i do)?
I think this fight is going to be brutal as well, i dont think that its going to be that easy for cane but i see him winning. Sometimes Jardine comes in ready, other times he comes in and gets mawled.
Oh ehoglund, u dont have to convince me…Tiago is one of my favorite fighters in the UFC. THERE is NO Doubt in my mind that by the end of 2009, we will get to see Tiago Silva vs. Banha Cane…and when it happens….look out! Like you said they are 2 DOGS, and the match up would be brutal!
who you got in the Silva Machida fight? I like them both but i really want Silva to win, and i got money on him so that makes me want him to win even more
Yes, I called this matchup. Luis has this in the bag and Jardine will get his walking papers.
Not if he tweaks his nipples first
Cane TKO
in the first
I’ll be pulling for Jardine in this one.
what? your crazy Jardine has plenty of great match ups in the UFC. Besides If he can make it past the 1 min. mark he will likely win.
Yeah it does seem if it goes past a minute he wins. lol. Only loss past a minute was against Bonnar to a decision right?
I like Cane and Jardine, but I’ll be pulling for Jardine in this one. I can’t see him finishing or even winning a decision against Banha though. I’d say Cane by knockout, and I’d be surprised by anything else.
The loss to Bonnar was BS. Keith won that fight. That was some fine Cecil Peeples-style judging.
I agree about the judging. I thought Jardine pretty clearly won the fight 29-28 (and fight metric agrees), but somehow it was a unanimous decision for Bonnar. I know judging is subjective, but it seemed to me that Bonnar won on the strength of being more popular and well-known at the time.
I always enjoy watching jardine take a beating..
sweeet.
why not put Cane versus liddell
No upside potential for Chuck. Cane is not well known enough yet, I guess. Even though for me that would be a great fight.
Poor Jardine, the worst treated fighter in the entire UFC.
He’s going to get another concussion for a measly 10 grand.
I will be pulling for him though, as usual.
you’re totally right, it’s annoying to see how ufc treats jardine, im a big fan of cane but i hope jardine knocks his ass out, i just want jardine to get atleast a title shot, he beat griffin 1st round, beat liddel fair and square, ppl have gotten title shots for doing a lot less
He certainly hasn’t gotten a lot of respect, but the loss to an unknown fighter in Houston Alexander set him back a lot. The quick KO loss to Wanderlei Silva didn’t help things either. Factor in the fact that he’s not a big draw, and the UFC doesn’t see him as someone to promote heavily, but instead someone to use to build other fighter’s reputations with.
how the UFC treats him??? if he was getting UFC newcomers you would cry to high heaven that he was being protected. They are giving this guy every chance possible to be a top fighter. He’s the one who’s gotta go out there and get it done. By taking these tough fights he can start makin good money and get a title shot, but he can’t string anything together.
What everyone is talking about is that in the lidell fight chuck took home something like 600000 where jardin took home 10000. Chuck took home 590000 dollars more than jardin…. and jardin won. And from what i hear it was the same in the silva fight accept he didnt get the win bonus… just a hospital bill….UFC doesnt insure their fighters.
I really like Cane’s fighting style. It is really exciting.
jesus!! Thats another 2 possibles for the already nonsense ufc95 card out of the picture!!
Its like a middleweight grand-prix!! get some decent fightsa dana for fuck sake!!
I too will be pulling for Jardine… if he gets the win maybe the UFC might start paying him a fair wage!… Plus I’d like to see a rematch with Chuck!
Go Jardine , so whats going on is the UFC setting up a Liddell vs Wanderlai 2, are they waiting for the loser of Henderson vs Franklin for Liddell, Liddell wanted Jardine but doesn’t look like that ago, or are they setting up Liddell vs Griffin, Liddell vs Vera, Liddell vs an unknown?????????????? I got questions who got some answers or theories help me out here, who is liddell fightning next
wow banha will take this easy. hes got a good chin as he took alot of big soko shots and we all know keith jardine is probably the best fighter in the world out of the guys with the worst chins.
crap, this will rule out a anderson silva/jardine fight, boo. i swear if he has to fight thales leites . . . crap
cane is going to kill jardine. unless jardine gets lucky I don’t see him winnin this.
i cant believe the dan hardy fight is on the main card for ufc95 what a joke!! Is the nate v wilson fight signed yet??
I’m hoping Jardine takes this one. It means that if Machida beats Silva (which he most likely will, unfortunately), Banha can face Thiago. That would be a monster fight.
Also means Forrest or Chuck can get a rematch with Jardine. To be honest though, I’d like to see Jardine get a title shot, just to mix things up a bit. We’ll probably be seeing the same 4 or so guys at the top all the time, with everyone else slightly losing out, which I don’t like. I’d like to see ALL the top gets a title shot, cause it helps tighten up the rankings and narrow down who’s the best and so on.
I love keith but.. I got to go with cain.. 2 round tko
I think Cane takes this via KO or TKO in the 2nd….I’d like to see Chuck fight Jardine if he loses, but Chuck should fight Forrest first, and if he wins and Jardine loses, let him rematch Jardine. I dont think Machida or Silva will be ready to fight Liddell by March, nor do I think the loser of Franklin/Hendo will either….
Jardine has got have the worst position in the UFC…shiity pay, but ranked high and he either beats top competition or gets destroyed by top competition and people like Houston. If Jardine loses this match he will fall off I gaurantee it.
it’s good to see people give keith so much love here, win or loose his fights are fun to watch, he has been on the win one loose one track sense forest so hopefully he can put a streak of 2 together. I have never seen cain fight but he has a big following so i can’t wait to see him fight.
Imagine the potential line-up for this event:
Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites for MW Championship
Georges St.-Pierre vs. Thiago Alves for WW Championship*
Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir for HW Championship*
Keith Jardine vs. Luis Cane 205 lbs
Randy Couture vs. Antonio Noguiera HW
* fights rumored as possible, depend on scheduling and upcoming bout
I personally think the Lesnar/Mir II fight should be the main event for 96 but from what I’ve heard, Dana may be looking at April. And you know GSP isn’t going to miss a second event in his hometown no matter what.
This card is going to be RIDICULOUS!!
Cane is a dangerous striker and alot of ppl are jumping on his bandwagon, but I am predicting a Jardine win in this one. I think Jardine will be smart and utalize his leg kicks and stay away from the exchange’s while frusturating Cane. Eventually Cane wil get tired and Jardine will pull out the W
What about Liddell what can does he get to get back on track! What a fuckin joke!