Keith Jardine and Cung Le
If Cung Le is looking for a fight, Keith Jardine has the perfect opponent for him, and his name is Keith Jardine.
The Jackson’s trained fighter, who is dropping down to middleweight, has seen Le talking about wanting a fight and Jardine is happy to be the one to accept the challenge.
The former ‘Ultimate Fighter’ competitor has been out of action since April when he fought to a draw with Gegard Mousasi in Strikeforce, a bout he took on just over one week’s notice.
“Just looking out there, they need to get a fight for me, and it needs to be a big named guy, I want it to be a big named guy. Looking at Strikeforce seeing who they’ve got and there’s not much bigger than Cung Le. I thought that would be a great match-up,” Jardine told MMAWeekly.com on Monday.
Le has been vocal about fighting on the upcoming UFC event in San Jose slated to take place in November, but it’s more likely if he’s going to come back to the cage, it will be in Strikeforce where he’s currently contracted.
Jardine looks at Le as a very interesting match-up because of his unique striking style and willingness to stand and trade with opponents. It’s something Jardine hasn’t had the chance to do in a long time.
“He’s a stand-up fighter. Mousasi doesn’t count cause I had 8 days to train for that, but I want to fight a stand-up fighter, I’ve mostly been fighting wrestler/brawler types. I think it would be a real fun fight,” said Jardine.
“Just to face a guy that you don’t really have to worry about the takedown that much, he’s just going to go in and throw a lot of kicks, and throw a lot of bombs, it just makes for a fun fight for me. A lot of my past few fights are punch, punch, defend the takedown. Sprawl and brawl.”
While Strikeforce hasn’t formally announced anything regarding Jardine or Le’s next fight, the middleweight division has a few contenders currently vying for the top spot, but a battle between to the two exciting 185lbers could be a new injection into the division.
Jardine sees Le as the former middleweight champion, and wants the chance to fight and defeat him, so it can put him one step closer to his ultimate goal…getting a shot at the Strikeforce belt.
“He’s only lost once and his one loss he beat the guy in the next fight, Scott Smith I believe. I want to fight a big name, I want to fight somebody like Cung Le, and then after that I want to fight for the Strikeforce title, so that’s my plan,” Jardine commented.
“I’ve fought so many guys that have had the belt, but never fought for the belt myself. I’ve probably fought five world champions before, and it’s about time I fight for the title.”
If Strikeforce matchmaker Sean Shelby is listening, Keith Jardine has made his request known. Now it’s a matter if the fight will get put together.
Damon Martin is the lead staff writer and radio host for MMAWeekly.com.
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