Keith Jardine is returning to the big leagues of mixed martial arts, taking a tough fight on short notice against Gegard Mousasi on the April 9 Strikeforce event.Jardine, who was once among the UFC's light heavyweight rising stars, was cut by that promotion last year when he lost his fourth straight fight. He then signed with Shark Fights and lost a fifth consecutive fight, and it appeared that his career had been derailed.
But Jardine stayed active and has won two straight fights on small-time MMA shows, and now he's jumping at a major opportunity to fight Mousasi.
Mousasi, who was slated to fight Mike Kyle until Kyle had to pull out of the fight with an injury, will be heavily favored to beat Jardine. But if Jardine could pull the upset, he'd be on a three-fight winning streak and all of a sudden relevant in the light heavyweight division again.
Jardine stayed in the UFC's good graces and said all the right things after he was cut by the UFC, and that was obviously a wise move now that the UFC has purchased Strikeforce. This is a big opportunity for Jardine to fight on a big-time card again, not long after it looked like his career was going nowhere.
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