205 lbs. Keith Jardine (14-5-1) vs. Thiago Silva  (13-1)

The semi-main event is a stylistic dream match for fans, as powerful striker Thiago Silva takes on rough and tumble brawler “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine.  Both are coming off high-profile losses, and neither is anywhere near the title picture, but styles make fights and these guys have styles that combine for guaranteed excitement.

Silva, a standout at Coconut Creek, FL’s American Top Team, is a skilled Muay Thai fighter with a surplus of knockout power.  His ground game is solid and underrated, but his best work is definitely on the feet.  Until his last fight, Silva looked unstoppable, but he was utterly destroyed by Lyoto Machida, so it will be interesting to see how he handles his first taste of defeat.  His standup is definitely crisper and more powerful than Jardine’s, so as long as he can make this a technical kickboxing match, he is in good shape to earn another win.

Jardine, arguably the most inconsistent fighter in UFC, has proven that he can beat top competitors, but also that he can show up totally unprepared and get smashed.  His standup is quite good, but so is his wrestling, which for whatever reason he does not employ very often, which has definitely been to his detriment.  If he bulls forward into Silva and tries to bang, this is going to be a repeat of his fights with Wanderlei Silva and Houston Alexander, and he is going to get blasted into dreamworld.  To win, he will need to keep Silva guessing, mixing in takedown attempts with his boxing and trying to do some damage from top position.

I give the edge to Silva in this one.  Jardine could win this fight with wrestling, but he has shown an unfortunate tendency to stand and trade shots when it is not in his best interest.  If he does that against Silva, he will yet again lose within 2 minutes.  

Silva by KO, round 1.

1.  Thomas on August 21st, 2009 4:01 am

   I’m going to have to disagree with this prediction.

   Heres why. When Jardine fought Rampage I thought Rampage was going to walk through him. But Jardine surprised me and lost in a tight decision. Thiago is pretty much a Rampage for styles, but maybe less power and more explosive. If Jardine can do what he did to Rampage I see Jardine winnning a decision.

   Also Jardine uasully does a win, lose, win pattern and he lost his other fight so hes going to win this fight. hahaha

   But in all seriousness this card is hard to call so I won’t be surprised if Jardine gets Koed.

   Thanks for the predictions and look forward to mainevent/comainevent predictions.

2.  zY on August 24th, 2009 8:49 pm

   I have to disagree as well.

   Silva is an absolutely terrible striker, his strength is in his GNP. He also gases out after one round, not to mention he has a substandard chin and gets knocked down in every one of his fights. Houston Alexander even choke slams him! His wins are over C level fighters with no ground game.

   Jardine is a horrible matchup for Thiago. Hard to take down, harder to keep down. Jardine wins an easy decision, or even finishes Silva with strikes.

3.  tod on August 26th, 2009 9:45 am

   The ref will stop the fight in the middle of round two. Tko by Sylva