Keith Jardine

(And the circle of life continues...)

Following Quinton Jackson's Baracus-related retirement, we began wondering what would be next for odd-man-out Rashad Evans. Well, he already has a fight in mind, and it sounds as good as any other. According to MMA Fanhouse, Evans could be fighting Thiago Silva sometime this winter. Said Sugar:

("So, I feel that I'll be comfortable wherever the fight goes, and as long as I can stick to my gameplan and — Shawn, if you don't get that Flip Cam out of my face, I'm going to stomp you a new asshole. Seriously. Last warning." Photo courtesy of this set on Combat Lifestyle.)

The word "legend" gets thrown around a lot in this sport, to the point where it loses much of its meaning. Well, we won't bother with the cliches. Suffice it to say that two old dudes are going to fight in Portland tonight, and one of them is so old that it's hard to believe he's still fighting, and the other is actually more old-looking than old, and maybe it would have been better if they fought like five years ago, in a city where people could actually afford to go see it, but here we are, and what are you gonna do.

Elsewhere on the card, Keith Jardine and Thiago Silva clash in a high-profile light-heavyweight scrap, while Nate Marquardt and Demian Maia fight for what may or may not turn out to be a #1 middleweight contender spot. Live UFC 102 results await you after the jump; refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest. Let's have a good, clean liveblog. Obey all my instructions, and protect yourself at all times. If you want to order pizza, do it now, and go back to your couches.

While aimlessly cruising Wikipedia last night, I learned that Keith Jardine's first loss came in his third pro fight back in February 2002, against MMA ironman Travis Wiuff in the quarterfinals of an Extreme Challenge eight-man heavyweight tournament in Iowa. Coincidentally, it was Wiuff's third fight as well, and it took Diesel just six seconds to claim a victory via straight-right directly on Jardine's off-button. The video is above, and the action starts at the 2:18 mark. Wiuff would go on to lose to Mike Radnov in the semis, while Radnov lost to tournament-winner Ben Rothwell in the finals.

Following the Wiuff fight, Jardine went on a 6-0-1 run, joined the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, and quickly found himself in marquee fights against Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, and Quinton Jackson. This Saturday, he'll take on Thiago Silva at UFC 102. If you believe in streaks, then the Dean of Mean has this one wrapped up. And of course, if he ever decides to walk out to the cage as Techno Viking, he'll be unstoppable.

(Props: Heavy via MMA Mania)

This coming weekend will be a quiet one in the world of MMA, but two Saturdays from now, the UFC will descend on Portland's Rose Garden Arena for UFC 102, which will be headlined by a heavyweight battle between two legends — Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The above video trailer does its best to downplay their recent losses to Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir, respectively, but Dana White does mention that it's a fight where "we're going to see where they are in the heavyweight division." The storyline for Randy (as always) is that he can never be counted out, even though he's 46 years old, while Joe Rogan calls Minotauro "one of the most durable fighters to ever fight in all of mixed martial arts" and drools over his submission prowess.

The other featured bout in the trailer is Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva. The Dean of Mean isn't too bothered by his rocky path in the light-heavyweight division, saying "I'm taking the hard road to the title, but I'm gonna make it to the top, it's only a matter of time." Also: "My goal is find my opponent's soul and take it from him." As Joe Rogan sees it, this fight "represents to me two guys who are desperately in need for a win...two guys coming off losses with a lot to prove."

Related: Citing Oregon's deep recession and aggressive tax policy, MMA Payout reports that UFC 102 is far from sold out, particularly in the higher-priced sections. So if you live near the Rose Garden, you may want to show up the day of the event...

(Image courtesy of the UFC)

Earlier today, the UFC distributed its first poster image for UFC 102 (August 29th; Portland, Oregon), making the top two fights official — Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the main event, and Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva as a lead-in. Interesting...is this the first UFC event that's being headlined by four guys who are coming off losses? Would it have been that hard to slot Demian Maia and Nate Marquardt (who are also on the card) in the co-main spot? After all, that fight will produce a legitimate middleweight title contender, even if Michael Bisping or Dan Henderson could sneak to the front of the line depending on their performance next month. Meanwhile, Jardine and Silva aren't getting close to the 205-pound belt anytime soon.

Tickets to UFC 102 go on sale to Fight Club members on Thursday, newsletter members on Friday, and will probably be sold out by the time they're released to the general public on Saturday. In addition to Couture/Nogueira, Jardine/Silva, and Maia/Marquardt, the following bouts have also been confirmed for UFC 102, according to UFC.com: