Confused about Jackson vs. Jardine? You're not the only one

Keith Jardine (left) is known to play the role of the spoiler, like when he beat Forrest Griffin at UFC 66. Courtesy of Zuffa Ben Fowlkes' Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Ben. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

When talk turned to Quinton Jackson's next opponent after his victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92, the consensus opinion was that the UFC would either give "Rampage" the rematch he's been pining for, with Forrest Griffin, or have him challenge new light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans. Never did Keith Jardine's name come up during the discussion in the post-fight press conference. Not once.

So imagine my surprise when the UFC announced that Jardine-Jackson would headline UFC 96 in March. Not that it isn't a compelling fight or an interesting clash of styles. Certainly, it is. But what everyone seems to be forgetting is that Jardine might actually win. And if he does, it puts him near the front of the line for a shot at the title. However, as long as his teammate, Evans, holds the belt, that fight isn't likely to happen.

"Rashad and I won't fight," Jardine said of his counterpart on Greg Jackson's team. "No way."

So why would the UFC match him up against Rampage, the man thought to be Evans' first challenger?

"I think [the UFC] is probably expecting me to lose," Jardine said. "I think they've put me in other fights where they expected me to lose, but that didn't happen. I guess I'm the guy they get to step in whenever they need somebody."

If there's ever a fighter who's grown accustomed to the role of the spoiler, it's Jardine. His TKO victory over Griffin at UFC 66 delayed the then-newly crowned "Ultimate Fighter" champ's ascendance through the ranks. And in what was intended to be a tune-up fight for Chuck Liddell, to hype a meeting between "The Iceman" and Wanderlei Silva, Jardine surprised everyone by winning a decision.

So wouldn't matching him up against Jackson, knowing very well that only one outcome will yield a challenger for a title fight, seem to be tempting fate a bit too much?

"That's a good question," said Evans, who is in Montreal to help Georges St. Pierre prepare for his title defense at UFC 94. "It's kind of a tricky situation. I think they may expect Keith to lose, but they should know by now that you can't expect anything in this sport. Keith surprised them a couple times already."

Evans explained that after tough fights against Liddell and then Griffin to claim the title, he won't be prepared to make his first title defense for several months, and a quick turnaround for a fight against Jackson was out of the question. With Griffin out with a hand injury until the summer (at the earliest), that left Rampage without an opponent.

Enter Jardine, who seems to have the least to gain in this scenario (besides a paycheck and another high-profile win), as long as Evans is wearing the belt. A victory against Jackson would leave Jardine waiting around at the top of the light heavyweight ladder as a gatekeeper of the No. 1 contender spot, while also putting him in the unenviable position of waiting for his teammate to lose the belt so he can get a crack at it.

Either way, it's still unclear who will challenge Evans' title first.

"Nobody has said anything to me about that," Evans said. "You've got [Lyoto] Machida and [Thiago] Silva fighting [at UFC 94], so the winner there might get a shot. It's all kind of up in the air right now. The thing about the 205-pound division right now is, I couldn't even tell you who the No. 1 contender is. It's like nobody really knows."

Call the confusion a side effect of a weight class so steeped in talented fighters. As problems go, it's one of the better ones for the UFC to have.