I was surprised, as you can imagine. I’d heard, like a lot of fans probably had, that Rashad was fighting Tito Ortiz at UFC 78 so I was very surprised to be offered the fight. I jumped at the chance – I told Anthony to get that contract in front of me ASAP.
It is exactly the kind of fight I wanted and had been working towards this past year – Rashad’s a well respected, undefeated fighter who is coming off a draw with Ortiz, he’s proved himself to be a top tier light heavyweight and this is a great match-up between us.
The chance to main event a UFC is a great honour and there was no hesitation in my mind to take the fight. My job is to fight, and not to tell the UFC who I want to fight, where I want to fight ‘em and on which card I am prepared to do it and which ones I’m not.
Rashad is my toughest fight so far, for sure. He a very explosive athlete, a great wrestler and he looks to be getting better with each fight. He’s also a great guy – we did some PR together in England in May and he is fun to hang out with. The fact he went to a draw with Tito Ortiz shows that he’s in the top tier in the division and I can’t wait to match up against him.
I had a great summer training camp for UFC 75 over at Big Bear with my mate Rampage (alright lad!) and great partners like Brandon Vera, but for this fight I’m staying in England for my camp, training at the Wolf’s Lair MMA Academy. With only six weeks’ notice I didn’t want to waste even a day acclimatizing or getting used to another time zone – nothing like that – so I’m preparing with my usual team in Runcorn, northern England.
GENTLEMAN JARDINE GETS ALL MEAN Let me first say I have met Keith Jardine and he’s every bit the gentleman he is made out to be. He is so well spoken it is hard to imagine him as the fighter who just beat Chuck Liddell. I don’t want to use the word “gentleman” again - but that’s the perfect way to describe him.
But I have to say I was a little surprised to read an interview with him saying Rashad shouldn’t have to fight me because Rashad has established himself in the division and I am just an up and comer.
The fact is, I’m fighting Rashad because Tito Ortiz refused the fight. I know Keith and Rashad are very close friends and Keith is just trying to look out for his mate, but this attitude of “I’m too good and too big a star to have to fight so and so” is exactly the attitude which led to Keith getting knocked out by Houston Alexander. Light heavyweight is a stacked division and Keith himself is one of the fighters who has proved that anyone has a shot of victory on the night.
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