“The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine (17-9-1) finds himself back with a top promotion signing with Strikeforce. Officials made the announcement during Friday’s live Strikeforce Challengers 15 broadcast, saying the former UFC fighter would meet Gegard Mousasi on the upcoming Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley card, replacing an injured Mike Kyle.
Kyle and Mousasi had been scheduled to meet in a number one contender match, but Kyle suffered a broken hand while training earlier this week and was forced to pull out of the fight. Jardine takes the fight with just over a weeks notice.
Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley will take place on April 9 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego. The main card will air on Showtime, which should include the Jardine vs. Mousasi match.
Jardine has won two straight since a five fight losing skid which saw his dismissal from the UFC. His latest victory took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico at a Double Threat event where he earned a first round TKO win over Aron Lotton. Previous to that, “The Dean of Mean” earned a unanimous decision over Francisco France at the disastrous Nemesis Fighting event in Punta Cana.
Mousasi has won two in a row since losing the 205 pound title to Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal one year ago. The loss ended a fifteen fight win streak for the Dutch-Armenian fighter. His last mma bout took place in September against Tatsuya Mizuno for the DREAM LHW title. He submitted Mizuno in the first round with a rear-naked choke to win the Japanese title.