Jardine, Jackson team to perfection

Jardine, Jackson team to perfection

Greg Jackson didn't field any of the incoming blasts, nor did he deliver the ribcage-rattling body kicks that punctuated the fight, but the ace trainer played almost as big a role in Keith Jardine's upset of Chuck Liddell as Jardine himself.

Jardine's victory over "The Iceman" at UFC 76 was a case study in devising a killer game plan and synchronizing it with outstanding execution. In particular, Jardine's aggressiveness with punch-kick combinations wore down Liddell and, ultimately, made the difference, as Liddell was unable to plant and catch Jardine late in the match.

"We drilled that right leg kick-left hook so many times, I was tired of doing it. That was our game plan. You have to know what kind of fighter you're fighting and implement a game plan around that and take him out of his comfort zone. And that's what we were able to do tonight with Chuck Liddell, lucky for us."

Jackson is too modest ... I don't think luck had a whole lot to do with the outcome.

As for Jardine's second-round knockdown of Liddell, Jackson says it was big, but not the turning point of the fight.

"I felt that we had even the first round. Chuck caught us with a couple of good shots in the first round, but we also did a lot of damage to that leg, a lot of damage to the body. Even though we got caught with a few shots, I felt we had the first round. Of course, I'm a little biased, but in the second round, I think it was just an accumulation of what we were doing working. It started out working in the first round and it just continued to work in the second and third."

Worked indeed ... kudos to Jackson for drawing up a brilliant fight plan - one of a handful of master plans we've seen in this wild, unforgettable year of MMA action.

http://blogs.chron.com/fighting/