Keith Jardine: Early Life, Professional Life, UFC & Hollywood

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Keith Hector Jardine is a retired mixed martial artist who competed in competitions like UFC, Strikeforce, etc. Currently working as an actor in Hollywood, he is remembered most for his fights against Chuck Liddell and Forest Griffin.

Since his professional acting debut, Jardine has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows such as The Punisher, Preacher, Godless, and so on.

Jardine majorly fought in Middleweight, Light Heavyweight, and Heavyweight division and also has a Black Belt in Gaidojutsu.

Keith Jardine at a Premier
Keith Jardine at a Premier

Due to this experience as a stuntman and his fighting abilities, he has also made a name for himself as an actor in film and television.

Today in this article, learn more about Keith’s life. Here we have mentioned all his details regarding his early life, physical statistics, career, net worth, personal life, and many more. 

Quick Facts:

Full Name Keith Hector Jardine
Nickname/Moniker The Dean of Mean
Birth Date October 31, 1975
Birth Place Butte, Montana United States
Religion Christian
Nationality American
Horoscope Scorpio
Father’s Name N/A
Mother’s Name N/A
Marital status Engaged
Wife’s name Jodie Esquibel
Children N/A
Age 48 years old
Height 6 feet and 2inches (180.34 cm)
Weight 84 kg (185 lbs.)
Reach 76 inches (193 cm)
Body type Athletic
Eye color Ocean Blue
Hair Color Blonde but generally bald
Profession Retired Mixed Martial Art (MMA) Fighter, Actor, Stuntman
Current division in MMA Welterweight, Light Heavyweight, Heavyweight
Stance Unorthodox
Style Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Luta Livre
Affiliations Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)
Team/Gym at TUF Jackson Wink MMA Academy
Fighting out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Ranking Black Belt in Gaidojutsu
Active Years in MMA 2001-2012
Net Worth $3 million
Social Media Twitter, Instagram
Last Update April, 2024

Where Is Keith Jardine From? Early Life and Upbringing

Keith Jardine was born on October 31, 1975, in Butte, Montana, USA. Sadly, the details regarding Keith’s parents and their whereabouts are not available at the moment.

Moreover, Keith was an athletic kid since childhood. He used to play football, rugby, wrestling during his high school at Canoga Park High School.

Likewise, he even participated in Greco-Roman wrestling under his high school coach Rudy Logo’s supervision.

Later, he also continued to compete at the Los Angeles Pierce College. Keith became the defensive lineman at New Mexico Highlands University, which has a Division II program.

Keith Jardine throwing punches at Strikeforce
Keith Jardine throwing punches at Strikeforce

At the New Mexico Highlands University, Keith earned the degree of Human Performance and Sport. Jardine worked as a personal trainer, football coach, firefighter, miner, and even a bounty hunter before getting serious about mixed martial arts.

Keith Jardine competed in high-level wrestling matches before moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to train for MMA with Greg Jackson. 

How old is Keith Jardine? Age and Body Measurements

Notable for UFC and Strikeforce, now retired Keith Jardine is enjoying his 40s calmly.

Having been born on October 31, 1975, the former MMA fighter is 48 years old as of 2024.

Ready to brawl, Jardine stands at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88m) and weighs around 185 lbs(84 kgs). With his heavy build and martial arts training, Keith was an undeniable force inside the octagon.

keith jardine
Keith Jardine stands 6 feet 2 inches tall.

He has got an athletic physique and trained body thanks to his years of training. It has been a decade since Keith first started as a fighter, and still, to this date, he is muscular and fit to the bones.

Keith Jardine  | Professional MMA Career and Rise to Fame

Jardine started out his MMA career in 2001 when he defeated his opponent with an armbar submission where the person gives up by tapping out after being locked in a chokehold.

Similarly, Jardine went on to win five out of the next six fights that he participated in. The one that he lost was against Travis Wiuff. He lost that match in a knockout six seconds into the game.

In 2003, Jardine debuted in Pancrase Inc., a Japanese Organization for MMA. He opened with Keiichiro Yamamaiya and ended the match in a draw.

UFC Career

Jardine easily defeated his opponents in the next two matches, including a submission by Arman Gambaryan. After that, he appeared in The Ultimate Fighter 2.

The Ultimate Fighter 2 was a team-based reality television show. Jardine was selected and cast in the show as a heavyweight competitor in 2005, and since it was a show made by UFC, Jardine agreed and participated.

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He was selected to fight in the semi-finals, where he lost the match to the eventual winner, Rashad Evans.

In 2006, Keith fought the finalist of The Ultimate Fighter 1 Light Heavyweight, Stephan Bonnar. Sadly, Jardine did not win the fight, which created controversy as people did not like the unanimous decision.

Jardine garnered a lot of media attention and fan-following after the fight. People did not like the decision and became his fans and thought that he would have won the match.

In The Ultimate Fighter finale of season 3, Jardine competed against Wilson Gouveia. He won the match in a unanimous decision after three rounds.

Up next, he was supposed to fight Mike Nickels but couldn’t as Nickels had to withdraw from the games owing to a back injury incurred during previous matches.

Jardine surprised everyone when he won against The Ultimate Fighter 1 Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. Everyone considered Keith to be the underdog, but he achieved a TKO victory.

Keith Jardine in action at a match
Keith Jardine in action at a match

Another impressive win of Jardine’s would be the fight against Chuck Lidell, a former longtime UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

The result was in Jardine’s favor. This made him a top contender for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

However, Jardine was knocked out by former PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva in 36 seconds after being showered by punches after punches.

Wins and Losses

In the coming matches, Jardine continued to impress people with his wins. He lost a few matches too, but his victories were fantastic.

Keith’s fight against Brandon Vera, in which he won despite an injured knee, led him to fight Quinton Jackson at the UFC 96. However, Keith Jardine refused to fight against his close friend and training partner, Rashad Evans.

Despite this, Jardine lost by unanimous decision. This bout earned him a whopping $60,000 bonus. Later, Keith Jardine was knocked out by Thiago Silva before the first two minutes into the match.

Keith Jardine at a press conference post match
Keith Jardine at a press conference post-match

Keith’s second consecutive knockout came after he fought Ryan Badar in 2010. Badar managed to knock Jardine out in less than two minutes into the third round.

In his last fight in the UFC, Jardine faces Matt Hamill. He lost the fight according to the majority decisions, and the UFC released Keith Jardine on June 24, 2010.

Independent Gigs and Strikeforce

Keith Jardine competed in multiple tournaments as an independent player. He competed against Trevor Prangley and lost via split decisions.

That loss marked his fifth consecutive loss. Later, Jardine also faced Francisco France at Nemesis Fighting: MMA Global Invasion, and he defeated the opponent and stopped his losing streak.

But, the win was controversial as there were no judges at the event, and the promotion team did not pay the other fighters.

Moreover, Keith also competed with Aron Lofton, who is a legend in the Canadian MMA championship called MFC. He won the match with a TKO within the first four minutes of the first round.

Keith Jardine
Keith Jardine

Keith Jardine also has his share of fights in association with Strikeforce. He has fought people like Gerard Mousasi, which ended in a draw. He mentioned that he wanted to fight the Champion, Cung Le.

Later, Keith also faced Luke Rockhold but lost the match because of the TKO in the first round. Likewise, he also did a little bit of boxing in the initial days of MMA, fought four bouts, won three, and received a draw.

Keith Jardine | Acting Career

After retiring as a Mixed Martial Artist, Keith Jardine began his acting career in a 2009 action thriller called Crank: High Voltage, alongside Jason Statham.

The same year, he also played a part in the Gamer, a sci-fi thriller alongside Gerard Butler.

Jardine also appeared in the superhit series, Breaking Bad. Other than that, he also has appeared in other movies in smaller roles such as Tactical Force, Beer for my Horses, Unrivaled, and Death Warrior.

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Other notable movies he has appeared in are John Wick alongside Keanu Reeves, Inherent Vice, Shot Caller, Preacher, SEE, Once Upon a Time in Venice, Running with the devil, etc.

Keith is also seen in the OTT platform, Netflix in hits such as the series Godless, Birdbox, The Punisher, The Kid, etc. Since he is keen on continuing his acting career, we may see him in more future projects.

Is Keith Jardine Married? Personal Life

Jardine once became quite popular in social media in 2014 when he tracked down a thief and made a citizen’s arrest as he worked as a bounty hunter before dedicating his interest to MMA and UFC.

Jardine’s current fiance is MMA Women’s Atomweight fighter Jodie Esquibel. His fiance was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Claudia.

Aside from that, Jodie has also fought for Invicta FC and so on. The two have yet to tie the knot.

How much does Keith Jardine worth? Net Worth and Income

As of now, Keith has an estimated net worth of $3 million. He made most of his fortune from his former career as a Mixed Martial Artist.

Other than his average salary, Jardine also received a huge amount as after his victorious match. Likewise, Jardine is now active as an actor and collects a sufficient sum from it.

Since his professional acting debut in 2009, the actor has appeared in productions like Crank: High Voltage, Gamer, Breaking Bad, Preacher, Once Upon a Time in Venice, and more. Additionally, he is also a part of the recent hit Netflix show Bird Box. 

Despite the popularity, the MMA fighter-turned-actor has yet to disclose his income and career earnings. Not to mention, his other worth, such as his assets, is also missing from public records.

Social Media Presence:

You can follow Keith Jardine on social media via these links.

Twitter: 44.2k followers

Instagram: 46.4K followers

Some FAQs:

Is Keith Jardine starring in The Punisher?

Yes, Keith Jardine is not only on ‘The Punisher’ but on several other shows on Netflix. Like so, the actor appeared in Season 2, Episode 5 of the popular series.

Who is Keith Jardine’s wife?

Keith is not married but is currently engaged to Jodie Esquibel.

What happened during the first fight of Houston Alexander vs. Keith Jardine?

Keith Jardine was scheduled to fight with Houston Alexander at UFC 71. That time Houston was just the UFC newcomer.

So, during Jardine’s pre-fight interview, he complained about being matched against an unknown newcomer.

Likewise, Keith also mentioned that he deserved an opponent with a higher profile. During that fight, Keith quickly knocked Alexander down with a punch.

But Houston promptly returned to his feet and defeated Keith via KO/TKO at 0:48 in the first round.

Not to mention, this loss of Keith Jardine is considered as the #39 Biggest Upset of All Time in MMA history.

Is Keith Jardine the founder of Caveman Coffee?

In 2013 Tait FletcherKeith Jardine, and Lacie Mackey decided to create a truly unconventional company.

They teamed up to create Caveman Coffee Co., partnering with a specialty coffee roaster that owns its family farm and imports their beans from Colombia.

Is Keith Jardine in the Longmire series?

Yes, Keith Jardine played a little part in the Longmire series.

What is Keith Jardine doing now? What is his professional career record?

Keith Jardine is currently working as an actor in Hollywood.

At present, Keith Jardine maintains a professional boxing record of three wins (one by knockout) and a single draw. Furthermore, he has played a single game of kickboxing which was his victory. 

Additionally, Keith Jardine has played a total of 30 games in Mixed Martial Arts. Among the games, he has 17 wins (eight by knockout, two by submission, and seven by decision) and eleven losses (six by knockout and five by decision) alongside two draws. 

Is Keith Jardine The Techno Viking?

No, Keith Jardine was never involved in any such video. However, directed by filmmaker Matthias Fritsch, the video named The Techno Viking went viral. It was shot in the great European north. 

Check out Keith Jardine’s MMA entrance!

Aaditya Bhatta
Aaditya Bhatta

Aaditya Bhatta

Aaditya Bhatta is a dynamic writer and sports enthusiast, whose passion for both realms is reflected in his work. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for storytelling, Aaditya brings a unique perspective to his writing, captivating readers with his engaging content.

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