UFC 89 Live Blog – Jardine vs Vera

Brandon Vera comes out to the Black Eyed Peas – the ring girls Arianny and Edith dance less than ten feet away from me. I love this job.

In the Jardine corner, part of Keith’s pre-fight preparation includes tweaking of his beard – and thankfully not his nipples. OK, I spoke too early – he tweaked his damn nipples.

Round one is sufficiently dramatic and entertaining, with both guys getting clipped and going down in the space of five seconds. The second round goes by, and not for want of trying, neither man is landing the clean, effective shots needed. They’re scoring, but it’s hard to tell who’s edging it.

Round three is about to start and Jardine is looking like a demonic racehorse ready to be let out of the gates. He clubs his way in with punches and Vera looks for openings for the big left kick to the body.

For the first time all night, the crowd starts to boo. It’s not like there isn’t any action – it’s just that they’re cancelling each other out so much there’s just not that much happening. The fifteen minutes close to a spattering of polite applause and an unhealthy amount of grumbling, and Jardine takes it via split decision.