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Strikeforce 'Diaz vs Daley' results: Gegard Mousasi vs Keith Jardine fight review and analysis

In the biggest surprise of Saturday night (April 9), Gegard Mousasi's road to a title shot was delayed, as he fought "The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine to a majority draw.

Mousasi entered the match after easily winning the Dream light heavyweight title last year as well as dismantling Japanese kickboxing legend Kyotaro this past New Year's Eve.

Not many fans or analysts were predicting Jardine to survive the first round, let alone all three.

He had recently been on a five-fight losing streak. Almost no one expected the UFC veteran to leave the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego without a loss.

Let's look at how it all went down:

The former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion, Mousasi, was known for his poor takedown defense and Jardine had obviously added offensive wrestling to his gameplan. 

Jardine shot in for repeated takedowns, dropping the "Dreamcatcher" to the canvas on four separate occasions in the first round. To his credit, Mousasi got up immediately each time.

The Armenian thoroughly out-struck "The Dean of Mean" throughout the fight, crushing Jardine in significant strikes 73-18 and in total strikes 146-21, according to Fight Metric.

The biggest factor in the fight was an illegal upkick from Mousasi off his back while Jardine was postured up. The infraction cost Mousasi a point and would ultimately become the deciding factor at the end of the night.

When the judges made their final decision, it was 29-27 for Mousasi on one scorecard and 28-28 on the other two, resulting in a disappointing, and highly unsatisfying, majority draw.

With current Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson rumored to have a fight with Fedor Emelianenko in the works, it only makes sense to have Jardine and Mousasi rematch.

One must remember that Jardine took this fight on less than two week's notice. It would be very interesting to think what he'd be capable of after a full training camp to prepare. He did a few things very well in this fight, including keeping his left hand up to defend Mousasi's powerful right hook as well as mixing in his patented leg kicks.

For Mousasi, while he was able to get up from Jardine's repeated takedowns, he should really continue to put the time in to avoid being taken down in the first place. His wrestling defense was porous and Jardine was able to drop down and shoot whenever he was in trouble. It kept the "Dreamcatcher" from ever really building momentum with his technical striking.

At the end of the night, Jardine's face told the story of the fight.

Photo via Esther Lin/Strikeforce

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