Houston Alexander vs. Keith Jardine

After knocking out Forrest Griffin in the first round of their 2006 fight, Keith Jardine had established himself as a name to watch in the light heavyweight division. Unfortunately for him, UFC newcomer Houston Alexander would use “The Dean of Mean” as his own stepping stone in Jardine’s next fight.

Coming into their UFC 71 bout, Jardine was pegged as much as a six-to-one favorite over the UFC newcomer by some betting lines. Not only was he more experienced against top competition, but few had managed to figure out his unorthodox striking and his timing was virtually impossible to get a bead on. Alexander had proven himself on the local Nebraskan circuit, but was untested in the big leagues.

To the shock and awe of everyone who witnessed it, Alexander came into the fight guns blazing. It looked like it could be over before it truly began, as Jardine got the better of the opening exchange and knocked Alexander down with a hook. After Jardine jumped on him to finish the job, Alexander fought back to his feet and launched his own vicious volley. Jardine got stung and couldn’t re-orient himself. Alexander swarmed on him, breaking Jardine’s repeated attempts to clinch up in order to throw another barrage of uppercuts. 48 seconds into the fight, Jardine lie in a crumpled heap with his back to the cage.

The combination of Jardine unconcious and Alexander’s menacing cage presence had the UFC brass thinking they had a new star on their hands. Following the upset win, Alexander went on to knock out Alessio Sakara in his next fight before suffering an embarrassing losing streak. On the night he defeated Jardine, however, he notched one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport.