The first time I saw Keith Jardine, my initial thoughts were: "Who the heck is this Viking-looking dude who thinks he's gonna beat Chuck?" No joke.

But why'd Jardine catch my eye, you ask? Yeah, he's lost to Wanderlei Silva and Houston Alexander (badly), but his fight against Chuck Liddell really turned me. I was one of those die hard Chuck fans, but watching the fight, I started thinking: "Chuck's not winning this fight, is he?" I was having the same conversation that Wanderlei and Dana White were having ringside. I was really trying to be bias in Chuck's favor, but I ended up actually believing that Jardine had won by decision. And in the end, that's exactly what happened. I guess you could say... he made a believer out of me.

We didn't see too much of KJ's ground game in that fight, but we did see a bit of it in his fight against Thiago Silva. Silva was on top of him on the mat, but Jardine was able to pop back up. He later got caught with a good shot that ended the fight... but that's neither here nor there. Maybe we'll see some of his ground game in his next fight against Ryan Bader.

Most of us saw Jardine's fight against Quinton Jackson... sorry... "Rampage." In the second round, Jardine was knocked down twice, and took some heavy shots, but he was able to get back up and continue the fight. Rampage wanted to test Jardine's chin, and he did - pretty well, too. So is it still suspect? Uh... honestly? Yes. But it's not as bad as we might have thought. He's far from having a Chris Leben jaw, but at least he's not a glass mirror. Jardine and Rampage engaged in a few mini-slugfests before the buzzer called an end to the round.

And plus, Jardine's wins over Forrest Griffin and Brandon Vera - and even his loss to Stephan Bonnar (which I had him winning - a very close, awesome fight by both men!) - proved that he is one tough cookie. And yes... I did just refer to KJ as a cookie.

Jardine's not as highly regarded as Cro Cop in terms of kicks, but he really should be pretty close. He's a lumberjack with those things, just chopping at trunks, legs, and sometimes heads. You call him a chimp, I call him a lumberjack.

Wait, wait, wait... let's get into that whole thing - the whole "chimp" thing. We've all heard Goldie and Rogan compare him to those cute, smiley, furry little creatures. Now, does he echo their moves? Yeah, a little bit. Okay, maybe even more than I want to admit. But does it works for him? Yes! He's known to be a good striker - he's a kickboxer. If he can throw punches and hooks like that - and land them - then more power to him. Why not be unorthodox? People know him for it, and it makes me love him all the more.

Know what else makes me love him? The Dancing Techno Viking! Is that him? No. But imagine if it was! Makes me happy. I don't think anyone can watch that without smiling. It's an instant mood booster. He's said...