Does Keith Jardine (Pictures)'s win Saturday mean he is officially an elite fighter? Or is Chuck Liddell (Pictures) washed up?

Was Jardine's loss to Houston Alexander (Pictures) in May an aberration? Or is Liddell looking in the rearview mirror at his best days?

My gut feeling tells me that it's a mixture of everything.

At first, even after Jardine scored the biggest win of his career at UFC 76, I didn't consider him an A-level fighter among the likes of Quinton Jackson (Pictures), Dan Henderson (Pictures), Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) and Liddell. But after further review, how could you not add him to those ranks?

"The Dean of Mean" has trounced Forrest Griffin (Pictures) and scored wins over solid contenders like Stephan Bonnar (Pictures) (yes, Jardine was robbed in that fight), Wilson Gouveia (Pictures) and Mike Whitehead (Pictures). Now he has also thumped Liddell.

In the light heavyweight division, there is Jackson and then everybody else. The howling one is above Silva, clearly above Mauricio Rua (Pictures), Liddell, Henderson, Jardine and anybody else worth mentioning.

However, Jardine is right there with the top guys for more reasons than some may believe.

For starters, Liddell is an elite light heavyweight, and Jardine thoroughly beat him. It wasn't a fluke or a flash knockout: He out-struck Liddell for three rounds.

I scored the bout 30-27 Jardine. I almost gave Liddell the opening round and I almost gave Jardine a 10-8 second round. Either way Jardine won the contest without question.

Secondly, everyone else near the top of the weight class has looked awful lately. Silva has been blitzed in two consecutive fights -- it doesn't matter that his knockout loss to Cro Cop was at a heavier weight. Henderson was outclassed entirely by Rampage. Tito Ortiz (Pictures) has dropped to B-level contention. Sokoudjou is too new, and Ricardo Arona (Pictures) is MIA.

With that said, surely Jardine is among the best in the division.

As for Liddell, he's declining, but he's certainly not shot. As I've written on many occasions, his days as a top fighter are numbered because of his style.

He doesn't fight like Randy Couture (Pictures) or Matt Hughes (Pictures). They rely heavily on strength and positioning on the ground. Liddell relies almost solely on reflexes and counterpunching.

His speed has always been his biggest asset, and as anybody who follows sports knows, speed and reflexes are the first to go.

Liddell's power will always be as vaunted as ever, but he's pushing 40. He looked pretty good against Jardine, but he couldn't pull the trigger at times during the tussle. I think Liddell has about one, maybe two, big wins left in his tank but not against opponents who know how to strike and move.

I won't gloat about how I was one of very few -- maybe the only one -- to go on record and pick Jardine. Well ... yes, I will. To everyone who sent nasty hate mail saying I know absolutely nothing about mixed martial arts for picking Jardine, I do not expect apologetic e-mails. You know what's up.

Griffin, Rua answer questions

Forget the fact that I picked "Shogun" Rua to demolish Griffin. That means little and doesn't count against my Great Sherdog Debate record. In the fight game, you're usually only as good as your last fight. In the case of Griffin, he hadn't been very good.

Jardine stopped him, and then Griffin had an awful decision win over Hector Ramirez (Pictures). Rua had been on a roll, scoring wins over Kevin Randleman (Pictures) and Alistair Overeem (Pictures).

I am not shocked by Griffin's win but by how good he looked. He has never looked better than in his stunning victory over Shogun. Standing toe-to-toe with Rua, he showed the Brazilian many angles, then took him down and expertly fended off Rua's ground-and-pound tactics. His cardio also blew Rua away. This was the Griffin I had always felt he would become after his memorable war with Bonnar.

The only drawback to Griffin's win is that not many UFC fans -- you know, Generation TUF -- have any idea how dangerous Shogun can be and don't grasp the importance of Griffin beating him. With the win you could argue Griffin also belongs among the top-tier light heavyweights, though not above Jardine.

As for Shogun, well, I guess I told you so again. I'm not going to lie: I relish rubbing my prophecies and opinions in people's faces. I've written a few times that I don't feel Shogun is an elite fighter, and almost never have I received so much hate mail and confused inquiries.

Well, kids, Griffin just proved why I said that. Shogun was outclassed by a fighter who has always been B-level. Griffin will probably become an A-level fighter eventually, but against Rua he was sporting that "B" proudly and won.

Shogun has a strong win over the polarizing Arona and a win over the always tough, if flawed Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures). He has also stopped a completely distracted and undertrained Quinton Jackson (Pictures). Other than that, he has a lot to prove.

His style remains almost hopelessly sloppy, and his cardio, like his brother's, is always problematic. Shogun has scored some thunderous knockouts, but they came mostly against B- and C-level fighters. Overall, he's very good, but he's not elite.

Sanchez returns

Here's what I'll have in my inbox this week: "What? But Diego didn't win! How can you make that kind of statement?"

Before the Moron Brigade unloads a furious barrage of ignorance at yours truly, read my point.

Often in the fight game, a loss does more good than a win. Case in point: Diego Sanchez (Pictures)'s loss to Jon Fitch (Pictures) at UFC 76.

The fight was about as entertaining a battle as I've watched in a while, and Fitch deserved the win. But most important for Sanchez was that he tried like hell to do whatever it took to prevail -- unlike his dreadful "performance" against Josh Koscheck (Pictures).

Sanchez is still good. He accepted the loss like a champion, giving full credit and respect to Fitch. He remains an entertaining warrior and still needs time to grow as a fighter. Someday he'll be a champion, and even though he lost, on Saturday he fought like one.

It's time Fitch receives the recognition he deserves. He's won 14 in a row and shows no signs of slowing down. If he isn't next in line for a title shot after Georges St. Pierre (Pictures), it will be a travesty. By this time next year, he should be locking horns with GSP for the welterweight title (yes, GSP will win the belt back from Matt Serra (Pictures), who will beat Hughes).

Miscellaneous debris

Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures) is obviously not the best fighter in the world, but he is one of the toughest. He's only lost to top fighters, and he's beaten some upper-tier guys as well.

I think it's safe to suggest that Ryoto Machida (Pictures) is not the overhyped contender many thought he was. He has yet to lose and has toppled Rich Franklin (Pictures), B.J. Penn (Pictures) and now Nakamura. Machida is for real, folks, and I'm intrigued to see how far he goes. I guess karate is still alive. ...

I might be in the minority here, but I am a firm believer in having immediate rematches after injuries end fights. Taking absolutely nothing away from Kenny Florian (Pictures), he beat Din Thomas (Pictures) in the first round at UFC Fight Night because Thomas had badly injured his knee.

Now, I'm not going on record and saying that Florian would have lost. However, an unfortunate injury such as the one Thomas suffered greatly takes away from Florian's win. In my opinion Thomas should be granted an immediate rematch with Florian once his knee is fully healed. …

"Hell yes! Let's see some knockouts!" is what I screamed at my wife on Saturday. The event was officially titled UFC 76: Knockout. Funny, I don't recall seeing any knockouts.

Out of nine bouts, seven ended via decision (two split, five unanimous) and two ended via submission. I'm not a rocket scientist, but shouldn't there be at least one knockout if the event is billed "Knockout"? …

Fight fans would be stupid to believe that Joe Veres (Pictures) is a lousy fighter because Gray Maynard (Pictures) knocked him cold in less than 10 seconds at UFC Fight Night. Veres has a tremendous wrestling background and seems to have a relatively high ceiling in terms of MMA talent. He got caught clean and early, and it cost him the fight. Props to Maynard for blowing Veres out of the water, but Veres deserves a second chance to prove what he's made of. …

Though he lost to Jardine, Liddell should still fight Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) in December. Both have dropped two in a row, and it would be a big-money, do-or-die fight.

If the bout doesn't happen in December, it will probably never materialize. I'm sure Jardine and Team Jackson would understand. Besides, why would Jardine want to fight Silva when he should be fighting Jackson next?

Jardine has already torn up Griffin, and it's only logical that he gets the title shot. Griffin, on the other hand, should fight Henderson next.

Hit me up at www.myspace.com/sherdogsloan