Forrest Griffin vs. Rampage Jackson (SPOILER)

X2! Great @SS fight! I was kinda pulling for Rampage though, but Forrest is a good guy, tough as nails!

Great fight! I am happy with the outcome, but I have to be honest. Going into it, I felt he would do good just to survive to the decision. This changes a thing or two....

Kenny

He hurt Rampage early. If not, I think the outcome would have been different. But you have to give to Forrest for taking one hell of a beating and dishing it out just as well the entire fight.

Rampage hurt himself early, actually. Middle of the first round when Rampage "slips and looks at the mat"? He didn't look at the mat, he looked at his knee, and he was having trouble with it from that moment on. The announcers completely ignored it - in fact did a horrible job the whole fight - and gave all the credit to Forrest. Griffin is not a powerful striker. Jackson was turning around like it was Cro Cop kicking his leg - clearly a knee that was injured before Griffin started kicking it. The announcers were terrible. The two would exchange at the center of the ring, Griffin would get tagged twice, give none, and Goldman would yell "Forrest with the right hand!"

Give it to Griffin for getting there on merit but I'll be shocked if it doesn't come out eventually that Jackson tore an ACL in the first round. I've seen nearly every pro fight Rampage Jackson has had and I've never seen him fight like that. He fought like he was trying to survive rather than win. How else do you explain a fighter being completely unmarked after five full rounds with a striker?

Rampage says a lot of things. He has been known to change his story in the past - especially if he has been instructed beforehand on how things are supposed to go after the fight depending on the outcome. How many champions do you see stand there in the middle of the ring and smile during an "I lost my title" postfight interview? I'm not saying the outcome was fixed. I am saying it definitely looks like they were given instructions on what to say and not say given either outcome in order to maximize future benefit.

Forrest is a stud. The two best fights Ive seen in the UFC, Griffin v Bonner and the Griffin v Jackson fight

Griffin v Bonner was an exciting fight that got a lot of attention, but from a strategic standpoint, it was a crapfest. I enjoyed it too but realistically a top fighter, or any ground based fighter, would have destroyed either guy on that day. That was just a kickboxing match and a sloppy one at that.

The Rampage that beat Dan Henderson would have destroyed Griffin at UFC 86. Rampage will get his rematch with Griffin but I won't be surprised if Griffin can't hold onto that belt that long. I half expect that Griffin is an intentional transition champion, to move the belt onto someone else, to set up a Rampage-[someone else] title match next year. Wanderlei Silva? Lyoto Machida? Hell I wouldn't be surprised to see Griffin sit on it a while and end up facing Anderson Silva in the spring. Rampage sat on that belt for 9 months without defending it. How many PPV buys would they get for Rampage Jackson trying to get his belt back from a guy holding the belt in two weight classes?

Edited by chadtower 2008-07-08 7:17 AM