Griffin Conquers ‘Rampage’ at UFC 86
Perhaps now the mixed martial arts community will welcome Forrest Griffin into its pantheon of elite fighters.
Showcasing the toughness, courage and fortitude that made him popular, the 29-year-old rose to an entirely new level and captured the light heavyweight championship in a unanimous decision victory over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the main event at UFC 86 on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Griffin (16-4, 7-2 UFC) fought a brilliant tactical fight, survived several harrowing exchanges with the heavy handed defending champion and cemented his place among the world’s best at 205 pounds. Scores were 48-46, 48-46 and 49-46.
“This is the best moment of my life,” Griffin said. “I don’t want to because he hits too [expletive] hard, but I think we’re going to have to do this again.”
Jackson stung Griffin early in the bout, as he floored the challenger with a violent first-round uppercut. Griffin remained composed in the face of real danger, recovered on the ground and survived to see round two. There, he seized control of the fight, as he hobbled Jackson with a pair of low kicks — one to the knee, the other to the thigh — and ultimately brought the action to the ground.
“He jacked my leg up,” Jackson said. “I tried to pretend, but I ain’t good at acting.”
On the mat, Griffin was the far superior fighter. He mounted Jackson with 2:15 left in the second period, and though he was unable to finish the 30-year-old Tennessean, he gained a foothold in the match.
Rounds three, four and five were intensely competitive, even though Griffin nearly locked in a triangle choke in the fourth. Spawned by season one of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, Griffin landed in greater volume in the final round and avoided damage when the two exchanged. An inch-long gash above his right eye will serve as a lasting reminder of the price he paid to earn the most significant victory of his career.
“Every [expletive] punch he threw hurt,” Griffin said. “Everything hurt.”
Defeated for the first time in more than three years, Jackson (28-7, 3-1 UFC) tipped his cap to a man people continue to underestimate. He entered the bout on a six-fight winning streak, backed by momentum from recent victories over Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson. None of it mattered.
“He just whooped my ass,” Jackson said. “Sometimes you win; sometimes you lose. Whenever you step in the Octagon, there’s a 50-50 chance you’re going to get you’re ass whooped. He’s going to be an excellent champion. He deserves it, but I’ll be back.”
In the co-featured bout, Canadian Patrick Cote did just enough to squeak by Ricardo Almeida by split decision, though it seems unlikely his performance will quiet his critics or strengthen his case for a shot at UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Almeida came out strong and opened an early lead. He scored with a takedown with two minutes remaining in the first round and hammered away at Cote (13-4, 4-4 UFC) with some stout ground-and-pound. In the second, however, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt’s pace slowed noticeably, and Cote dropped him with a ringing straight right with time winding down. Almeida crawled back to his corner after the horn sounded.
A former King of Pancrase who had not tasted defeat since January 2002, Almeida (9-3, 2-3 UFC) spent much of the third round in retreat, and while he scored with a powerful takedown late in the stanza, his world-class grappling skills were a non-factor.
All three judges scored the bout 29-28, two of them in Cote’s favor. The 28-year-old has now won five straight.
“It was an important fight for me,” Cote said. “It was a true honor to fight that kind of a guy. I love to fight here.”
A lightweight showdown between Joe Stevenson and Gleison Tibau produced wild shifts in momentum until Stevenson ended it with a second-round guillotine choke.
The American Top Team’s Tibau ate a right hand from the former lightweight title challenger early in the first round but came back strong and caught Stevenson in a tight omaplata. Tibau continued to establish himself as the fight progressed and even mounted Stevenson (29-8, 6-2 UFC) at one point in the second. Overconfidence proved his undoing, however, as he found himself stuck in Stevenson’s vice-like choke and tapped out after a careless takedown attempt.
It was the first time in 21 career bouts Tibau (15-6, 3-3 UFC) had been submitted.
“I’ve got to take what they give me,” said Stevenson, whose 7-year-old son was in attendance.
The night’s bloodiest battle — and one of the messiest on record — was waged by the American Kickboxing Academy’s Josh Koscheck and veteran Chris Lytle.
Koscheck dominated the well-liked Indianan with clean wrestling and punishing ground-and-pound against the cage en route to a unanimous decision victory. He opened three cuts on Lytle’s face, including a pair of gashes above his right eye. By the end of round two, Lytle (25-16-5, 4-8 UFC) was weary and bleeding profusely. Despite the blood loss, Lytle stayed in the fight, even threatening the physically superior Koscheck with Kimura and guillotine choke attempts in the third.
The 30-year-old Koscheck (11-2, 9-2 UFC) has won six of his last seven fights, a unanimous decision loss to reigning 170-pound champion Georges St. Pierre the only blemish.
“My coaches etched out a gameplan for me, and I executed it right,” said Koscheck, his blonde hair stained red. “Chris Lytle’s one of the classiest fighters in the UFC. I have a lot of respect for him as a fighter and as a person. Tonight, I just think I was better.”
In a pivotal lightweight bout, Tyson Griffin continued to strengthen his resume, as he controlled the crafty Marcus Aurelio (16-6, 2-2 UFC) for three rounds. Judges awarded the Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts standout a unanimous nod on the scorecards, as he controlled the action standing and avoided Aurelio’s world-class submission skills when the two hit the ground.
Griffin (12-1, 5-1 UFC) has rattled off four consecutive victories since his decision loss to Frankie Edgar in February 2007 and looks more and more like a viable contender in the deep 155-pound division. However, his last five fights have gone to the judges.
“I work on everything,” Griffin said. “Marcus is a tough guy. He’s never been finished, and I didn’t want to burn myself out.”
Elsewhere, the troubled but talented Melvin Guillard wowed the crowd and made a triumphant return to the Octagon, as he throttled Dennis Siver (11-6, 1-3 UFC) in just 36 seconds. Guillard (22-7-2, 4-3 UFC) had been submitted in each of his previous two UFC bouts, but a one-fight detour to the Rage in the Cage promotion seems to have paid off.
“I had to grow up,” Guillard said. “I’ve battled a lot of personal stuff, but I’m back. I want to be a contender.”
The American Top Team’s Cole Miller (14-3, 3-1 UFC), one-time heavyweight title challenger Gabriel Gonzaga (9-3, 5-2 UFC) and former Icon Sport lightweight champion Justin Buchholz (8-2, 1-1 UFC) all were victorious by submission in other preliminary action.
For more images from around the MMA world, visit CombatLifestyle.com.
All Content © 2011 by Fight Media Inc. | Site Developed by Nautical Progressions
