The Light Heavyweight division is continuing to prove itself as the most exciting division in MMA.
Following Anderson Silva’s controversial title defense against Thales Leites, the UFC decided to go all out in bouncing him back in the eyes of fans by matching him up with none other than Forrest Griffin. I LOVE this matchup, for many reasons:
- Forrest Griffin is a live underdog. He was tagged to lose against both Quinton Jackson and Mauricio Rua, both while they were considered #1 in the division. He is easy to take lightly, one of the worst mistakes you can make against him. He will come to fight, and he will grind you out if you are not ready for him.
- Anderson Silva has no size advantage against Griffin. Forrest Griffin is a HUGE LHW, both long and solid. Though Silva has a technique advantage, he certainly won’t be able to toss Griffin around like a rag doll in the Thai Clinch. I also doubt Silva will be able to get the figure four body lock on the ground that he likes so much. The physical metrics are even and negligible in this one, something that hasn’t been the case for Silva in a while.
- Forrest Griffin is the kind of fighter that will bring out the best performance in Anderson Silva. In his own words, Forrest Griffin is a dog, and he may not beat you, but he WILL fight you. Griffin is an emotional fighter, someone who likes to have fun in the cage, and he leaves everything there. But he’s also not an idiot; one does not get to be top 5 in the world by being an idiot. He has an incredible pace and conditioning which he uses to his advantage. He is not content to sit and wait for the fight to come to him, but he doesn’t come barreling in, hands down and chin up, either. He has an excellent gameplanner in Randy Couture in his corner, who brings a mantra of “imposing one’s will” on their opponent. Forrest Griffin WILL FIGHT Anderson Silva, and given his counter striking nature, Anderson Silva WILL FIGHT BACK.
- For the first time, Silva will hold the part of the heel. Fans love Forrest Griffin, and many of those same fans are upset with Anderson Silva’s most recent performance. Griffin will, once again, be the underdog in this fight, and every punch he lands will bring drama to the event. Silva has a HUGE opportunity to regain some support in this fight, as many eyes will be on it in spite of the taste he left in peoples mouths in his last two outings.
Along with this fight is the Rashad Evans-Lyoto Machida title fight at UFC 98. Quinton Jackson will get the winner of that one. Mauricio Rua catapulted himself back into the LHW ranks with his knockout of Chuck Liddell, with a possible matchup against up-and-comer Luiz Arthur Cane. Thiago Silva has been matched with Keith Jardine. And outside the top ten there’s Brandon Vera vs Matt Hamill (both being built into possible contenders), and prospect Jon Bones Jones has a fight against Hall-of-Famer Mark Coleman.
This division is a chum-filled shark tank and I feel sorry for anyone that hast to fight in it. But as a fan, I couldn’t be more happy.
