Issue 041

September 2008

Dana White calls him the living embodiment of the American Dream. The self-styled ‘quiet jerk’ Forrest Griffin has come a long way since his days as a former highway patrol officer in Georgia. With a very workmanlike 25-minute performance he not only stole the title from Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, but also proved that with hard work, self-belief and a great team behind you, you can conquer the world.   

Forrest mixed his attacks up throughout the fight, making good use of his reach advantage and peppering the champ with long straight punches and a mixture of high and low kicks. Rampage caught Griffin in the first with an uppercut and sent him down, while Forrest stuck Rampage on his back and mounted him in the second. The last three rounds were judged to have been split between them two to one, with Rampage taking the fourth on most of the scorecards. Forrest’s steady (if slightly overcautious) style saw him cruise to victory with a fairly comfortable margin over his foe.  

That’s not to say Forrest’s unanimous decision victory didn’t draw criticism. A section of fans booed him during his post-fight speech, voicing their displeasure at what they thought was a bogus decision. All of the judges scored the contest slightly differently, rarely agreeing on which rounds went to which fighter. Pundits were varied with their opinions – while not exactly calling for the decision to overturned – many felt that to win the title you had to beat the champ.  

Rampage, limping heavily on his damaged left leg, modestly agreed he felt the decision was close, while giving Griffin credit for “kicking his ass”. Jackson’s trainer, Juanito Ibarra, was much more vocal in his protestations, calling the decision a disgrace and promising to appeal. “We got robbed,” Ibarra said following the fight. “We won the majority of the fight. You have to beat the champion.”

Regardless of how the title was won, the fact remains that the light heavyweight scene has changed dramatically in the last twelve months. With Forrest now king of the hill, you wonder who might be in line to challenge him. Liddell and Evans will face-off in September, and aside from them there is a real dearth of talent at the higher echelons of that weight class. A rematch seems the most likely plan, and Forrest admitted as early as his post-fight interview in the Octagon that he knew they’d have to do it again sometime.  

In other action Patrick Cote earned the right to become Anderson Silva’s next victim by defeating Ricardo Almeida in a title contention fight. Cote survived a torrid first round to pick apart the Brazilian in the second and third. Worryingly, nothing in either fighter’s performance suggested that they would be worthy opponents for Silva, who is currently flirting with fighting at light heavyweight. Silva’s next opponent at 185lb will be Yushin Okami, with whom the Brazilian champ has a score to settle.  

Full results

Justin Buchholz def Corey Hill via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 

3:57 Rd2

Melvin Guillard def Dennis Siver via TKO (Punches) 0:36 Rd1

Cole Miller def Jorge Gurgel via Submission (Triangle Choke) 4:48 Rd3

Gabriel Gonzaga def Justin McCully via Submission (Kimura) 1:57 Rd1

Tyson Griffin def Marcus Aurelio via Unanimous Decision

Josh Koscheck def Chris Lytle via Unanimous Decision 

Joe Stevenson def Gleison Tibau via Submission (Guillotine choke) 

2:57 Rd2

Patrick Cote def Ricardo Almeida via Split Decision 

Forrest Griffin def Quinton Jackson via Unanimous Decision