UFC 86: Jackson vs Griffin

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Wowwwwww. Stevenson's gonna hang in till the end of the round.

[Guest]

Glad I decided not to clown on Forrest when I really felt like it...

 

Scores were too wide, though.

[Damaramu 0]

Wow, that was not a good decision. Forrest won the second round, but he really didn't do any damage on the ground.

On the feet it was mostly Rampage and he did more damage and landed more shots.

I hate UFC judging. I also got sick listening to Rogan root for Forrest.

 

They need a rematch ASAP.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Awesome main event. Very close but I could see why they would pick Forrest. Agreed on the rematch talk.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I don't see how the judging was whacked at all.

 

Round one was Rampage

Round two was Forrest, regardless of of 10-8 or not. 10-8 is a bit off, but Rampage did nothing and had his knee ripped apart.

Round three was either man's. Had to say.

Round four was Rampage

Round five could have went either way, but I think Forrest landed more.

 

A draw would have been the best result, but draw's don't happen in UFC.

[mfn 0]

I would have called it a draw personally, but I'm not goin to complain when my boy Forrest won. I wouldn't have complained either way.

[Warriorfan 0]

Rampage won that fight. It obviously wasn't what I expected but Griffin fell short of dominating that last RD in order to cement a victory. This is perfect for the UFC as they have the setup for an end of the year clash with the controversy.

 

P.S. Who cursed at the screen when Forrest was declared the winner?

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

How the hell is there controversy?

 

Rampage's leg was broken. He admitted this post-fight because of Griffin's leg kicks.

 

Griffin also came the closest to winning the fight with that triangle. Granted, he released it out of pure horror in the air, but he still came close with it.

 

When the loser *admits* they lost the fight, there is no controversy.

 

I really don't know what fight you and Dama saw to say Rampage won the fight. Neither man definitively won anything. Rounds three and five were absolutely too close to call, and I *know* Forrest won round two enough to have two judges give him 10-8 on it.

[Damaramu 0]

Me.

I think Rampage won Rd 1, 3, and 4. Round 5 was a toss-up for me. Forrest definitely won Round 2.

I don't see how Rampage didn't at least win 3 rounds.

 

I heard Big John was unhappy with the judging in the UFC and I can see why. I almost never agree with a decision.

 

I love both of these guys. I like Forrest a lot and I like Rampage a lot. So I'm not biased towards Rampage.

 

I'd like to see Anderson Silva wreck Forrest for that title though.

[Diamonddust 0]

Personally, I didn't see it as a decisive Griffin win, although I could have bought it as a split decision. Anyways, if Jackson admitted Griffin beat his ass, well, I'm not going to argue.

 

Still, I just know I'm going to have visions of Lytle earning his spot on the Muta scale when I go to bed tonight.

[Damaramu 0]

He won the second round 10-8? He didn't do anything on the ground! He didn't do any damage on the ground. It was a huge tie-up.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

Unless you can go back and count every single punch of BOTH men, and explain to me why Rampage "Definitively" won round three, then I take you saying he won that round with a grain of salt. And even if you CAN, what bearing does that have when MMA is about more then just who lands more? MMA doesn't work that way.

 

Neither man pulled ahead in three and five, and both landed significant shots (and whiffed on them as well). On a round like that, it is akin to a 50/50 shot on who won the round.

 

And even if Rampage did somehow win that round, the fact that Forrest damn near ripped Rampage's leg off, and beat on him throughout round two is justifiably enough to give him a 10-8 in Round two. If he did, then they DRAW because they'd both have the same score.

 

You *cannot* honestly tell me one person won that fight with any significant margin of error.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I scored it

 

rd 1 10-9 Page

rd 2 10-8 Forrest

rd 3 10-9 Page

rd 4 10-9 Page

rd 5 10-9 Forrest

 

so yeah, I had it a draw

 

Happy either way though, I like both fighters

[Warriorfan 0]

How the hell is there controversy?

 

Rampage's leg was broken. He admitted this post-fight because of Griffin's leg kicks.

 

Griffin also came the closest to winning the fight with that triangle. Granted, he released it out of pure horror in the air, but he still came close with it.

 

When the loser *admits* they lost the fight, there is no controversy.

 

I really don't know what fight you and Dama saw to say Rampage won the fight. Neither man definitively won anything. Rounds three and five were absolutely too close to call, and I *know* Forrest won round two enough to have two judges give him 10-8 on it.

 

There is controversy because of the moronic scoring of that fight.

 

Rampage didn't lose RD 2 10-8, that is just idiotcy. Besides Forrest obviously winning RD 2 tell me the other 2 rounds Rampage lost in order for him to be a former champion?

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Way I see it the fifth round was the deal-breaker and Forrest simply showed a better will to win then Rampage. Good for Mr. Griffin although I'm pretty sure Keith Jardine should be on suicide watch by now.

 

Also, all grumblings about decisions aside........COTE@!#

[Youth N Asia 0]

I picked wrong in the Forrest and Cote fights, but it's one of those times where I was rooting for the guy I picked against anyway...so it's all good

[The Niggardly King 0]

So... Forrest pulled through in another match where he wasn't favored or on equal ground with his opponent according to most of the experts and hardcore fans.

 

Didn't see that one coming.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Forrest winning is great, especially when almost nobody gave him a real chance to win. Almost as entertaining are the numerous hissy fits being thrown by people over Forrest winning. Some of the behavior regaring the decision has been almost as entertaining as the fight itself, with some immature people even making grand gestures of claiming that they're 'through' with UFC over the result.

 

I thought Jackson definitely won round 1, Forrest definitely won round 2, with arguments for either guy having won rounds 3, 4 and 5, all depending on how you thought the fight played out. The problem with having three rounds in a championship fight where either guy could have won them, is that it can lead to a score that doesn't accurately reflect how close the fight really was. After all, if you thought rounds 3, 4 and 5 all went to one fighter, they'd have won 49 to 46, as happened here, and you end up with people who throw fits, instead of taking the time to think things over and realize that, as crazy as the scoring looks on paper, it actually makes sense.

[Damaramu 0]

It's not like I'm against Forrest winning. I like Forrest and it's cool he's champ. (even though I like Rampage more)

 

I just think the judging was screwy. I think in a rematch Rampage definitely wins too. Especially because I doubt he'll let his leg get fucked up like that. Maybe he'll actually check a leg kick or avoid them early on instead of waiting till later when the damage is done.

 

I hope hope hope Rampage gets the rematch immediately and we don't have to sit through Dana's golden boy Liddell possibly winning it back. Then again seeing Rampage smash Chuck again would be entertaining.

[Damaramu 0]

Forrest just executed a better game plan. I was expecting Forrest to gas hard though. I'm surprised he didn't.

 

Does Forrest ever gas hard? Dude has monster conditioning. Then again, this was really his first 5 round fight.

 

Maybe I'm too high on Anderson Silva but I really feel he'd easily win the LHW title even if it's held by Rampage, Forrest or Chuck. He's looked so unbeatable in the UFC so far.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Rampage checking more leg kicks? I like Rampage a lot, but this fight went as expected... Forrest had a great gameplan and stamina as usual.

 

Jardine should be on suicide watch.

 

Also, bring on The Axe Murder vs Forrest since I don't see Machida ever getting a title match.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Judging ALWAYS sucks. Thats why you don't let the fight go to the scorecards, especially if you're the champ and are defending your belt.

[Damaramu 0]

Speaking of shitty judging. From Meltzer's site:

 

Adalaide Byrd who scored it 48-46, gave 4 and 5 to Jackson and Griffin 1, 2 and 3 with 2 as 10-8

 

Nelson Hamilton had it 48-46 with 1 and 4 for Jackson, and Griffin getting 2 10-8

 

Roy Silbert had it 49-46 with only round 4 for Jackson.

 

Only round four for Jackson? Forrest getting rounds 1, 2 and 3!?

 

That's what I mean by screwy judging.

 

*EDIT* I misread the 10-8 part. Carry on.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

It's hard to say what Forrest will do as champ. Since he hooked up with Xtreme Couture, the guy has been *awesome*. When you have no discernible "top skill", it's amazing to be able to defeat people with high level skills. Forrest just flat out out-hustles people in fights.

 

Right now, the only fight at LHW that makes sense for UFC is Lyoto Machida, and regardless if he was joking or not, Forrest is on record as saying he does *not* want to face Machida. Everyone else only has a win, lost their last one, or are on some kind of slide in the LHW division.

 

If Liddell can drop Rashad, you can do that...or if Silva wins next time out, you can do that, but in Rampage's case, he flat out said he will never wait this long to fight again. I wonder if Forrest will wait long enough to get a top contender himself. Waiting nine months or so to fight HAS to suck. Time off to heal and train, but you get rusty from not having an actual fight.

 

Forrest is an intriguing champion, because there's no real "aura" around him, so to speak. It's fully believable that he could face just about any of the top LHW's and lose. It's just who he is as a fighter.

[Markme123 0]

Speaking of shitty judging. From Meltzer's site:

 

Adalaide Byrd who scored it 48-46, gave 4 and 5 to Jackson and Griffin 1, 2 and 3 with 2 as 10-8

 

Nelson Hamilton had it 48-46 with 1 and 4 for Jackson, and Griffin getting 2 10-8

 

Roy Silbert had it 49-46 with only round 4 for Jackson.

 

JESUS CHRIST.

[imajackoff? 0]

I had it as a draw with Forrest winning the 2nd 10-8 and the 5th.

 

Every round but the 2nd could have gone either way depending on how you viewed things. Tough break for Rampage losing the title by decision in such a close fight.

 

 

[Dr. Zoidberg 0]

I felt that, really, the only round clearly won by Forrest was the 2nd. He was smothering Rampage, which I think gassed him. After that, it was all up in the air.

 

I was bummed that Forrest won, but then I realized, "At least it's not Liddell."

[Ced 0]

I disagree with Byrd for scoring round 1 for Forrest. The leg kicks were effective, but he almost got laid out near the end of the round. My scorecard most closely mirrored Nelson Hamilton's. I thought round 3 was more of a coinflip as neither Forrest nor Rampage really did anything, so I'm a bit surprised that all three gave the round to Forrest.

 

It's going to be interesting to see who gets tapped as his Forrest's first defense. I don't think Dana would dare pull the trigger on Lyoto-Forrest, but if anybody can come up with a game plan to stop Machida, I'd think Forrest could somehow pull it off. However if Forrest fails, I don't think I could stomach months of Las Vegas shitting over Lyoto's hit and away style.

[AboveAverage484 0]

I'm not seeing any controversy here, either. The fight was wide open going into the final round, but Quinton was too passive, letting Forrest initiate most of the exchanges. Quinton definitely landed a higher percentage of shots on the feet but Forrest was moving forward and throwing while Quinton seemed content to fight a defensive fight and let Forrest walk into one of his punches. Wasn't surprised by the decision, and when that happens I usually don't have a problem with the decision. Additionally, I didn't watch any post fight interviews or what have you but I thought Rampage hurt his leg on the slip and then Forrest aggravated it even further with the leg kick that buckled it. Was anything said by Quinton post fight to disprove this?

 

Almeida was the night's real disappointment for me. Cote appeared to have a gameplan tailor-made for Ricardo's style but he couldn't do shit against Patrick in the second or third round. Every other fight pretty much went as expected with no real surprises. Koshchek did open up a gruesome cut on Lytle though, and I'm surprised they didn't make a bigger effort to stop it as a result.

[Cuban Linx 0]

Almeida was definitely a disappointment, he looked good for a round but was gassed hardcore after that, he could barely do anything at all in the final 10 minutes. Probably was expecting too much from him in just his second fight back from retirement, it's probably for the best he gets a few more fights under his belt before a possible fight with Anderson anyway.

 

Speaking of possible fights with Anderson, Cote is going to get MURDERED if that fight happens. I've never liked Cote though so i eagerly look forward to his impending destruction.

 

Another good win for Tyson Griffin, his striking looks very good but judging from the Aurelio & Tibau fights he seemingly has zero power, he's landing punches all day but never looks to be doing much damage. Hopefully his next opponent is someone more willing to engage and force him to react and scramble in/out of things, i miss the Tyson Griffin from the Edgar/Guida/Tavares fights, this makes 2 in a row for him that have been far from thrilling.

 

As for the main event, while i don't agree with the judges scores i agree with the end result. I had it narrowly for Forrest, but it was so close that a draw or even a decision for Rampage wouldn't have bothered me. Great fight, one of the best main events the UFC has had in a long time, a rematch definitely has to happen down the line. Rampage/Wanderlai III in a #1 contenders fight sounds good to me, either Forrest/Rampage II or Forrest/Wanderlai would be great fights, though i expect Forrest/Liddell (provided he beats Rashad) will happen first.

 

No idea where Machida fits in all this, the UFC will probably keep him fighting fringe contenders for as long as they possibly can so they can do the big money Forrest/Chuck/Rampage/Wanderlai fights & re-matches first.