The Ultimate eXperience 07.06.08: UFC 86 Break Down
Posted by Ryan Seymour on 07.06.2008
The Ultimate eXperience this week takes an inside look at UFC 86 as well as the future bouts with the winners & losers of UFC 86. Also Rich Franklin's move to 205, Thiago Alves vs. Diego Sanchez, Jake Shields and MORE!!!!!!
UFC 86 BREAK-DOWN!
Forrest Griffin is your NEW UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Not in convincing fashion though. Forrest Griffin and Quinton ‘Rampage' Jackson put on a hell of a fight, for me it was one of my favorite fights of the year. Forrest Griffin was being smart with his attacks against Rampage; when he hit Rampage he would move back and use his feet well. Rampage HITS hard though. Even when one of his legs were severely damaged by some great leg kicks by Forrest Griffin, Rampage was still able to get some powerful punches on Griffin. When watching the fight, I actually scored the fight in favor of (the now former champion) Quinton ‘Rampage' Jackson.
Almost every time that Rampage closed the distance between himself and Griffin, he was able to land powerful shots that rocked Griffin. The one thing that Griffin had in his favor was the leg kicks he was landing to Rampage's lead leg were taking their damage and Rampage at one point was struggling to move. It wasn't a massive shock that the judges went with Griffin, but it was still a shock. As well as giving Griffin the win, one judge gave Forrest Griffin four rounds which was quite incredible and something that was certain to me was Griffin didn't win four rounds.
Outside of the main event, the event wasn't really a stand out. Patrick Cote against Ricardo Almeida was a fight that on paper looked like it could be incredible, unfortunately the fight didn't live up to the hype. Although this was another close fight that went to a decision, I think the judges got this one right. Almeida clearly got the first round by taking Cote down and dominating him. After the first round Cote was able to keep the fight standing and out-box Almeida. Joe Stevenson was able to use his trademark submission known as the guillotine choke to win his fight. Gleison Tibau didn't look that bad at all though, Tibau took Stevenson down multiple times and really frustrated Stevenson in the first round when he had an omoplata on Stevenson.
Josh Koscheck showed the world he can be a threat in the welterweight division when he totally outclassed the UFC veteran Chris ‘Light Out' Lytle. Koscheck showed a viscous ground and pound and cut up Lytle badly. Blood was going everywhere in the ring and reminded me of such fights as Stevenson/Penn – UFC 80, Dewees/Ray – TUF 4, Stevenson/Edwards – UFC 61 etc. There are still question marks on his stand up but one thing for sure is, if Koscheck gets you to the ground, you are in big trouble. Another fight on the main card which went the distance was Tyson Griffin against Marcus Aurelio. Tyson Griffin's last five bouts have gone to the decision, that being said, his fights are generally pretty exciting. For the third fight in a row, Tyson Griffin was able to beat a Brazilian fighter. Griffin doesn't get a lot of spot light in the stacked lightweight division, that being said he has had a few huge wins recently. Tyson Griffin is really a quite winner in the division as he is going through his opponents but not getting the attention like some other fighters in the division.
THE FUTURE
After watching UFC 86, we look into the future and see what possible fights could happen. With Griffin's big win and becoming the Light Heavyweight Champion, there are a few interesting fights to see. It looks like Griffin will face Liddell, if Liddell is able to defeat Rashad Evans at UFC 88: Breakthrough. If Evans wins, they could go with Evans/Griffin but that isn't really a great title fight. Wanderlei Silva could jump into the title picture if he is able to defeat his rumored opponent Thiago Silva. Many believe Lyoto Machida should also be up in contention but he needs another big win within the UFC to get a title shot.
Rampage/Wanderlei III. While Rampage isn't champion anymore, they can now make this fight happen. Rampage has said publicly that the referee helped Wanderlei win the first two fights they had in PRIDE (Don't know how though as Rampage was KTFO twice). It's a fight to see if Wanderlei still has the mean streak and dominance we once saw in PRIDE. If Rampage will be able to work his way up the ranks once again, to see if Rampage can get back to winning his title back.
With lightweights Tyson Griffin and Joe Stevenson winning, a smart move in my mind would be putting these two up against each other. Both fighters are well versatile and would feel comfortable where ever this fight may end up, on the feet or on the ground. Another fight I wouldn't mind seeing is Tyson Griffin facing of once again, against WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber. That fight is far from happening but Urijah Faber seems to be going through everybody at featherweight and it would be a good rematch to see.
Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote please say it isn't true. Anderson Silva has been completely dominant in the UFC and truth be told only one fighter has been close to beating him within the UFC. Travis Lutter – A submission specialist – was able to get full mount on Anderson Silva in their fight at UFC 67. Lutter then went for a lazy arm bar attempt and Silva was able to get out of the deadly situation. That's why I was pulling for Ricardo Almeida to get the victory in their fight. If Patrick Cote does end up fighting Anderson Silva, I can't see it being much different to Silva facing of against other strikers like Rich Franklin, Chris Leben and Dan Henderson. IF Patrick Cote is able to get out of the second round then I would be extremely surprised. The smartest thing to do in my books would have Cote face of against Okami and then let Anderson Silva have another a fight at the light heavyweight division.
MMA NEWS BREAK-DOWN
Fights that have been rumoured this week
Jake Shields vs. Nick "The Goat" Thompson on EliteXC's second installment of "Saturday Night Fights" on CBS.
Roan Carneiro against Ryo Chonan at UFC 88.
A fight between top welterweights Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves at UFC 89.
Rich Franklin to move up weight to face Matt Hamill at UFC 88.
There are some interesting fights to say the least. Nick "The Goat" Thompson is unkown to a lot of MMA fans but this guy is for REAL. His last loss was back April of 2006 and he is riding a nice 12 fight win streak. His opponent in Jake Shields is a great submission fighter and also has a nice win streak of 9 fights. With wins over Yushin Okami and Carlos Condit in them nine fights. It should be a great battle for the EliteXC welterweight title.
With one of the best submissions you will ever see, over the best P4P fighter in the world, you would think Ryo Chonan would be a very dominant force. But his inability to put big wins together, Chonan will be trying to get back on the winning ways after a disappointing fight against Karo Parisyan at UFC 78: Validation. Another fighter just hanging around in the welterweight division is Roan Carneiro. Carneiro suffered a huge set back at UFC 85, a relatively unknown Kevin Burns was able to submit the black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter, Roan Carneiro. This fight looks like one of them ‘Loser Leaves Town' fights, the loser might not be out of the UFC, but they will be on thin ice.
If Thiago Alves was able to make weight in his fight at UFC 85 against Matt Hughes, he could well be the next welterweight title challenger. He didn't make weight and I think this is a smarter move then giving him a title shot. It won't be an easy fight for Thiago Alves but he would be going in favorite. If Alves is able to make weight this time and win then this fight could well be his last fight before getting a title shot. Diego Sanchez was dominant after winning the very first ultimate fighter, but lately he hasn't looked as good. After suffering two losses to AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) fighters Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck, Sanchez hasn't been himself. Alves would go into this fight favorite but if we see Sanchez at his best, he will be hard to stop.
RICH FRANKLIN BACK AT 205. Rich Franklin makes his return to the 205 pound division, Franklin's last fight at 205 was against Ken Shamrock in April of 2005. Not s stupid move by Franklin as he has had no answer for Anderson Silva in the middleweight division and there are some big fights to be had in the light heavyweight division. Franklin's opponent Matt Hamill is meant to be a stepping stone for Franklin but if Hamill is able to set a good game plan, he could pull of a win here. Hamill has been using his stand up a lot lately but the best thing to do against Franklin is to use his bread and butter – his wrestling. Yushin Okami at UFC 72 was able to use some ground work on Franklin to win a round in there fight. I really like both fighters in this fight so I don't overly care who wins this fight.
AND IT'S ALL OVER. I hope you enjoyed this very interesting edition of The Ultimate eXperience. As always tune in next week for another great in-depth analysis.
