The Sunday Sprawl 7.06.08: Volume 7 - UFC 86

Posted by Alex Mattis on 07.06.2008

Forrest Griffin wins the big one, Patrick Cote earns a crack at middleweight gold, and more. Coming off the heels of UFC 86, a look at the winners and losers.


Wow, that's all I can say about what happened last night. The time had arrived for what may turn out to be the biggest fight of the year. Not a dull moment was seen in this one. I wasn't giving Forrest any chance, then he came along and shocked me, and a few others I'm sure. A great main event with a so-so undercard. There were some good individual performances, and some entertaining moments. Let's take at look at UFC 86 and break it down fight by fight.

Tyson Griffin Vs. Marcus Aurelio
Winner - Tyson Griffin via Unanimous Decision:
Big disappointment. Not only did I expect a better fight from these two, but being a fan of Aurelio I expect him to do more here. This was arguably the biggest fight of his career and he just seemed like he got frustrated and gave up. He didn't even really go for anything towards the end of the fight. It was another good performance by Tyson. He's been on quite the roll and I think it's about time the UFC throws him in there with a top opponent. I would love to see Tyson and Stevenson lock up, or a fight between Tyson and Nate Diaz could show what both really have.

Josh Koscheck Vs. Chris Lytle
Winner - Josh Koscheck via Unanimous Decision:
Brutal. This fight probably should've been stopped, it seemed as though it went on a bit too long. This fight went pretty much exactly as most thought it would. Koscheck would've been a fool to stand and trade with Lytle, had he chose that road we probably would have had a different winner, and much quicker. But Kos imposed his superior ground game and pounded out the decision. I don't like the guy but definitely is one of the top at 170 and if he is able to rack up one more win, he could be looking at a title shot.

Joe Stevenson Vs. Gleison Tibau
Winner - Joe Stevenson via 2nd Round Submission (Guillotine choke):
Classic Joe Stevenson here with a slick submission win. I don't think the first round went the way Joe would have liked, in fact I felt that Tibau had won the round. But Joe showed his patience, picked his spot and that was a wrap. The crowd at the Hooters I was watching the event at went absolutely nuts. I found it strange that Denton, TX seems to love them some Daddy Stevenson. I'm not sure when Joe goes from here. I still feel that he is a top ten lightweight in the world, but we all saw what happened when he fought BJ. I suppose he just works back to another title shot and hopes that things turn out different. Tibau on the other hand may be dropped by the UFC, his record of win-loss-win-loss is shaky and I'm not sure if Dana & Co. are going to want to hang onto him.

Patrick Cote Vs. Ricardo Almeida
Winner - Patrick Cote via Split Decision:
I was comparing this fight to the Kongo-Herring fight in March as both being razor thin decisions. It's hard for me to give a forward opinion as Cote is one of my favorite fighters, but this fight really could have gone to either man. But I think it was the fact that Cote ended two rounds in firm control that earned him the W. At the end of the 2nd he was landing shots and he was on top attacking the body at the end of the 3rd round. I felt this was a great performance by both though. I think Almeida may still have a bit of rust coming back from his long hiatus, but has the ability to be right at the top of the 185lb. heap. Cote had shown constant improvement and now with this victory it looks like he's heading towards a title showdown with Anderson Silva. Cote looks to be at the peak of his career, let's see if he can capitalize on it.

UFC Light Heavy Weight Title Fight: Forrest Griffin (challenger) Vs. Quinton Jackson (champion)
Winner and NEW UFC light heavy weight champion - Forrest Griffin via Unanimous Decision:
What a fight this was. All the hype, all the waiting was not in vain. This fight lived up to its hype on every level. Forrest showed that he wasn't afraid to stand and trade with Rampage, but Rampage did hurt Forrest bad in the first round. Griffin's game plan was pulled off to perfection with his repeated leg kicks being a turning point in the fight. My favorite moment of the fight came when it looked as though we were going to see Rampage powerbomb Forrest, but Griffin countered out. This win for Forrest is the culmination of one of the greatest career stories in MMA history. He, along with Stephan Bonnar, brought this sport to a new level, and for him to hold a title is great. Hopefully with this win any doubts about Forrest just being a reality TV star will fade. He is now without question one of the top 205lb. fighters on the planet.

While the night started off a bit boring the main event counteracted all of that. It was a great fight that'll most likely make it onto many "Top Fight" lists at the years end. Congratulations to Forrest, but I wouldn't get too attached to that title... your 1st defense is probably going to be against Lyoto Machida, so have fun with that. The Submission of the Night went to Cole Miller who had an awesome win over Jorge Gurgel. Very impressive win here for Cole and I hope we get to see him on the main card in his next fight.

Well, that's all for me this week. Come back next week when I'll discuss some of the rumored bouts for the upcoming UFC 89 card, and I will also give my thoughts and predictions on the Affliction: Banned event as well as UFC: Silva Vs. Irvin.

But until then, take care.
-Alex