UFC 86 "Jackson vs Griffin" Re-Cap/Thoughts

UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin

Lightweight Fight- Tyson Griffin (11-1) vs. Marcus Aurelio (16-5)

Griffin comes out to "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. They put over Griffin as being the only guy to beat WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. Griffin is definitely the fan favorite in this one. Aurelio has a win over Gomi to his credit.

R1- Long feeling out process. Marcus gets taken down and Tyson hits him with some hammer punches. Marcus is trying to catch Tyson in a submission. Marcus seems content to stay in the guard and go for submissions and eat some of Tyson's punches. In the stand up game Tyson controlled the cage and got in more shots. Round One goes to Griffin 10-9.

Jamie Pressly is in the house, I think she was at the last show. Seems like she could be a pretty big fight fan. Thiago Alves is in Aurelio's corner.

R2- They start out this round completely opposite of last round as they both come out throwing but then slow down a little. Griffin has the classy sponsor of "Condom Depot" on his ass. Griffin gets a slam with 2 minutes left in the round after a long clinch. Marcus is able to reverse it and get a slam of his own and looks to be taking Griffin's back but Griffin rolls over and is on top. Marcus almost gets a triangle but doesn't get it. This was a much closer round than the first one but I've still got Griffin winning this one and have Griffin up 20-18 at this point.

R3- Marcus is really tired in this round and Griffin is hitting a lot more punches this round. Griffin runs in and gets a take down with about a minute and a half left. Marcus almost gets an arm submission a couple of times near the end of the fight. I've got Griffin taking this fight 30-27. He controlled the fight without dominating. All 3 judges score the fight 30-27.

Winner: Tyson Griffin by Decision (Unanimous)

Michael Bisping is at the fight and they show a video segment of him and talk about how good he has looked since he moved down to 185 lbs.

Welterweight Fight- Josh Koshcheck (12-2) vs. Chris Lytle (35-15-4)

We have our second Condom Depot fighter of the night in Chris Lytle. Koscheck gets booed when he comes out. Koscheck has a 5" reach advantage.

R1- Lytle throws a lot at first but doesn't hit much. Koshcheck just kind of sits back and waits and gets a take down with about 2 and a half minutes left in the round. Lytle grabs a guillotine but can't hold it and Koscheck has half guard. Not a lot of action in this round but I've got it Koscheck 10-9 as he controlled the ground for the last half of the fight and when they were stood up Lytle was more aggressive but didn't really land anything substantial.

R2- Koscheck went for a take down and it was stopped but he landed some nice shots. Koscheck goes for another take down and Lytle grabs him in a guillotine just like in Round One. Koscheck gets out of the submission and is in half guard and throws some elbows. Koscheck puts him up against the cage and is getting some nice, hard shots in on Lytle. Lytle is bleeding and continues to take some shots from Koscheck. Koscheck is nailing him and Lytle grabs him to stop the punches. Lots of blood on the canvas near the cage. There is even blood on the camera lens at ringside. Koscheck just laying on him and punching him. Lytle has a pool of blood under his head. He's lost a ton of blood. This was a 10-8 round to Koscheck. I've got it 20-17 after two rounds with Koscheck just absolutely dominating the Second Round.

R3- Koscheck has Lytle's blood in his hair. Koscheck tries to get a take down. Lytle goes for a kimura and then a guillotine but Koscheck spins out and Lytle grabs him again but Koscheck gets out of the move and Koscheck is on top again. Koscheck landing more elbows. Rogan makes the comment of this being bloodier than BJ Penn/Joe Stevenson. Koscheck is hitting Lytle with punches and the ref stand them up. The announcers thought he was going to stop the fight. Just a crazy call by the ref in this position as Koscheck had a dominate position and was being active and punching Lytle. When Lytle stands up he has blood all of his head and arms. Lytle gets some shots in but slips on his own blood and Koscheck clinches him. Koscheck just trying not to make a mistake. Ref separates them again. Both guys just throwing at the end of the round. The fans boo Koscheck at the end of the fight but man he put on a good fight tonight and Lytle just bleed all over the place. This is a fight that needs to be seen just for the blood. Good fight and good showing by Koscheck. I've got Koscheck winning 30-26. Koscheck's hair is basically red with Lytle's blood after the fight. Scorecards at the end of the fight are 30-26, 29-27, 30-28. Some interesting scores there.

Winner: Josh Koscheck by Decision (Unanimous)

Wilmer Valderrama is at the show again, I think he was at the last show also (like Pressly).

Lightweight Fight- Gleison Tibau (27-4) vs. Joe Stevenson (33-8)

Tibau comes out to "Iron Man."

R1- Stevenson catches Tibau with a nice left early but he absorbs it. Stevenson hits a right and Tibau goes down. Stevenson grabs a brief guillotine but Tibau gets out. They sprawl and go back to their feet. Tibau gets a take down but doesn't get anything. Stevenson darts in and gets a take down with two and a half minutes left in the round. Tibau catches him in an arm submission. Stevenson looks worried. Tibau is hitting Stevenson with some punches while he has him in the arm submission. Stevenson just kind of sitting and watching the clock and looking bored and telling the ref to stand them up. Stevenson plays it off like the move didn't hurt but Tibau had him trapped for about half the round. Tibau 10-9 in round one on my score card. Could see it being judged the other way if someone bought into Joe's selling of the move.

BJ Penn is shown and he mugs for the camera and gets a good response. He's got a hottie next to him.

R2- Tibau gets a take down but they quickly stand up. Tibau with another take down and passes guard quickly. Tibau mounts but Stevenson sprawls out without any damage. Tibau gets another take down but Stevenson grabs him in a guillotine and Tibau taps out. Surprising turn of events as I had Tibau winning the first round and this round until Stevenson grabbed that one move. Good job by Stevenson in sticking in there and taking advantage of the move when he got the opportunity.

Winner: Joe Stevenson by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2 2:57

Red Hot Chili Pepper front man Anthony Kedis is in the house.

Middleweight Fight- Patrick Cote (13-4) vs. Ricardo Almeida (9-2)

This is the Co-Main Event. Almeida comes out to CCR's "Fortunate Son." Cote gets a good reaction from the fans.

WEC Bantamweight Champ Miguel Torres is at the fight. He had a really exciting fight on the last WEC show that featured the Main Event of Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver.

R1- The clinch and Almeida jumps into Cote and grabs him and pulls guard. Cote gets out of it pretty quickly and they stand back up. They clinch for a while and Almeida gets a take down with two minutes left in the round. Almeida gets in a couple of good shots and then gets some Ground and Pound. Almeida really controlling the first round and Cote ends the round on his back. Ameida takes Round One 10-9. Cote has a tear on his glove and they have to tape it so he gets a little longer to recover.

R2- Almeida pulls guard and goes into a rubber guard type move where Cote can't do much. Cote hits a punch and gets out of the hold. Cote is starting to land a couple of shots in the stand up game. Almeida gets a brief guillotine but Cote slips out. Cote lands a right hand right before the buzzer. This was a real close round. Almeida tried to pull guard the entire round and Cote tried to stay on his feet. I think Cote hitting that punch at the end and flooring Almeida might have won him the round. I'll go 19-19 right now but could see Almeida up 20-18.

R3- Cote hits a really nice leg kick about a minute and a half into the round. Cote hits a good combo. Not much action in this round but Cote is starting to bring it. Almeida gets a take down with 30 seconds left in the round. Almeida misses a submission and Cote gets on top and gets in a couple of shots. This fight is really too close to call and I can see it going either way. Either way, neither guy finished so they can't really complain if they get the loss. This was the least exciting fight of the night by a wide margin. I think Almeida probably gets the win in this fight, possibly by split decision. Judges score cards are 29-28 Cote, 29-28 Almeida, and 29-28 Cote.

They kind of billed this as the winner gets a shot at Anderson Silva, but Cote didn't really do anything to deserve a title shot IMO.

Winner: Patrick Cote by Decision (Split)

Light Heavyweight Championship Fight- Rampage Jackson © vs. Forrest Griffin (15-4)

Forrest gets a big reaction and has Mandy Moore on his side. Rampage gets the heel reaction.

R1- Forrest is more active early and is getting some shots in on Rampage. Rampage gets a good shot in on Forrest about two and a half minutes into the fight. Forrest is effectively using some leg kicks. Rampage with a really good combination half way through the round and it wobbles Forrest. Forrest comes right back and takes at Rampage. Forrest using the leg kicks effectively. Forrest comes in and eats a big Rampage uppercut and he goes down with about a minute left in the Round. Rampage jumps on top and Forrest tries to latch onto Rampage. Rampage moves him against the cage. Rampage gets some shots in but Forrest gets to his feet and hits some knees. They exchange on their feet and are swinging for the fences. Really good first round and Rampage looks a little bit like he underestimated Forrest as he walks to his corner. Forrest did a really good job in Round One but I think he ultimately lost the Round due to getting caught with that uppercut. Forrest really got rocked at two different times during the Round even though I thought that he controlled a lot of the fight and did a great job with the leg kicks. I'll go Rampage 10-9 in Round One but Forrest made a great showing and has set himself up well for the rest of the fight.

R2- Forrest opens up with a leg kick and Rampage limps a little bit. Forrest with another leg kick and then another. Forrest hits some knees and takes Rampage down. Forrest has half guard. Forrest hitting some elbows. Forrest passes the guard and gets side control. Forrest working on elbows and punches to the head. Forrest gets to full mount. Big "Forrest" chant from the crowd. Forrest with short elbows. Forrest just dominated this round and ties up the fight and definitely has all the momentum on his side going into Round Three. It will be interesting to see how Rampage's leg is when Round Three starts. That looked like a 10-8 round which makes this 19-18 Forrest.

R3- Rampage with a good combo about 2 minutes into the round. Rampage hits a good counter punch that briefly stuns Forrest. Rampage with another combo. Forrest has hit a couple of kicks this round but not much else. Rampage with a couple of nice punches. Rampage with a body shot. Rampage with another good counter punch as he caught Forrest with a left. They swing for the fences at the end of the round. Good comeback round for Rampage as he takes this round. Forrest lost a lot of momentum this round and didn't try for a take down where he dominated last round. Rampage 28 Forrest 28.

R4- They really go after each other about 30 seconds into the round and Rampage lands a hook and Forrest bails out before he catches another one. Rampage with another good shot and then they clinch and Rampage ends up with the take down and he's on top. Forrest is cut above the right eye. Forrest doing a pretty good job defending and grabs a triangle. Rampage picks him up and goes to slam him off and does. Really good fight. Rampage back in Forrest's guard and Forrest is doing a good job defending. Forrest almost got a submission but Rampage bailed out and as Forrest was trying to get up Rampage caught him with a good shot but didn't knock him down. Rampage hits a couple of nice shots again as they mix it up in the last minute of the round. Forrest almost caught Rampage with a submission but Rampage really out landed Forrest in this round and cut him open. I've got this Rampage 38 Forrest 37 right now. Very close fight. Rampage has barely won three rounds in my book and Forrest dominated the one round that he took. I can see one of the rounds I gave to Rampage possible going to Forrest on some of the score cards. Forrest is controlling the pace of the fight but Rampage is out landing him on punches.

R5- Forrest going back to the leg kicks early in this round. Forrest hits a big leg kick, Rampage came back with a big punch and Forrest returned the favor. Forrest looks to be landing more in this round so far about 3 and a half minutes into the round. This one is going to come down to the wire. Both guys landing some shots in the last 30 seconds and they end the fight in a clinch. Great Fight. I think Forrest took the final round which on my score card puts it even at 47-47. Wow. It will be interesting to see how the judges score this one.

Judges score the fight:
48-46 Forrest
48-46 Forrest
49-46 Forrest

Great Fight. Looks like two of the judges gave one of the close rounds that I scored for Rampage to Forrest (probably had to be Round 1). Not sure about the 49-46 as I didn't see Forrest win 4 of the 5 rounds.

Part of me says that to "be the champ you have to beat the champ" and part of me says that Forrest did control the pace of the fight and should have gotten the win. IMO it was a really even 50/50 fight that definitely needs a re-match. I think Rampage overlooked Forrest, especially when I look back at the 5 minute interview that Rampage did on ESPN news the day before the fight. Kudos to both guys for putting on a great fight, definitely one of the top this year that I have seen.

Winner and new champion: Forrest Griffin

Pre-Show Fight:

Lighweight Fight- Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Silver

R1- Guillard just jumps Silver at the beginning and nails some shots but Silver gets back to his feet. Guillard nails Silver with a ton of punches and this one is over. Great showing for Guillard.

Winner: Melvin Guillard by TKO (punches) R1 0:36

Overall, this was a really good show. Forrest/Rampage is a contender for FOTY, Koscheck/Lytle and Stevenson/Tibau were both good fights as well.