UFC 86 Jackson VS Griffin review

Introduction

Mixed martial arts clearly became a significant form of both mass entertainment and - as Bruce Lee put it - an expression of the human body, the latter being, no doubt, the original field of operation of these ancient traditions, now living and breathing through competitive events around the world. Though many may consider men who enter the proving grounds little more than hired human pitbulls to rip each other apart for hard cash and radical amusement, I tend to utterly reject this rudimentary view, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself.

Japanese people compete to gain an insight of their own current abilities through the collision process of their skills with that of other's. To me, the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, uncompromised, pure respect each fighter deserves simply by stating themselves on the proving grounds, regardless of the results. The ensuing peace between fighters after a good collision is such a palpable, legit sensation that it never got old so far - and won't ever will.

This here is a review of the UFC event UFC 86 Jackson VS Griffin, time to punch that Read more button, baby!

Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

Forrest Griffin and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson both delivered sober and charismatic performances in the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter Reality TV Show as respective coaches of the teams that faced off until but ONE new fighter remained and - in the most puzzling fashion - emerged victorious. Some silly idea might give you the impression that Griffin and Jackson were even - if there ARE such things at all - "way too peaceful" and "way too professional" during the show. Now, are there such things? In my opinion: there are no such things. To me, it was true delight and keen pleasure to watch how mature and easygoing they were during the show, knowing that they will have to kick each other's ass at the culmination of the season.

Though no redundant testosterone talk was present at all, UFC President Dana White probably required some of that nevertheless, because, I think he have thought that the masses want to see Jackson and Griffin flaming each other. How wrong he is. Most people want to see them fight, and they know they will. Yet I understand that White aims for the attention of the everyday average beer molester in camouflage wife beater as well, who just wants to see the living crap being crunched out of someone. If the opposing fighters are accomplished veterans with prior, mutual trash talk sequences delivered - all the better. Thus, the show delivered one, maybe two - in my opinion - semi-staged conflicts that Quinton and Forrest agreed to take part in, but, when they were left to themselves, then they were absolutely professional and respectful towards each other.

Little addendum: it was funny to see the expression on Quinton's face when Jessie Taylor got kicked off the show, following his unacceptable behavior in Las Vegas. You can see Quinton giving the audience the "oooh, poor boy" look, though, in reality, he probably thinks what WE think as well: that Taylor got what he deserved. Terrorizing women in a hotel lobby?? Now, pardon me for pointing out that this is a true WTF.

As frequently cited by UFC commentator Mark Goldberg, Forrest Griffin is indeed the Original Ultimate Fighter. He and Stephan Bonnard put up such an exciting fight in the finale of the first season of the TV Show that they exposed mixed martial arts to the mainstream audience. According to records, there were times when 10 000 000 people watched the live broadcast. Griffin was a hyperactive child and could hardly have a good time without seeking out some competitive physical stimulation. Not because he was mean, but because he was - just like that. Oh, now it sounds better and way more acceptable, right? After playing football where he headbutts opposing team members with helmet on without HIS helmet on, Forrest goes to the police academy, even picks up a casual degree of political sciences, and finally ends up at mixed martial arts, scoring some nice amateur wins.

His first professional mma bout is against highly charismatic UFC Veteran Dan Severn. As Forrest admits in the heavily cited Countdown to UFC 86, Severn was way ahead of him in every aspect of the game. He could not do a thing against the legendary competitor, so he starts insulting him.

"Hey, dude! You are like a fat Freddy Mercury! Dude! You sure do look thinner on TV! Dude, you are like Tom Selleck's fat, old brother!"

I guess this is the early Forrest. The recent Forrest though scored significant wins, most notably, over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua whom he submits in a rear naked choke. By the time in question, Shogun was ranked as the top fighter of the weight class, yet, many claim that he was not at all himself in the Forrest fight. It also worth mentioning that Shogun defeated Rampage in the Pride! days. A truly charismatic warrior with considerable humor and pretty much implausible levels of punishment resistance, Griffin comes to this bout stating that all he needs to be aware of is that he did absolutely everything in his power to win against Rampage, also, he needs to know that he won't quit. He adds that he is willing to take more pain than anybody else. Believable, considering that Forrest beat Edson Paredao with one arm broken. It is like Forrest had a broken arm, not Paredao, you feel me?

This is an interesting match indeed, since, as much as you love Forrest, you got to love Quinton Jackson, as well. No doubt that this extremely loose, humorous person turns into a beast when finds himself in the cage, yet he is one of the most notable faces of an all-around mma fighter palette, a warrior with tremendous experience, executioner of the best, even bestest! slam you have seen in an mma bout, not to mention that he holds two knockout victories over Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell. To be specific, it was Liddell whom Rampage took the UFC Light Heavyweight Belt from in UFC 71 Liddell VS Jackson. Since then, Quinton defended his title against Dan Henderson in UFC 82 Pride of a Champion, now ready to face the man whom many consider to be the most beloved contender to date. Rampage states he is meaner and uglier than Griffin, and he thinks that deep down Forrest knows that he (Griffin) is supposed to lose - and indeed, he will. Let me cite a classic quote from Jackson, though he has a whole arsenal of those. "Forrest looks stupid, but he ain't as stupid as he looks." OK, and yet another, just to prove the point: "I took anger management classes before, but - HELL, those make me ANGRY!"

The co-main event gives you hard hitter dynamite fist Partick Cote, taking on Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Ricardo Almeida who tries to solidify his comeback trail in the UFC after a longer pause period. He looked superb against Rob Yundt in UFC 81 Breaking Point, pulling off a very quick submission regardless the brutal slam he undergone in the process. Cote is a fervent warrior with one punch stopping power potential in both hands, though he did not yet manage to claim top position in the game when chances were offered. Against Tito Ortiz in UFC 50 and against Lumpergson Stappenheimer in UFC 16, for example. Some of the latter events never happened, though.

Jorge Gurgel vs Cole Miller

Jorge Gurgel likes to put up exciting fights, also prefers to think that excitement only arouses when in the stand up position. A fresh assumption probably, as he has quite a few submission wins himself - yet now he enforces the standup, dismissing all aspirations to take the enemy down. Gurgel looks passionate and convincing in this here back and forth battle, though characterized mainly by Miller's more efficient ability to deliver punishment and to escape from vengeance. Then, finally: Jorge Gurgel looks desperate in the final moments of the third round, as the moments in question do greet the octagon via a ground position. Cole manages to soak a submission attempt in, which proves to be quite effective and claims a tapout of Gurgel.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs Justin McCully

The last time we have seen Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga in, he was punched until stoppage by Fabricio Verdum in UFC 80 Rapid Fire. You surely do know that Justin McCully himself is a decent puncher at the least, everyone who has a decision win over heavyweight warrior Anthony Hardonk: is. And McCully has such a win to his record. All this seems to be of little concern for The Napao, though. Gonzaga unleashes quite vicious leg kicks to start the match off, one of those does land at the most fruity time possible, when McCully has his own leg in attack position. Gonzaga goes for the stationary leg though, blasting it off from underneath the massive competitor. McCully - surprisingly enough - collapses, Gonzaga is all over him, and, following a brief, mildly successful period of ground and pound assaults to soften McCully up, finds a way to get Justin into a Kimura submission hold. Needless to say, The Big Nose looked truly good and very efficient, let us hope to see him against top level resistance soon, some circumstance he has yet to prove himself under.

Melvin Guillard vs Dennis Siver

How about a first (almost half) minute knock out? Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard connects with a double right and consecutive, vicious air to ground missiles, wrapping this confrontation up in the 36th second of the first round. An intense, vulgar display of skills that reigned superior today over those of Siver's.

Corey Hill vs Justion Buccholz

You got to love matches in which the fighter behind manages to come back to sweep a truly impressive victory in. This night delivers you such a phenomena. Corey Hill plays a rather sane and rigorous game here, utilizing his very long limbs to keep Buccholz outside the danger zone. This method and related pace are fruity enough to give the textbook round-win for Hill in the first segment, yet Buccholz comes back even more fervent in the second period and manages to engage Corey in situations that do pose danger to the tall warrior. Hill defends himself from assaults either by going for the clinch or by a takedown - such an invitation to the ground turns out sour for him, though: he offers an incautious moment on the ground for Buccholz who hastily capitalizes: a rear naked choke as clean as you ever saw soaks in, thus there are no options left to Hill save to tap. A huge, impressive comeback victory.

Quinton Jackson vs Forrest Griffin

Many claimed Forrest will have no chance whatsoever against Jackson, not as far as fighting against him - they claimed he will no chance to offer resistance, at all. Rampage comes out rampant, sober with his dynamic, fluent, elusive body movement. Great combinations fly through the octagon, connecting on the defensive lines Forrest wisely withdraws behind, even better: the contender demonstrates admirable sobriety by moving away from the flurries Jackson unleashes. Forrest starts to work on Quinton's left leg early in the game: a series of constant maneuvers that surely do claim a toll on the Werewolf's stance in a short while. The most notable occurrence the first round delivers is an uppercut from Jackson that does buckle Forrest and gives opportunity for Quinton to muscle himself with Griffin underneath him to the fence. Let us watch this closely, as the ground game keeps surprises for us.

In the second round, those low kicks from Forrest finally ask for a steep price from Jackson: the Champion's left leg demands some peaceful period without any molestation whatsoever, that includes: standing on it. Forrest capitalizes on this condition by taking the Werewolf to the ground, a territory that Quinton turns out to be utterly harmless on as far as attack capabilities go, yet he puts up a defensive game of acceptable qualities. Indeed, Quinton is not particularly used to ground based warfare, he now gets pretty much dominated by Forrest. Griffin delivers some ground and pound, though these are not attacks of stopping power, they are more than suitable to leave a semi-withered Jackson behind when the round concludes, nevertheless.

The third, forth and even the final round all do render a back-and forth kickbox match, a period in which neither fighter manages to land assaults of stopping power, though many of the shots surely would take care of most fighters, those with less punishment resistance. The final seconds do greet two standing warriors though, with an unanimous decision going for Forrest Griffin. Wow, and then again: wow! The outcome was/is subject to much debate already, I personally think that in an ideal world, this match would have been: a draw! I do indeed think that neither warrior should have gone away with the W. More precisely:

Neither should be announced a LOSER of the bout.

If I imagine Jackson would have won - then I would say that Forrest performed way too significantly against him to consider HIM a loser of this match. And I feel similar when I inspect the actual outcome: I think Jackson performed way too significantly to take the belt away from him. Extremely talented UFC warrior Lyoto "Dragon" Machida voices a quite sane opinion in THIS interview. As you can see, he states that the UFC simply prefers Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell with the belt, so, now that Jackson lost it, a match between Forrest and Chuck could, and probably will be arranged. Though the hypothesis sounds sober enough, we should never forget that Forrest managed to wage war for five rounds of intense combat against a bloodthirsty Werewolf, though, as I expressed before, I do not think that either of them have won this bout convincingly. Preventing Quinton from winning convincingly though is an accomplishment on it's own, let alone putting up a fight against him that makes you wonder if either of them have performed superior, though. Either way - there is no place anymore to call Forrest a fluke.

But, in an attempt to solidify my assumption further: you should beat the Champion like: baaad to emerge as New Champion. OK, at least: convincingly. This though, Forrest DID NOT DO, and he agrees with this view. When asked if he had doubts that he have won, he expressed that he absolutely had. He had no idea of what exactly went on, as it is utterly different being IN a fight and being a spectator. Quinton was pure class after the bout, he admitted that he had his ass whooped, - though he did not, either of them had - but let me tell you this: losing does not suite for the Werewolf. I still do think that he should not been announced a loser. And either Forrest should have been announced one. A DRAW, that should have been, did I mention?

Tyson Griffin vs Marcus Aurelio

This match was strange, in my opinion. It was like Marcus Aurelio came here to be the training partner of Tyson. Thus: he is allowed to defend himself, but offering resistance is a general no-no, as that would confuse the dictated and intended pace the trained warrior is subjected to. Griffin is effective enough in the starting period, even gets ruthlessly efficient via the ensuing air to ground assaults. In general, you could say that Griffin demonstrates his skill set on an opponent who seemingly came here to defend himself, not to rip someone in two. I think it has a lot to do with the respect Aurelio shows for Griffin's punching power and intensity, yet, the Brazilian fails to deliver a resistance factor you or Tyson could count with. An interesting match nevertheless, as Marcus defends himself sanely and quite effectively during the bout, yet the complete absence of the aspiration to be aggressor as opposed to be hunted all the time certainly points out that he needs to work on his attack strategies.

Josh Koscheck vs Chris Lytle

I suppose a blood feast is among the secretive little surprises you are longing for when a UFC event progresses by, and denying this would be worse than accepting it naturally. Now, to be slightly more serious, let us recognize this: as long as you can be sure that no one will be harmed permanently, then blood is not just acceptable, but part of the show. Referee Yves Lavigne surely must share this, or at least a highly similar point of view, as the conditions he nods his head upon here are: gross. Even grooooss. Probably the most bloody mma bout I have seen to date, and I must say I have no intention to see it get more bloodier than this, simply because of considerations for safety of the warriors. I can imagine one exception though that could and should produce more blood than this particular match did: if blood would pour from both participants. I realize I might sound like a bloodthirsty maniac, - but I am truly not, harharh! - yet I think such circumstance would be an acceptable one. Please comment and assure me that I need help.

As for the match itself, Koscheck demonstrates an ever-solidifying skill set, an array of tools ready to be tested by Chris Lytle who is an obstacle everyone must face if prefer to move higher up on the UFC rankings, yet, more fall back then do succeed when facing this solid, well versed veteran. Koscheck himself is a veteran too, though: they render a rather balanced stand up collision with Koscheck's fervent willingness to take this war to the ground. Josh goes for the takedown right away in the second period, shortly after this, he opens up a cut on Lytle that bleeds quite heavily and pretty much tells the story of this match more profoundly and precisely than anything else could.

This particular story mainly concerns Koscheck's relentless ground and pound assaults at the fence. Lytle, being a hardened veteran, delivers a defensive game on his back of considerable efficiency, yet the blood loss claims a toll on his overall composure, thus resistance offered by him is highly limited due both to the dire situation and the wound. Referee Yves Lavigne deserves credit in the long run for letting this fight go to a well deserved decision to Koscheck. Notice Lavigne's instruction to stand the fighters up when punishment is absent: this is a very sober and - I dare say this - graceful decision from him, saving Lytle from an even more serious injury, yet letting the confrontation to wrap itself up with a conclusion that knows no controversy whatsoever. Credit for all three participants in the octagon for a soberly supervised, and - sorry about that - properly executed blood bath.

Joe Stevenson vs Gleison Tibau

Brief exchange of mild efficiency starts this one off, then a rather funky shoulder lock attempt gets utilized at the clinch by Tibau. The grip is tight enough to worth stick for, yet the angle is far from ideal. A rather interesting sequence ensues which is reminiscent to a stalemate, in which neither fighter is able to develop their respective positions. The bell puts an end to this relatively passive, yet interesting struggle. Though Stevenson lost against BJ Penn in UFC 80 Rapid Fire, his guillotine choke remains bad news in case you find yourself caught up in it. Gleison Tibau is now a brand new, fresh assurer of the latter statement, as he gets into Joe's tight grip in the second round, forced to tap out.

Patrick Cote vs Ricardo Almeida

Hitter vs Grappler. Almeida shows an increased willingness to stand up, even better: his skills show steep development in this aspect, especially if you have the chance to watch them ensue against such a dangerous stand up fighter as Cote is. The Black Belt Jiu-Jitsu practitioner exhibits a game which is, though highly sober and technical, mainly concerns a defensive approach that plans to offer stopping power via countering. This is not easily done against Cote, though. Almeida maintains a rigorous, safe pace, even manages to go for some submission attempts, yet, at the end of the day, Ricardo's massively defensive countering game does come in short against Cote's superior aggression and relentless willingness to engage. Quite an even match at it's core, in which Cote performs more dangerously and convincingly though, no doubt.

A great night of memorable moments and one particular, yet immense semi-controversy. If there is such a thing at all as an immense semi-controversy, that is. From now on: there is. Hope you enjoyed the evening and found the review useful. Thank you for reading it, and see you next time.

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