Fight Night (Jackson vs. Griffin)

With tomorrow's big UFC fight between Quentin "Rampage" Jackson and Forrest Griffin, I figured we would talk a little MMA today. This fight has the potential to be monstrous for the UFC. Griffin is a huge fan favorite due to the wildly popular first season of the "The Ultimate Fighter", while Jackson has gained popularity for his work in Pride and for his quick rise to champion of the UFC Light Heavyweight division.
If you're a border line fan of MMA and have that "I could take it or leave it" mentality, do yourself a favor and watch some interviews with Jackson. I defy you to not be reminded of Ali back in the day. When you're done watching the interviews, take a look at his fights. In particular his fight against Ricardo Arona, where Jackson was locked in a triangle choke. Normally, when you find yourself in a choke, it's over. Instead Jackson picked Arona up off the mat, lifted him over his head, and slammed him to the ground rendering Arona unconscious, ALL WHILE BEING CHOKED OUT! The second must-see fight is the Chuck Liddell rematch. Up until that match, Liddell had a strangle hold on the Light Heavyweight division, beating UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture twice, as well as two solid wins over Tito Ortiz. Jackson came into the Liddell fight and knocked Chuck stupid about halfway through the first round to secure a knockout.
Griffin has a tough task ahead of him. He has notable wins over Stephan Bonner, Jeff Monson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Not to mention a hard fought split decision against Tito Ortiz. But he certainly hasn't fought the talent that Jackson has. The one thing going for Griffin is that he can take a beating. Back in 2003 Griffin broke his left forearm in the first round of a fight against Edson Paredao, and was still able to knock him out with the other arm. The best part about that story is that he never got it fixed. He felt the recovery process would have taken too long, and may have stunted the growth of his MMA career.
I think we're in for an amazing fight. Jackson hasn't lost since 2005 when he was defeated by Mauricio Rua, the same man Forrest Griffin submitted with a rear naked choke last September. That win for Griffin set the table for this title shot with Jackson and a win would definitely solidify Forrest's career. With that being said, I'm taking Griffin in this fight. I don't think he'll knock him out, Griffin doesn't have that kind of power. But once he gets past the third round, the fight is his. Nobody in that light heavyweight division has the conditioning that Griffin has. Ultimately, I think that will win the fight for him.