In what may go down in history as one of the greatest and closely contested UFC title fights in history, Forrest Griffin did what many said could not be done when he shirked his ‘Reality TV Star’ stigma and became the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion of the world. The fight went all five rounds and saw both fighters stay on their feet for the majority, with Quinton Jackson and Griffin both in trouble at various times during the fight.

Griffin employed an insightful game-plan, utilizing his reach and jab to avoid Rampage’s power early on in the fight. Whenever he strayed from this, Jackson made him pay with big shots, rocking him with a powerful uppercut (the same that put Marvin Eastman down in ‘Page’s UFC debut) in the opening round. Forrest showed his chin is not as easily shattered as the Kieth Jardine fight may have led us to believe and managed to recover from Quinton’s power quite well. In the end, it was Forrest’s Thai kicks, chopping the inside and outside of Rampage’s lead left leg, that garnered him the decision. Throughout the fight, Quinton was noticeably hurt and during the second round Griffin cracked him in the knee with such force that it changed the Champ’s usually agile footwork to a flat, stomping affair that kept him from ever getting inside to do real damage. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rampage had something torn or ripped somewhere abouts inside his knee, post-fight. Read More »