Underdog Griffin proves dreams can come true
Friday, 11 Jul 2008 11:37
Forrest Griffin overturned Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson in the headline bout
Forrest Griffin, everyone's favourite underdog in UFC, produced arguably the most heroic performance of his life when he unanimously out-pointed Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson and emerged from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas as the new UFC light heavyweight champion on Saturday night.
Many UFC fans, although hoping that the victor of the first Ultimate Fighter series could cause an upset, must have honestly thought that the power and strength of Jackson would have been even too much for a man who has won a UFC contest in the past with a broken arm.
But despite walking to the octagon at UFC 86 with the appearance and attitude that would have made the fiercest lion quake in its boots, Jackson was easily tamed by the end of the second round and left to admit defeat in the post-bout interviews.
Grifin remained dignified in his speech and classily stated: "I want to thank Quinton Jackson. It was close, and I think we're gonna have to do it again."
Griffin emerged first to the packed arena to a standing ovation and appeared confident even when the lights went out for the arrival of the champion.
The suspense lifted and once the familiar sound of the barking dogs silenced the arena, the champ appeared, stern-faced, vicious-looking with a massive chain hanging from his neck - an appearance that never wavered throughout the introductions.
Prior to the fight Jackson had claimed that there would be more fireworks on July 5th than there was on American Independence Day the previous night.
And his statement looked to have proved spot on in the first five-minute round, when he landed a series of violent uppercuts and straight right-hands that left the challenger reeling, one of which sent him crashing to the mat.
If Griffin thought rampage was just a nickname he would have known where it originated from, as he was forced to cover up and defend until the bell.
And after grittily hanging on, the former police officer made his own mark early in the second round.
He had had some minor success in the first with a host of leg-kicks to the outside of Jackson's knee and after continuing this assault in the second, the champ's leg appeared to buckle and he was certainly in some serious discomfort.
With Jackson relying heavily on his punching and ability to toss people around the ring at will, this part of his armoury was now going to have a little less effect and Griffin scented his opportunity.
He dominated the rest of the round, locking on a tight guillotine choke before mounting Jackson on the canvas and landing some handy assault of his own – however, how much of it actually hurt Jackson is difficult to prove.
One thing that was definitely hurting Jackson was his knee and despite some heavy treatment between rounds, Rampage looked no more stable in the third.
Griffin used a smart strategy and an intelligent game plan to catch the judges' eyes in the third, mixing it up with a selection of low and high kicks while using his reach advantage to work smartly behind his jab.
The continuous jockeying for position seemed to loosen Jackson's leg slightly more in the fourth and the champ roared back into contention with a barrage of fine attacks.
First, he escaped from a triangle choke by dumping Griffin unceremoniously on his head before landing an array of bone-crunching punches. That said, although he caused a cut above Griffins eye, the knockout punch continued to evade him.
The judges' scorecards would have been tight going into the final round but Rampage seemed spent and only really warmed to the task of trying to overhaul a points deficit in the final minute when it was too late.
Although Griffin was unsure if he had done enough, virtually in tears while he waited for Bruce Buffer to announce the scores, the crowd sensed a new champion.
And they were proved right, with Griffin winning on all three cards - one 49-46 and the other two 48-46.
For all the viciousness of his demeanour and the impression he gives off as a gang hard man, Rampage was brutally honest and gracious in defeat.
He said of his injury: "He [Griffin] jacked my leg up, I tried to pretend but I ain't that good at acting. He knew he hurt my leg."
But he claimed that wasn't the deciding factor, stating: "Forrest just whooped my ****.
"Whenever you step into the octagon there's a 50-50 chance that you're gonna get your **** whooped."
Next in line for Griffin could be a clash with technical competitor Lyoto 'The Dragon' Machita, although some may see him as unworthy and unproven to warrant a title shot, despite beating the likes of Tito Ortiz during his current 13-bout unbeaten record.
If the challenge was to come from elsewhere, with no obvious number one contender, the winner of the upcoming clash between Chuck 'The Iceman' Liddell and another unbeaten athlete in 'Sugar' Rashad Evans could be thrown into the title picture.
Craig Kemp