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UFC 86 Jackson vs. Griffin Betting Lines and Fighting Odds
UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin
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Quinton Jackson (-245) vs. Forrest Griffin (+195)by
Stan Leung |
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UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin UFC Light heavyweight title fight: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin This year’s version of the Ultimate Fighter reality series was a pretty much a snooze fest as both coaches were like two class clowns in a school yard. TUF 7 only showed that Quinton Rampage Jackson (23 -6) should never coach mixed martial arts fighters and that whoever trains Forrest Griffin looks like a 12 year old. Before you go on about the fighters past, you should be aware to throw all that past fight records out the window, as it will only confuse your decision making process. If you looked at their past MMA fights you will just go around in circles and get confused. The UFC light heavyweight picture is so confusing. You can not gauge this fight with the UFC light heavyweight division. First, Griffin beat Shogun but Shogun knocked out Rampage twice. Wanderlei Silva also beat Rampage but lost to Chuck Liddell. The Iceman lost to Rampage. From there it gets interesting; Chuck Liddell lost to Keith Jardine The UFC light heavyweight picture is so confusing that looking at past fight records and their connection will only make your mind go crazy. So to determine this fight you have to look at the here and now. I really think Forrest will be very close to beating Rampage in this fight. But close only count sin horse shoes and hand grenades.
One thing we can say is that Rampage has a wrestling background with All-State honors. So it will be hard for Forrest to take down Quinton because he will have a great sprawl. Wrestling in this fight should off set each other.
It's Forrest’s aggressive nature and heart of a lion that have gotten him to this point. Griffin has never backed down from a challenge, facing the likes of Tito Ortiz, Stephan Bonnar, Elvis Sinosic, Keith Jardine, and Hector Ramirez. But this aggressive fighting style will not work against Rampage. Now Quinton is in the top ten pound for pound in most people’s list but there are things that scare me about this fight. First if you have seen the TUF reality series Quinton has gotten big and fat. His head must have doubled in size. Jackson has never been a person that has trained hard in the gym. He even admits he hates training and takes days off at times. Quinton needs to have a good camp to go all five rounds as Forrest will not back down and keep on coming in. One thing I do not like is that he has not fought since September 2007 and this long lay off might mean he will be rusty at the start of the fight. This long lay off was due to the TUF reality series and in that time he has gotten bigger and his work ethic and training might have suffered. If Jackson is not in shape after a while he will get tired and be susceptible for take downs. One thing people do not know about Forrest Griffin is that he is a very big light heavyweight. At 6 foot 3 he walks around at 230 pounds. He usually cuts weight close to 20 pounds to make 205 and most online sportsbooks are not giving him a chance versus Rampage. Griffin's submission techniques are something Jackson will definitely have to look out for. But it will be hard for Forrest to take Rampage down since if he shoots in he will be risking getting hit. Bottom Line: A prepared Jackson will beat Forrest Griffin. If Forrest is able to use his size advantage and take Quinton down this will be his fight it will be a long fight. The one thing that will intimidate Forrest in shoot attempts is Quinton’s striking and his effective sprawl attempts. Forrest Griffin is the top 205-pound contender with a 15-4 professional mark and he wants nothing more to go from The Ultimate Fighter champion to UFC Light Heavyweight champion. Griffin is a fighter who can win a number of ways but he will be facing a very powerful Jackson. As a UFC bettor I am laying money on Jackson as his striking prowess is just too good. Juanito Ibarra will have Jackson prepared for this fight and he will have a great striking game plan for Forrest that will throw him off. Quinton Jackson wins this fight with a hard fought third round TKOBet on the UFC at Bookmaker.com - Where The UFC Line Originates |
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Wrestling: Dan Henderson had trouble taking Rampage down and Henderson is a world class wrestler. But again looking at past fights is hard to determine this fight since Henderson is a much smaller body than Griffin. 
Grappling: This fight will not be a grappling match since Rampage will have an effective sprawl and will keep this fight standing. Forrest is the better grappler with his size advantage but he does not have the skills to submit Rampage.
Striking: This is where Rampage has a huge advantage over Forrest despite his size disadvantage. Quinton will win this fight in the stand up and punish Forrest. One thing about Forest is that he is not a great stand up fighter. He likes to please the crowd by trading shots but he is not a heavy handed fighter. He did so with Stephan Bonner but if he does this in this fight Jackson will hurt and cut him badly. One thing about Forrest is that he cuts easily and if he gets bloody early in the fight this fight might be called off.
