Anderson Silva (not Thiago) vs Forrest Griffin booked for UFC 101

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by rearnakedchoke

anyone counting forrest out is nuts ... sure silva may win, but forrest can avoid big shots (he avoided most of rampages) and can take down and control silva ...

That is an interesting point you have raised. Something that I eluded to during the discussion about Anderson Silva's last performance. If you look at the strike count from the Forrest vs Rampage fight and compare it to Silva vs Leites fight, you see an interesting similarity between Jackson and Silva. Both were 5 round championship fights, and both fights went to a judges decision.

Anderson Silva landed 83 of 179 strikes against Thales Leites.

Quinton Jackson landed 84 of 173 strikes against Forrest Griffin.

So why didn't people get all up in arms and call Rampage a boring fighter? What is any different about Rampage fighting not to lose instead of going for broke and trying to land big KO while Forrest was basically leg-kicking his way to a championship?

I will answer my own questions.

1. Forrest actually made the fight exciting against Rampage unlike Thales Leites who just dropped to his butt every 15 seconds because he had no answer for what was Anderson Silva was doing to him.

2. Nobody really cared to be so critical because Rampage and Forrest are superstars that have die-hard fans no matter what. It's no secret that non-English speaking fighters are just not as popular in America, so Silva is an easy target, even when his translator says something people just assume he is lying.

I realize that these were two totally different fights, but I just found it strange that the strike totals for the two champions were so close considering they both went the distance. What I think it proves is that there is no giant conspiracy in all of this. Anderson Silva is not intentionally putting on boring fights, it's just the way it goes sometimes. Sometimes we see crazy stuff, and not every fight works out the way we think. MMA is a complex sport with a lot of aspects to it, and there is almost an aspect of luck involved.

One thing is for sure, Forrest loves to fight, almost recklessly at times, but he does love it. He will definitely make Silva bring it all out and this will be a great fight for everyone, especially the fans.

There is no striker in the UFC at Silva's level(this is why it's hard to compare him to others). He has done things that put him on a much different level then anyone else.

I am a huge forrest fan, but he is not half the striker silva is on his best day. Maybe wrestling and GNP will garner him some success in this fight, but other then that he will be outclassed.

Forrest will never give up though, and I will be surprised if he can even blemish Silva. The only person quick enough for Silva is Machida that will be able to exchange with him.

Originally Posted by JB Rattlesnake

Now, that is an interesting point you have raised. Something, that I eluded to during the discussion about Anderson Silva's last performance. If you look at the strike count from the Forrest vs Rampage fight and compare it to Silva vs Leites fight, you see an interesting similarity between Jackson and Silva. Both were 5 round championship fights, and both fights went to a judges decision.

Anderson Silva landed 83 of 179 strikes against Thales Leites.

Quinton Jackson landed 84 of 173 strikes against Forrest Griffin.

So why didn't people get all up in arms and call Rampage a boring fighter? What is any different about Rampage fighting not to lose instead of going for broke and trying to land big KO while Forrest was basically leg-kicking his way to a championship?

I will answer my own questions.

1. Forrest actually made the fight exciting against Rampage unlike Thales Leites who just dropped to his butt every 15 seconds because he had no answer for what was Anderson Silva was doing to him.

2. Nobody really cared to be so critical because Rampage and Forrest are superstars that have die-hard fans no matter what. It's no secret that non-English speaking fighters are just not as popular in America, so Silva is an easy target, even when his translator says something people just assume he is lying.

I realize that these were two totally different fights, but I just found it strange that the strike totals for the two champions were so close considering they both went the distance. What I think it proves is that there is no giant conspiracy in all of this. Anderson Silva is not intentionally putting on boring fights, it's just the way it goes sometimes. Sometimes we see crazy stuff, and not every fight works out the way we think. MMA is a complex sport with a lot of aspects to it, and there is almost an aspect of luck involved.

One thing is for sure, Forrest loves to fight, almost recklessly at times, but he does love it. He will definitely make Silva bring it all out and this will be a great fight for everyone, especially the fans.

what the heck is everyone so pissed about? this is gonna be an awesome fight!

I can almost see this as a AS v. Rich Franklin type fight imo. Forrest will bring it in a smart way he just wont go in there swinging. I'll be rooting for Forrest in this one and hopefully he will avoid that Muy Thai clinch of AS.

I dont get this at all!!!

Why not just put him in against the winner of Rashad Machida??? If Bj can get a title shot in another devision and not have to fight other guys first on only 2 title fights at light weight why not let anderson have a go at the belt instead of having him mess around?

I thought we were getting GSP/Silva if GreaSy P beats Alves?

They cannot honestly be thinking Silva could go up to 205 then down to a catchweight without being affected by it.

Originally Posted by Buc Nasty

I thought we were getting GSP/Silva if GreaSy P beats Alves?

They cannot honestly be thinking Silva could go up to 205 then down to a catchweight without being affected by it.

He would be fine. He walks around at like 215 so he will only cut about 10 pounds for Forrest and if he fights GSP at a catch weight of like 190 he is cutting 5 pounds less then what he normally does.

JB: The difference in those fights was that Rampage actually had to defend against shots from Forrest. Between throwing punches he wasn't just standing around like Anderson was.

THAT is why Anderson's fight was boring and Rampage/Forrest was not.

[VCURamFan]

Originally Posted by Crisco

He would be fine. He walks around at like 215 so he will only cut about 10 pounds for Forrest and if he fights GSP at a catch weight of like 190 he is cutting 5 pounds less then what he normally does.

Ummmm, why would their catchweight be higher than the class that either of them fights at? I would have assumed 175-180 for their match.

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by County Mike

JB: The difference in those fights was that Rampage actually had to defend against shots from Forrest. Between throwing punches he wasn't just standing around like Anderson was.

THAT is why Anderson's fight was boring and Rampage/Forrest was not.

Yeah, I realize that, and I never said Silva's fight was exciting or that Jackson's fight was boring, but let's be honest. Most of the time the only shots Rampage had to defend against was leg-kicks. I even remember thinking to myself at the time, why is he just letting Forrest kick him in the leg over and over, why doesn't he let himself go? I don't think there is much argument that Griffin leg-kicked his way to victory in that fight. Silva may have been standing there a lot in the Leites fight, but that was also because when he did engage, his opponent would fall to the ground.

My point was not so much to say that that Rampage was boring or Silva was not boring. More to point out that this idea of some giant conspiracy with Silva intentionally fighting a boring fight is a bit ridiculous. Sometimes your strategy does not go the way you planned it and we see what happened with both of these fights. Yes, they were different fights, but the strike count is where the similarities stand out.

Both champions had to change their strategies on the fly to deal with what was being put in front of them. Both champions fought not to lose. The only difference is one did lose, and the other did not.