UFC 86 Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin Predictions
June 23, 2008
On Saturday July 5th, the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada will be the host of UFC 86. While the fight falls on one of America’s most celebrated holiday weekends, there is plenty of reason to find the time to watch this fight. We are here today to take a closer look at the main event that puts Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson against one of the top contenders the UFC has to offer in Forrest Griffin. For those that keep up with the UFC then you know this feud has been building for months now, as these two fighters were the coaches on the most recent Ultimate Fighter show. There were plenty of times that these two guys shared some words, and now its time for them to show their team exactly what it takes to be one of the best in the UFC. With that said Jason Lowry is ready to take a closer look at the fight, and make his Jackson vs. Griffin predictions.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson -260 at Bodoglife.com
If you like a guy that simply is out to hurt someone than Jackson is definitely a fighter you will like. Jackson has impressive power as he showed when he landed a fast right hook against Chuck Liddell at UFC 71 for the Light Heavyweight belt. Jackson is a perfect 3-0 since entering the UFC with his last win coming against Dan Henderson at UFC 75, in a 5 round battle that ended in a unanimous decision for Jackson. Jackson started his MMA career in Japan’s PRIDE organization, where his last loss came against Mauricio Rua at PRIDE Total Elimination 2005. While Jackson’s main strengths are his power, the way he uses that power to slam opponents to the mat. If you want to see a good example of this check out his PRIDE fight against Ricardo Arona. Some people might not know this, but Jackson does have pretty good wrestling skills, that could be put to the test against Griffin.
Forrest Griffin +200 at Bodoglife.com
Griffin was the winner of the first ever Ultimate Fighter show, and has put together a 15-4 MMA record over his fighting career. Since joining the UFC after his win against Stephan Bonnar in the Finale of the Ultimate Fighter. After winning his first 2 fights after the event, Griffin suffered a tough split decision loss to Tito Ortiz at UFC 59. Griffin then beat up on Bonnar once again, but his next fight didn’t go so well as he got knocked out by Keith Jardine at UFC 62. Griffin has since responded in a big way as he used his all around ability and great grappling skills to beat Mauricio Rua, by choke submission. So having beat the last man to beat Jackson, it has to give Griffin the feeling that he can win this fight and become the new light heavyweight champion.
Prediction: Quinton Jackson -260
We really feel like this could end up being one of the best fights the UFC has seen in years. While we give the edge to Rampage when both fighters are standing, Griffin gets the edge on the ground. There is no doubt the Rampage has more power than Griffin, but Griffin has been known to take his share of punishment and keep on fighting before. We think that this fight will be a crowd pleaser and go at least 3 rounds with Rampage winning the fight by knock out before the final bell rings in round 5.
If you are looking for a great place to get some action on the fight, head over to Bodoglife.com and get an account set up now. Also be sure to check back often as Jason Lowry will continue to preview some of the best fights and MMA events all year long. As always feel free to leave any comments in our comment box.