Intercative Tournament : Light-Heavyweights Semi-Finals

The first round of the light-heavyweight interactive tournament is over, and it's time to begin the semifinals.

First off, let's look at last week's results:

Rampage Jackson eliminated Thiago Silva with a unanimous 14-0.

Forrest Griffin defeated Shogun Rua with a 8-5 vote.

Wanderlei Silva defeated Keith Jardine with a 9-4 vote.

Rich Franklin was eliminated with a 9-5 vote against Lyoto Machida.

I'm not really surprised with the results, but I thought Franklin would get more love from the readers.

The next round is about to begin, and we have two interesting fights.

Semifinal Fight No. 1: Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin

Okay, I'm sorry—another rematch, but it's not my fault.

Still this rematch is very interesting, because a lot of fans thought Rampage should have won.

Let's face it—Jackson was the favorite to come out the winner of the UFC 86 fight, but Forrest Griffin had something else in mind. He outlasted Quinton and won by unanimous decision to win the light-heavyweight title. 

The first fight was very close—I mean, very close. Some fans even argued that Jackson won the fight.

What would happen in a rematch? It's hard to say.

Rampage is coming off a huge victory over Wanderlei, and Forrest is coming off a huge loss against Evans—something that could possibly weight a lot in this rematch.

Both guys have good stand-up, both guys have decent BJJ—but both men also have a lot of heart.

This rematch depends on a lot of things. Forrest won the first time, so why wouldn't he win again?

Semifinal Fight No. 2: Wanderlei Silva vs. Lyoto Machida

Interesting fight, if you ask me. Machida may be the favorite to win, but Wanderlei brings interesting challenges to this fight.

Machida has been known for staying out of harm's way against very talented fighters and countering with great force. With that said, it's hard to avoid a missile aiming straight for your head, and that's what Wanderlei is.

I have a really hard time seeing Lyoto KO Wanderlei Silva, because Lyoto doesn't land very powerful shots to KO a guy with a single blow. Lyoto can possibly win by submission or decision if he doesn't get KO first.

Still Machida is undefeated, and executes his gameplans perfectly. It probably wouldn't be very different against Wanderlei.

Okay, the semifinal fights are set, and the finals are coming up next week.

Please vote—I didn't get as many votes last time, so please cast them. It really takes just one minute.