UFC 101: Separating The Forrest From The...

It’s all too easy to look at Anderson Silva and cast the easy superlatives: best all around fighter in the UFC (best current win streak in the UFC [nine], tie for best win streak in UFC history, undefeated in UFC competition, I could go on). The Spider is no doubt an amazing fighter: he has knockout power with his hands, feet, knees and elbows, possesses an incredible submission repertoire, and shows the evidence of being able to beat any competitor at any time in any fight.

In his recent outings, he’s also showing an ability for restraint, bringing no more, or less, to the octagon than is absolutely necessary, with the same outcome as his other, more dominant middleweight performances. To this end, he’s being called inconsistent by some of his detractors. Those of you who question Silva’s game, I have to ask - have you considered, possibly, switching to new Crack Light? It’s got all the flavor of regular crack and half the crazy. Silva has four losses in a 28 fight professional career and none of those losses have been against UFC competition in the UFC octagon; he obviously sees no advantage in putting himself at risk of injury for going beyond the test required him by his competition. 

Which brings us to his next fight—a light heavyweight contest against former champ and Ultimate Fighter Forrest Griffin, which stands to be an interesting test for Anderson. And for the arachnophobic, If there’s a fighter in the UFC that Silva has to bring it for, it’s Griffin, who’s dangerous in his own right.

Though he has a less than perfect record in the UFC, he’s shown resiliency, going the distance with Tito Ortiz, Stephan Bonnar, Hector Ramirez and Rampage. Griffin missed going the distance with a pre-injured Mauricio Rua by 15 seconds—a fight shortened by his rear-naked choke submission of Shogun. He went half way through the third round with Rashad Evans in his unsuccessful title defense. Factor in the step-up in weight class with the potential for a marathon battle, and victory this fight will be, by no means, a given.

What it may be is a blood bath—just to consider his name conjures the image of a bloody-nosed Forrest Griffin, arm cocked and ready for action. He cuts early and bleeds profusely, which really excites more novice fans. Griffin can go the distance, but not if he tries to go blow-for-blow with Silva; he will be cut and he will bleed, and Silva will likely score an early round TKO. Can Griffin hand Silva his first UFC loss? Doubtful. 

Not to be overshadowed, UFC 101 features a title defense in the lightweight division. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black-belt and former Jiu-Jitsu world champ BJ Penn puts his championship belt on the line when he squares off against BJJ black-belt Kenny Florian in a much awaited bout that could have taken place at UFC 99. Penn has more professional fights (18), more wins (13) and more knockouts (5); Florian, with 14 total fights with 11 wins and seven submissions to his credit.

This is one of those fights that we can file under “the reason why we watch,” because, on paper, it is just that well balanced. You can’t point to any portion and call it a clear advantage for either fighter - a slugfest seems to favor Penn whereas a ground battle should go to Florian, but there’s no guarantee either way. Both have found their true homes in the light weight division and both have submission and escape ability.

Two of Florian’s losses came in decisions and his one TKO loss was early on in his career fighting at 185 lbs. against Diego Sanchez, and he’s riding a six win streak in the lightweight division. Penn is coming off of a doctor stopped TKO loss against Georges St. Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship, making him 0-2 lifetime against GSP, his first loss by decision. The Prodigy’s other losses came by TKO at the hands of a 170 lb. Matt Hughes, and a decision loss to a significantly larger Lyoto Machida in K-1 Hero’s 1. 

Now, while some of my Brawl-n-Maul posse think that it’s more cut-and-dry for BJ, I’m going to put it out there: Florian in the second - because in a longer fight, there is an advantage to Penn. The difference is all up to BJ: if he trains seriously, he can easily beat Fedor and Josh Barnett in the same night. Florian trains to win every match, but Penn should be able to neutralize Kenny’s biggest tools if he’s prepared.

Now, on to a section I like to call STATEMENTS of the OBVIOUS. Dana White and Zuffa win. You ask the layman in the street about MMA and they give you a blank look, but mention the UFC and their eyes light up—they saw it on Spike; they saw a poster at their local sports bar; they saw a UFC bout somewhere; they have seen the tee-shirts, hats, other marketing or promotional junk. The have marketing agreements with ESPN in Europe. They win. Ask Affliction. Cue Queen playing “Another one Bites the Dust.”

Sure, Strikeforce is nice, and they have a hand full of good fighters in their stable, but they just aren’t the tour de force in the marketing department. They, just like the UFC, don’t have the exclusive marketing agreement with M1 Global, so they don’t have Fedor Emelianenko, either. M1 Global has their golden fleece, and hell and high water will not move them to reasonable negotiations with White, so if Dana wants his prize, he’ll somehow have to slay the M1 cyclopes, who jealously protects their only property.

Ultimately, Fedor will wind up at UFC, where the real heavyweight competition is. Check for a pulse if you don’t think that the prospect of Fedor vs. Mir or Fedor vs. Lesnar sounds awesome. UFC has the fighters, the marketing, the name recognition, et al. Is there an upstart that can give Feydor real competition? Cro Cop, Nogueira, Coture? All UFC property. Up-and-comers like Gabriel Gonzaga and Cain Velazques call the UFC home.

And if Kimbo turns out to have real MMA chops, he’ll be there, too. Where else will Feydor get real competition? If it’s about real competition for Emelianenko, he will show up in the one and only Octagon. If it’s only a payday for M1 Global, he’ll float in the wind until a high bidder comes along. It might take a long time for that to happen, and will he still be the dominant heavyweight then?

Mike C.

Brawl and Maul correspondent