UFC 101 War Report: Anderson Silva Will Beat Forrest Griffin

At UFC 101 in Philadelphia, the UFC will present one of its biggest fights in history, as current UFC middleweight champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva battles former UFC light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

This fight will mark the return of Griffin, after losing his title at UFC 92 and Anderson Silva's second fight at 205.

After Silva's last two fights, a lot of people have been saying that he has lost the killer instinct that made him the best fighter in the world. UFC president Dana White found the solution to that, and put Silva in a fight against one of the most entertaining fighters in MMA, Forrest Griffin.

Ever since the fight was announced, fans have been speculating just what could happen. Would Forrest give Silva his first UFC loss? Or would Silva dispose of yet another top fighter in the organization?

What follows is a simple break-down of the upcoming fight between both men, comparing the different aspects of the fight at UFC 101.

The Stand-up

Anderson "The Spider" Silva has been known as the most deadly striker in MMA, his pin-point accuracy has been the reason for most of his wins. Forrest Griffin is also no joke on his feet, he has shown good hands throughout his UFC career, giving a lot of problems to good fighters like Tito Ortiz, Shogun Rua, and Quinton Jackson.

The problem here is the fact that Griffin does not have the KO power of Anderson Silva. Quinton Jackson said after his fight with Forrest that "He hits like a girl, my momma could hit harder then him." Even Forrest says he does not have a lot of power behind his hands. So a one hit KO against Silva would probably be out of the question.

Silva has displayed good Muay-Thai skills and has some KO power in everything he throws. He fought a very dangerous striker in James Irvin and layed him out in a single punch.

The fact that Forrest is an aggressive fighter fits in perfectly with Anderson's style of being a counter-puncher. Silva has always been very patient to see what his opponent does before attacking, and Forrest is that type of guy. The reach between both men is pretty identical so that should not cause any more problems for Anderson Silva.

Advantage: Anderson Silva

The Ground

Both men have really underrated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills. Forrest Griffin is a brown belt in BJJ, but he has never lost by submission and holds seven wins via submission, including one against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Because of his heart and his will to make every fight a stand-up fight, people tend to underestimate Forrest on the ground.

Anderson Silva is also very underrated as far as BJJ goes. When listing who the best BJJ fighters in the middleweight division are, people will name Thales Leites, Demian Maia and Ricardo Almeida, but Silva has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the Nogueira brothers. Although two of his four losses came by submission, Anderson has not been submitted since 2004, and since then has submitted Travis Lutter and Dan Henderson, to name just a few.

With that said, it's pretty hard to say who is the better BJJ fighter, and I doubt either fighter submits the other. I really do believe both men will be looking to strike.

Advantage: Draw

The Intangibles

Forrest Griffin has a lot of heart, but heart alone won't get you the win. It will be interesting to see if Forrest can pick apart Silva with leg kicks like he did with Jackson, though I personally doubt it. Anderson Silva has been criticized for his last two fights, but against Forrest, he does not have the pressure of defending the title or trying to break a UFC record.

Silva even said in a recent interview that he intended on having a little fun in his fight against Forrest. The fact of the matter is, Silva doesn't seem to care if he losses or wins at UFC 101, so expect Silva to be more aggressive than his last fights.

In a recent interview, Forrest said that he considered Anderson Silva to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and that even if he wins, Anderson will still be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. There just doesn't seem to be any pressure on Silva's shoulders heading into this fight.

Advantage: Anderson Silva

Resume

There is no doubt that the fight should be entertaining, it's one of the biggest fights in UFC history, and I think Forrest Griffin will bring out the best of the middleweight champion. I really don't see Griffin winning this fight any other way than by decision, and I think he'll be staring at the roof before the end of the three rounds.

I predict that we will be seeing the best Anderson Silva since his win over James Irvin, and I honestly don't think a loss would affect either fighter, so just sit back and enjoy the fight.

Prediction: Anderson Silva by TKO in the second round

For the part where Forrest beats Anderson, please check out Nate Lawson's article:http://bleacherreport.com/articles/231623-ufc-101-war-report-forrest-griffin-will-defeat-anderson-silva?just_published=1