Griffin was a guest this week on Inside MMA where he discussed the possibility of a rubber-match with Ortiz, admitting it was an enticing possibility but not necessarily one with enough momentum to actually materialize.

“The truth is we each consider the other an easy fight,” joked the former 205-pound champion. “For me that’s the perfect ‘get right’ fight. Coming off a bad loss, beat Tito Ortiz up no problem. For Tito he’s thinking, ‘Forrest ain’t that good. He’s good old prematurely. This is a great way to go out, with a win over Forrest.’ So it’s a beautiful match-up because we both think of the other as an easy fight.”

However, according to Griffin, it would take more than their interest for the UFC to book the bout, with him adding, “If enough people get on Twitter, it’ll happen.”

Griffin and Ortiz have fought twice before with each taking away a Split Decision victory. They last faced off in 2009 where Griffin got the nod. Ortiz has gone 1-3 since the fight while Griffin is 1-1 in the span.

Check out the full interview with Griffin below:

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

According to a list of medical suspensions provided to MixedMartialArtsNews by the UFC, who oversaw the event themselves due to a lack of standard athletic commission in Brazil, Griffin is suspended for 180 days due to foot and jaw injuries though can come back sooner with a doctor’s clearance.

Three other athletes share a similar fate to Griffin’s with Stanislov Nedkov (nasal fracture), Raphael Assuncao (nasal fracture), and Ian Loveland (chest) also being handed a mandated vacation for 180 days until getting a green-light from a physician.

Here is the complete list of casualties from UFC 134:

Yves Jabouin – Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days (precautionary reasons)
Ian Loveland – Suspended 180 days (possible chest injury), though can be cleared early by a physician; suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days (precautionary reasons)
Yuri Alcantara – Suspended seven days (precautionary reasons)
Felipe Arantes – Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days (precautionary reasons)
Erick Silva – Suspended seven days (precautionary reasons)
Luis Ramos – Suspended 40 days with no contact for 30 days (precautionary reasons)
Raphael Assuncao – Suspended 180 days (possible nasal fracture), though can be cleared early by a physician; suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days (precautionary reasons)
Dan Miller – Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days (precautionary reasons)
Rousimar Palhares – Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days (precautionary reasons)
Thiago Tavares – Suspended seven days (precautionary reasons)
Luiz Cane – Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days (precautionary reasons)
Stanislav Nedkov – Suspended 180 days (possible nasal fracture), though can be cleared early by a physician; suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days (precautionary reasons)
Brendan Schaub – Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days (precautionary reasons)
Ross Pearson – Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days (precautionary reasons)
Forrest Griffin – Suspended 180 days (possible right-foot and jaw injuries), though can be cleared early by a physician; suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days (precautionary reasons)
Yushin Okami – Suspended 45 days with no contact during training for 30 days (precautionary reasons)

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

In the rematch, it was “Shogun” who came up victorious, knocking out The Ultimate Fighter season 1 winner in just under two minutes.

Scheduled to go into labor nine days later, Griffin’s wife texted her husband after the bout that she was due to give birth at any moment.

UFC President Dana White, showing his support for his fighter and family, offered the former light heavyweight champion a ride back home in his private plane.

“He was just texting with her before he came in here, and she said she thinks she’s ready to go, so I’m leaving tonight and he’s flying home with me tonight,” White said.

Despite the distraction, Griffin made no excuses for his loss. “I had a decent camp going into this. It’s been nine weeks since the last time we were (in Brazil),” said Griffin at the post-fight press conference. “It’s just setting in. I think that’s a fight that I definitely could have done a lot better. It sucks when you do poorly at your job.

“I’m not really 100 percent sure (what happened). I had a lot of opportunities to go, and I didn’t go. The gameplan was to get off after he missed. He missed a couple of times big, and I just stood there and let him off the hook. It was partly that, and I didn’t really stay in a rhythm.”

However, White defended Griffin, saying, “Forrest is a warrior. He wears his heart on his sleeve. I have so much respect for him for coming and taking this fight in this situation. He knew he was going to be in this situation. He was just hoping, she was supposed to be nine days later.”

Even though he took the fight and made the trip to Brazil in his current situation, Griffin did remark that, “If I’d have known it was going to work out like this, I would not have taken the fight. We were supposed to have nine more days.”

“I want to thank him. I appreciate the fact he took this fight,” said White. “His wife is literally getting ready to deliver their baby in Las Vegas right now. So we’re going to try and get him home as fast as we can.”

White and Griffin are currently in route to Vegas, where Griffin’s wife is expected to deliver their baby girl at any moment.

*PHOTO CREDIT – UFC*

News of the match-up was reported by MMAFighting where UFC President Dana White confirmed the likelihood of the two former 205-pound champions meeting in late summer.

The original fight at UFC 76 marked Rua’s debut in the Octagon and a performance he would undoubtedly like to redeem himself for after lacking the speed, power, and overall fitness he’d been known for in the past. Shortly after the bout it was revealed Rua had suffered a knee injury while training and sacrificed part of his full regiment as a result.

The PRIDE icon will be looking to bounce back from the soundest defeat of his career when he fights in front of his countrymen in Rio de Janeiro, a two-and-a-half round drumming from current divisional champ Jon Jones.

Meanwhile, Griffin rode the momentum of his win over Rua into a shot against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson where he ultimately walked away with the UFC’s light heavyweight title but has only gone 2-2 since including TKO losses to Anderson Silva and Rashad Evans. However, he has emerged with his hands raised in his last two fights with decision wins over Tito Ortiz and most recently Rich Franklin.

UFC Rio is set for August 27 at the HSBC Arena and is expected to feature a number of notable Brazilians in action. Already announced for the show is a headlining title with 185-pound champion Anderson Silva defending his title against top contender Yushin Okami.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

As expected, Anderson Silva will put his middleweight belt up for grabs against former 205-pound champ Vitor Belfort in the evening’s headlining match-up on February 5 at UFC 126.

“This is a fight I’ve been looking forward to for a while,” Silva said of his upcoming defense against Belfort. “Vitor is a very talented striker and a tough competitor. I am training very hard and I know that the fight could go anywhere, but I expect a standup war. I also want to say that I’m very excited to be fighting in Las Vegas again. I have a lot of fans in Vegas and it’s been a while since I’ve fought there. The fans are always very loud in Las Vegas and I feed off that energy.”

“UFC fans expect big things from us every year for our Super Bowl weekend show, and this year could be our biggest ever,” an equally excited Dana White said. “Silva vs. Belfort is a fight fan’s dream match. It’s a fight people have wanted for years. Don’t blink because both of these guys have dynamite in their hands and can end the night quickly and in very exciting fashion.”

Also slated for action against each other are two of the UFC’s most-popular fighters, as well as former champions in their own right, Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin. Griffin has not fought since his split decision win over Tito Ortiz in November 2009 and will no doubt be anxious to engage with “Ace” once the cage door closes.

In addition to Griffin vs. Franklin, the UFC confirmed another pair of light heavyweights would be facing off at the event – Jon Jones and Ryan Bader. Bader is currently undefeated in thirteen professional appearances, while Jones’ only loss was the result of landing an ultimately meaningless illegal elbow in the process of pounding Matt Hamill out last December and being disqualified. Both are coming off impressive victories, albeit of a different variety. Bader out-pointed Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 119 in September, while Jones has back-to-back first round TKOs over Brandon Vera and Vladimir Matyushenko since the disappointing “DQ” defeat to Hamill.

Ariel Helwani Interviews Dana White in England After Oxford Address (MMAFighting.com)

Bobby Lashley Surprises Strikeforce Officials with Decision to Fight Outside Organization this December (MiddleEasy.com)

Frank Shamrock Cuts a Promo for EA Sports MMA on Why Retirement Sucks (Heavy.com)

Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin Rumor Heats Up (Versus.com)

Bellator Middleweight Hector Lombard Wants to Fight Josh Barnett for Personal Reasons (CagePotato.com)

MMA Agent Gives Readers a Look Behind the Scenes (WatchKalibRun.com)

Strikeforce Scott Coker Waxes Poetic on “Diaz vs. Noons II” and More (FIGHT! Magazine)

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson Gets Animated! (MMAScraps.com)

Jon Jones is Tired of Wrestlers and Explains Why (MMAConvert.com)

However, Griffin recently made it clear in a conversation with MMAFighting‘s Ariel Helwani he plans to avoid extending his absence from the ring much longer and should be back in the mix within the next 2-3 months.

“My goal right now is to win a fight before the end of the year,” Griffin explained. “The last fight they asked me who I wanted to fight, I said I don’t care who but I would really want to fight in Las Vegas and they gave me that and I backed out of that fight. So, I kind of feel like they gave me what I asked for and I backed out, so I’m kind of at their mercy.”

With UFC 122 and UFC 123 scheduled for November, it seems more likely the affable, original TUF champion won’t see action until either UFC 124 or possibly UFC 125 on January 1st 2011 in order to properly train for the bout.

UFC 124 is expected to occur at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and be headlined by Georges St. Pierre defending his welterweight strap against Josh Koscheck. Meanwhile, the promotion’s annual New Year’s line-up is always one of the company’s strongest, and Griffin’s popularity could make sense alongside rumored pairings on the card between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen, as well as Brandon Vera and Thiago Silva.

Griffin is 17-6 in his career with wins over some of the biggest names in MMA, including the afore-mentioned Ortiz, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and current 205-pound title-holder Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. He also holds victories over Jeff Monson, Chael Sonnen, and of course Stephan Bonnar in one of the most iconic, important bouts in the sport’s history.

According to UFC President Dana White in a report on Yahoo! Sports, Griffin recently agreed to the match-up on just six weeks notice.

UFC 106 is set for November 21 from Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring a main event for the heavyweight championship between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin.

Far from strangers, the pair previously locked horns during UFC 59 back in April of 2006. Ortiz wound up edging out Griffin that evening via split decision utilizing his trademark ground and pound during the course of the back and forth tussle to come out on top.

The bout will mark Tito’s first return to action since dropping a decision to current UFC 205 pound champion, Lyoto Machida, in May of 2008. Immediately prior to the loss to Machida at UFC 84, Ortiz fought to a draw with former UFC light heavyweight title holder Rashad Evans during UFC 73.

Griffin is also looking to get himself back in the winners circle following a blow out knockout defeat at the hands of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva after surrendering his 205 pound crown to Rashad Evans at UFC 92.

The former Light-Heavyweight Champion sat down for an interview this week with MMAFanhouse.com and discussed everything from his new marriage to why he ran from the cage after his loss to “The Spider”.

Initial interviews with Griffin after his UFC 101 loss, were candidly explained away with him saying he must have been on Quaaludes during the fight with Silva. However he offered a little more insight into what went wrong recently, explaining, “I don’t know. I’m going to guess everything. You know where I made my biggest mistake was saying I would fight that guy. That’s definitely the first mistake I made and the biggest.

“I’m not really sure I showed up to fight him. Maybe I thought he was so good that I didn’t have to fight him.”

Perhaps receiving the most criticism was his after fight antics, when Forrest didn’t wait for the official announcement of Silva’s win, and ran out of the arena. Forrest answered his critics the only way Forrest can, “That’s dumb. Those people are idiots. Why? Nobody cares. I mean, I don’t think the losers were going to speak that night anyway, you know. Just get on with the next fight already.

“This guy actually asked me a good question the other day, and this is a real story and I really like it: first off, he was very confrontational; I didn’t like him much to begin with, and he goes, ‘Hey, man, I have to know,’ because it’s his business to know, ‘why did you run out of the cage that night after the Silva fight?’ And I said, ‘Look, man, I haven’t told anybody, let’s keep this on the down low, but the truth is your mom was waiting for me in the back to suck my d***, and you know how good of a b*** j** your mom gives, so I didn’t want to be late for that sh**.’ And that’s pretty much the answer I give. I like that answer, so I’ll give that answer to everyone.”

When asked if the gentleman was a fan or member of the media, Forrest responded, “I don’t know. I bet he’s not a fan anymore, but I tell ya, I’m a fan of his mom’s b*** j***. That’s the important thing, and that’s what I want to come across in your story. If anybody asks me that question, that’s my answer.”

The newly married former champion, doesn’t have plans of returning to the Octagon anytime soon but ended his interview hinting at a possible January return, “You know, it’s hard for me to think about a fight when I’m on vacation or my honeymoon, so I was kind of hoping they would leave me alone until around Oct. 12. You know, when you are actually doing something about your next fight. You know, there’s that Jan. 2 card that looks kind of appealing to me.”

The bout started out simple enough, with both men sizing the other up, before Silva caught a Griffin low kick and threw the larger man to the canvas. It was all downhill from there for Forrest as he was dropped with a vicious left hook upon being allowed to his feet. Once back to his feet for the third and final time in the first round it became obvious that Silva was playing with the former UFC champ, much like a spider would it’s prey. Seconds later Anderson dropped his hands, a la Roy Jones Jr., and flattened Griffin for the last time with a short, powerful right hand to the chin.

An electrifying performance from an amazing fighter that further serves to ask the question, ‘Is Anderson just on a whole other level?”.

It was a performance that would make eight-time world champion boxer Roy Jones Jr. proud. Of course Jones was in attendance at UFC 101,  and it would be no stretch of the imagination to assume that the boxer’s pesence served to motivate Silva to razzle and dazzle the crowd like he once had before.

It appears as though we may have “The Spider” that we have grown to love back in his old form once again.

But tonight was worth watching. Not for anything that happened on the show, but for Spike TV’s “Inside the Octagon” segment that airs during one of the commercial blocks. Tonight’s guest was Forrest Griffin, the original Ultimate Fighter winner.

Griffin was talking about his recent loss to Rashad Evans and his upcoming fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 101. During the brief interview he said something that really struck me. When asked how he would respond to his loss to Evans, Griffin said:

“I’m not the best fighter in the world. I shouldn’t be champ of anything. This is a way for me to kind of man up. It’s not about being the best fighter in the world. It’s just about committing yourself to winning for one night.”

That statement made me think of two things. First, it’s no wonder Griffin is one of the most popular fighters in the world. But more importantly, it’s that kind of comment that makes Griffin the perfect opponent to get Silva out of his funk.

Now I don’t want to go into the Anderson Silva debate here. But regardless of what your stance on The Spider may be at this time, it’s hard to argue that for whatever reason, the Silva we’ve seen during his last two fights is not the same fighter that’s stepped in the octagon in the past.

I think there may be a lot of differing reasons as to why that may be but most MMA fans agree Silva hasn’t been himself in his last two fights against inferior opponents.

I think most of us would also agree that White has been irate over Silva’s last two performances. The Spider is one of UFC’s top fighters and White can’t have his crowds booing him after two consecutive fights.

After the Thales Leites fight, White knew something needed to be done, so he called on one of his most trusted fighters to fix the problem.

There is no question that Griffin is one of White’s favorite fighters. White loves guys with heart and no one on the UFC roster has a bigger heart than Griffin. No one.

White also has a soft spot for what Griffin has done to help catapult the UFC into the mainstream. He has called the finale of “The Ultimate Fighter: Season 1” between Griffin and Stephan Bonnar, “The most important fight in UFC history.”

So it makes sense that White would ask Griffin to bring out the best in Silva. Griffin’s very nature won’t allow him to sit back and be boring like Leites. Griffin doesn’t enter a fight just hoping to survive. He gives everything he has and would rather lose than lay on his back and just survive for five rounds.

White knows this about Griffin. He knows Silva needs a push. It’s a perfect matchup.

When Griffin makes comments like “I’m not the best fighter in the world. I shouldn’t be champ of anything,” it makes fans want to root for him. But win or lose at UFC 101, you know he’s going to come to fight and he’s going to give everything he’s got. Dana White knows it too.

And here is a prediction: No one will be booing at the end of the Forrest Griffin-Anderson Silva fight.

Forrest Griffin may not be the best fighter in the world but he is, and always will be, Dana White’s ace in the hole. And oh by the way, he’s a darn good fighter as well.

The two are expected to meet up at UFC 102 according to recently published report from John Morgan at MMAjunkie.com.

While nothing has been officially announced of UFC 102 by the organization at this point, it is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight showdown between former UFC heavyweight champions Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira and to take place on August 29 in Portland, Oregon.

Thiago Silva is fresh off of a knockout loss courtesy of upcoming light heavyweight championship challenger Lyoto Machida at UFC 94. Prior to that the American Top Team trained fighter had gone undefeated in his professional mixed martial arts career with four consecutive victories in the octagon.

A win over a contender like Jardine is likely to put Silva right back in the mix in the UFC’s 205 pound division.

Jardine always just seems a couple wins away from a title shot in the UFC. After his impressive victory over Forrest Griffin he was brutalized at the hands of Houston Alexander, he rebounded from that loss with a decision victory over Chuck Liddell only to be knocked stiff at the hands of Wanderlei Silva, and most recently Jardine out pointed Brandon Vera but came up on the losing end of a hard fought decision to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 96.

If Jardine can look impressive against Silva at UFC 102 he would certainly be one win away from a long sought after championship bout for the third time in his career.

According to a report from John Morgan annd Dann Stupp at MMAjunkie.com, Griffin will now face Anderson Silva when the UFC comes east this August at UFC 101. According to the reports, verbal agreements are now in place.

Griffin, who has been out of action since losing his light heavyweight championship to Rashad Evans at UFC 92 in December, is coming off a hand injury that required surgery in which he had pins inserted into his right hand. He was scheduled to take on Thiago Silva who was coming off his first loss at UFC 94 in January to number one contender Lyoto Machida.

Apparently the fight between Griffin is close to being official although Thiago Silva was unaware of the changes made to the card. The source also went on to say that they weren’t sure if Thiago Silva would remain on this card or be moved to another event.

Anderson Silva has been taking a lot of criticism lately for his lackluster performance against Thales Leites at UFC 97 which he won via unanimous decision. He looked disinterested and never tried to finish Leites. Dana White went on record saying he was embarrassed and even went as far to apologize for the poor performance.

Pairing Anderson Silva up with Forrest Griffin may be the UFC’s way of trying to get Silva back on track as he has had two bouts in a row in which he did not look like himself. The first was against Patrick Cote in October of last year at UFC 90. Silva did the same dance and showboat routine as he did against Leites that night against Cote. The fight ended early in the third round when Cote’s knee buckled and he could not continue.

The win over Leites gave Silva two significant records in the UFC as he won his ninth straight fight for the organization and defended the title for a record breaking 5th time. This would mark his second fight as a light heavyweight with the first coming against James Irvin on a UFC Fight Night card last July which was hastily put together so the UFC could counter-program against the inaugural Affliction card. Silva knocked Irvin out just one minute into the first round.

UFC 101 will be held at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is headlined by a lightweight title match between champion B.J. Penn and number one contender Kenny Florian. This will be the first trip east for the UFC since November of 2007 when they held UFC 78 in Newark, New Jersey.

In an interview he did with the Brazilian website Tatame, Rua said that although no opponents have been offered he would like to fight Forrest Griffin again.

It has been about 18 months since Rua made his much ballyhooed debut against the winner of The Ultimate Fighter season one at UFC 76. Griffin was a decided underdog but wore down the then #1 ranked light heavyweight in the world and frustrated him for almost the full 15 minutes until choking Rua out with 15 seconds left in the fight.

Griffin went on to star opposite Quinton “Rampage” Jackson during the seventh installment of The Ultimate Fighter and the two then met at UFC 86 in July of last year for Jackson’s UFC light heavyweight championship where Griffin was victorious via unanimous decision.

Rua meanwhile had two knee surgeries and was not seen again until January of this year where he looked flat once again in defeating a 44 year old Mark Coleman via third round TKO at UFC 93. It was his second straight lackluster performance and the start of his UFC career was not looking good.

Fast forward to this past Saturday night, while he was victorious, none of the questions regarding his cardio were answered and he defeated a man who was 1-3 in his past four fights and approaching 40 years old.

Rua stated that he was very motivated right from the very start as he trained for Liddell and that he had prepared very hard physically and mentally for this fight. He also said that he was anxious to introduce himself to the American fans and show them the real “Shogun” Rua.

As he prepares for a two week vacation with his wife Rua is already focusing on his next fight no matter who it is against, although if he has his way it will be against Griffin.

Forrest does have to get by Thiago Silva at UFC 101 in August for this match-up even to be realistic. Rua complimented Griffin and called him a good fighter and said it would be cool to fight him again.

Griffin revealed the news during Wednesday’s season premiere for the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter. During a “Late Night News Presented by Burger King” commercial insert, Griffin updated fans on his status and revealed that his first bout back since losing the UFC light heavyweight title to Rashad Evans at UFC 92 this past September is set to occur vs. the American Top Team standout.

During the interview, Griffin also discussed his broken left hand. While holding the hand out in front of the camera, a noticeable surgical scar could be seen. Griffin indicated that metal pins had been inserted to help the injury heal properly.

Griffin, 16-5, was the light heavyweight winner of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. One of the organization’s most popular fighters, Griffin has a lifetime record of 7-3 in the Octagon and won the UFC light heavyweight title from Quinton “Rampage” Jackson following a unanimous decision victory at UFC 86 this past July.

In addition to Griffin vs. Silva, UFC 101 is expected to be headlined by B.J. Penn defending the UFC light heavyweight title vs. Kenny Florian. Additionally, Amir Sadollah revealed during TUF 9 that he is slated to compete at UFC 101 as well in a welterweight contest.

News of the matchup comes courtesy of a report by MMAjunkie.com, which adds that UFC 101 is tentatively scheduled to take place on August 8 in Portland, Ore.

Verbal committments from both fighters have been received and signed bout agreements are expected to be signed within the next several days.

Both Griffin and Silva are on the rebound with Griffin having lost his UFC light heavyweight title to Rashad Evans this past December at UFC 92 and Silva having lost his undefeated record against Lyoto Machida this past January at UFC 94.

Griffin, 16-5, had won the title from Quinton “Rampage” Jackson following a five-round unanimous decision at UFC 86 this past July. The light heavyweight winner from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, Griffin is one of the UFC’s signature stars and boasts a lifetime record in the Octagon of 7-3. The 29-year old holds notable victories in his career over Jeremy Horn, Stephan Bonnar, Jeff Monson, and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Silva entered UFC 94 with a 13-0 record but sustained the first loss of his professional career after being knocked out by Machida with just one second remaining in round 1. A former member of the Chute Boxe Academy who now trains with American Top Team, Silva has a 4-1 lifetime record in the UFC with wins over Houston Alexander, James Irvin, Tomasz Drwal, and Antonio Mendes.

In addition to Griffin vs. Silva, UFC 101 is also expected to feature a clash between former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture and former PRIDE heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Trying to picture how this fight will go down will not be easy. Will it be a standup war or will it be contested on the ground? My guess is that the encounter will resemble a true mixed martial arts battle with the fight being contested on the feet and on the floor.

I also believe that this fight will start out slow. Evans will likely begin the fight utilizing his foot work and elusive standup style to feel Griffin out. I don’t expect Griffin to try to force the action early, as I look for him to feel Evans out as well.

The anticipated slow start could illicit some boos from the crowd because I just don’t see either fighter being able to finish the fight early. While Evans has recorded highlight reel finishes over Sean Salmon and Chuck Liddell, I don’t consider him to be a true finisher. Against the old Forrest Griffin, perhaps there would be the potential for a big KO at some point. But Griffin has refined his game over the years and has become better defensively. He’s not the brawler he was when he entered in he UFC and it’s unlikely he is going to serve his chin up on a silver platter for Evans much like Liddell did in September.

And while Evans isn’t much of a finisher, neither is Griffin. He certainly has some pop in his punches but Griffin has never been a one-punch knockout threat. He’ll leave some bruises and possibly some cuts on Evans’ face, but unless Evans commits a major mental error, I don’t see a quick knockout.

Evans, a former wrestler at Michigan State, will probably resort to his wrestling at some point. But when he takes Griffin down, he will have to be careful. Griffin’s jiu-jitsu is very underrated and he will have a decisive advantage in the submission game over Evans. The motive for Evans taking Griffin down will be to earn some points with the judges and to also catch a breather.

Evans may also need to rely on his wrestling in order to neutralize a sizable reach advantage that Griffin will have. While I do not know the exact reach of either fighter, Griffin measures at 6’3” in comparison to Evans’ measured height of 5’11”.

Following Evans’ lackluster split decision victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 78, there were some published reports that UFC Vice President of Talent Relations Joe Silva approached Evans about a potential move to middleweight. It’s definitely a move Evans could make but the decision to remain at 205 was proven to be the correct one following the KO heard around the world against Liddell at UFC 88.

While staying at light heavyweight was the right call for Evans, the fact remains that he will be facing a much larger opponent in Griffin on Saturday. In such a closely contested contest, the outcome of the fight could come down to a game of inches.

Every time I visualize this fight, I see it going the distance. And if Evans can ground Griffin and keep him on his back for extended durations, then he’s going to steal rounds and be sitting pretty when it comes time for the scores to be read. However, if Griffin can limit the amount of time he spends on his back and can utilize his reach advantage in the standup to land multiple combinations, then he’ll be the one sitting pretty.

In a fight that could go either way, I am going to pick Griffin earning a split-decision victory simply by outworking Evans and utilizing his reach advantage to inflict more damage.

Boy did Forrest Griffin ever prove me wrong. And Rashad Evans just sealed the deal.

It’s become clear now that while the fighters on the show might not immediately jump into the UFC and conquer the best guys in their weight class, they will eventually be very competitive and be able to compete and defeat some of the major names in the sport. Just ask Quinton Jackson and Chuck Liddell about that.

Forrest Griffin is the UFC light heavyweight champion and while many people thought that he was a good fighter there weren’t many people that believed that he could take on someone the caliber of Jackson and beat him in a five round fight. The same goes for Rashad Evans. Rashad is athletic, his standup has improved, and his wrestling is very good but there are very few of us who thought he stood a chance to beat Chuck Liddell. Even fewer of us thought that he could beat him at his own game.

Not only have these two fighters catapulted themselves into the world title picture in the UFC but fighters such as Kenny Florian and Josh Koscheck have put themselves in almost everyone’s top ten lists at their respective weight classes. They have developed a lot more since they’ve been on the show but the fact of the matter is that they’re still considered “TUF’ers.”

What we’re seeing is that these fighters may be very raw on the show but with a little bit of development after the show and some experience under their belt, they’re going to be great fighters. Griffin, Evans, and Florian are all great examples of this, specifically Evans. On the show he was considered the underdog fighter yet continued to impress each and every time he fought and now he’s undefeated in MMA with a win over one of the best fighters to ever enter the Octagon in Chuck Liddell. And not just any win. A devastating knockout win.

What we’re beginning to see now is that some of the guys from season five of the show are beginning to evolve into big names at lightweight. Guys like Nate Diaz, Joe Lauzon, and Gray Maynard are beginning to show the world that they’re not just guys from a reality show but that they’re true to life good fighters. I believe we’ll see that to a much lesser extent with season six as Mac Danzig was the only fighter who blew the rest of the competition out of the water but the verdict is still out on season seven. Amir Sadollah was the ultimate underdog going into the season but he has proven himself to be very worthy of his spot in the UFC. C.B. Dollaway could very well evolve into an elite fighter at some point down the road. Matt Brown, while not the best fighter on the show, proved himself to be vastly improved during his fight with Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88.

In short, the show works. While we may bag on it from time to time, the show has been validated by guys like Griffin, Evans, Florian, and Koscheck. While the fighters on the show might look rudimentary in skill at the time of the show, the scouting that goes on is obviously working. It may not happen right away once they enter the UFC but that should be expected.

Sometimes I think we expect too much out of the winners of the show too soon. Is Amir Sadollah going to challenge Anderson Silva at middleweight or GSP at welterweight right now? No. Could he do so in the future? Anything’s possible. Just ask Forrest Griffin.

He discussed many things including a possible fight with Wanderlei Silva, his bout against Forrest Griffin at UFC 86 and the fact that he lost respect for Griffin for fully believing he won their fight and not talking about an immediate rematch:

Jackson says that he has “lost a lot of respect” for Griffin in the wake of the fight, largely because the new champion has not been talking of a rematch despite winning the belt in controversial fashion.

“After the fight, I said ‘I’ve got to give you a lot of respect, because you hurt my leg and you had a good game plan’,” he explains.

“But now, I don’t respect him as a man. Because if it was me, I would have said, ‘I have to give him a rematch right away, to remove all doubt’.

“I’m a man and when you fight it’s all about honour. I’m not angry at him or anything, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve lost respect for him as a man.”

Rampage earlier states that he believes he won their previous fight and was being sarcastic when he said he got his ass kicked in his post-fight interview.

There might have been some doubt in the fight’s outcome with people falling on either side but almost no one could call it a bad decision. Perhaps a rematch is in order and maybe this is Quinton’s way of getting it. Either way I’ll leave it up to you to decide if he was actually being sarcastic in his interview.