Griffin Passes Go and Collects $250,000

Forrest Griffin once again defied the odds in last nights UFC 89 main event pulling out a stunning victory over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to secure the light heavyweight belt.

While Griffin might night be the most technical fighter in MMA, his never say die attitude and scrappy instincts have him walking away with the W more times than not.

This was another one of those cases. Griffin came in a 3-1 underdog and walked away the champ.

It took Griffin 5 rounds and a little help from the judges to dethrone the former light heavyweight champ by way of a unanimous decision in last nights headliner. The judges scored it 49-46, 48-46, and 48-46 all in favor of Forrest.

Griffin used his movement and kicks to stay on the outside of Jackson’s power which worked excluding a few hairy moments. One of them came in the first round when Griffin was dropped with a solid uppercut. He shook it off and was able to take the fight deep into the late rounds. Griffin’s defense improved as time went on and he ended up thwarting Jackson’s plans for a quick finish or knockout.

However when Rampage did connect, he did more damage which is obvious by looking at Griffin’s post fight mug shot. Besides his leg, Jackson didn’t incur much damage at all during the fight. I definitely disagree with the fact that the judges scored it unanimously for Griffin. While I scored the bout 47-47, I believe Jackson took the fight by a slight edge and should have won via Split Decision. I think that fact that they were expecting more from Quinton might have worked in Griffin’s favor. Especially after witnessing what Rampage did to Chuck.

The reality is, Jackson shouldn’t have let it go to the judges in the first place. In the end it was a great fight that could have easily went either way. Griffin walked away a quarter of a million dollars richer including his $100,000 win bonus. Rampage collected $225,000 for his troubles and will now go back to the drawing board.

One thing is for sure. Jackson and Griffin are two of the funniest and most respectful competitors in the sport of MMA.

What are your thoughts on last nights fight and how did you score it?