UFC 126: Forrest Griffin Vs Rich Franklin Breakdown
By Sean Farrell
Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin at UFC 126 should have implications on where these two fighters are heading in the stacked 205 pound UFC light heavyweight division. Griffin since winning the UFC Light Heavyweight Title in a controversial win against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has dropped two of his last three fights.
Also, Griffin after winning the belt lost it in his first defense against Rashad Evans and then went on to suffer one of the most humiliating losses in UFC history against pound for pound king Anderson “the Spider” Silva. Silva jumped to 205 pounds from 185 pounds and ran circles around Griffin in what was the most one sided and humiliating fights in history. Griffin was dropped repeatedly before succumbing to what seemed to be a love tap type jab by Silva which dislocated Griffin’s jaw as he was KO’d.
Griffin has been in one fight since that dreadful day and that was a split decision win over former UFC poster boy Tito Ortiz. Griffin was somehow involved in a split but he clearly won the fight, the one judge who scored it for Ortiz was obviously not watching the fight and was focused on Arianny.
Rich Franklin on the other hand has had his ups and downs in the Octagon as well dropping three of his last seven bouts. Franklin, however, won his last against Chuck Liddell with five seconds left in round 1. Franklin had his arm broken early in the round and couldn’t use his left arm and somehow managed to knockout Liddell with only his right one landing a crushing right hook.
Forrest Griffin should bring an exciting fight as always with his striking and well rounded ground game. While Franklin, takes a more methodical approach and should be able to strike his way through the first round and pull away with his better cardio in the last two rounds. Griffin should look to get this fight to the ground since striking with Franklin could be costly regardless of Griffin having a lion’s heart and iron chin Franklin is the better fighter.
This fight could go either way since Griffin may be able to be aggressive enough to pull out a close decision, much like “Rampage” in his last fight with Machida. But nobody should think Franklin to get back on track and win this fight easily as Griffin has proven difficult to finish other than the Silva debacle.