“Rampage”, Griffin Confirmed for 2008 Title Bout
Last night on the pre-taped Spike TV Video Game Awards Dana White confirmed a foregone conclusion: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Forrest Griffin will be the coaches on the seventh, all-middleweight season of The Ultimate Fighter and will then clash after the season concludes.
Griffin won the first season of The Ultimate Fighter and most-recently defeated top light heavyweight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 76 in September. The win shot Griffin to the top of the 205-pound division and instantly earned him a shot at Jackson’s title.
“Rampage” came to the UFC in February and posted a debut win over Marvin Eastman. The lone-win and his impressive career earned him a shot at then-champion Chuck Liddell in May. Jackson seized the title opportunity and connected with a right hook to drop Chuck before pounding out the champ to steal the title from one of the UFC’s top public figures. In his first title defense Jackson topped PRIDE champion Dan Henderson in September.
Jackson entered his fight with Henderson with an injured hand while Griffin underwent shoulder surgery following his win over Rua. By having both fighters as coaches on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter they will both have ample time to heal from their respective injuries. The UFC will also be able to use the airtime to constantly promote their title bout.
The Ultimate Fighter 7 is expected to debut in April of next year meaning the light heavyweight title clash will not happen until June at the earliest.
Tags: Forrest Griffin, Quinton Jackson
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As much as I hate to say it…why does Forrest get a shot at Rampage before Jardine?? I’m not a fan of Jardine, and I like Forrest..who doesn’t.. but still…just look at the facts…Yea, Forrest beat the guy who last beat Rampage and was also prob the “best” guy in that weight class until Forrest beat him, but Jardine beat Forrest, then just beat Liddell. What else does the guy have to do? Granted, I think the fight would be boring, but then again I thought the Liddell Jardine fight would be boring with Chuck knocking him out in a minute – but that didn’t happen! I’d rather see the rumored fight between Couture and Rampage and have those 2 coach…BUT Forrest will be more entertaining that Courture…
I agree with above statements. I’m exrtemely happy for Forrest, but I’m not sure if he deserves a title shot before Rashad or Jardine. On that note, I’m gonna call Rampage the heavy favorite to win. Its a bad matchup for Forrest. Even in his last fight he was careless. He left his head wide open while swinging wildly. It’ll have to be a far more miraculous happening for Forrest to overcome Rampage as opposed to Rua.
I am happy with everything going on here. There is no reason Forrest should not get this title shot. As far as Jardine gettin his shot, after he beats another worthy fighter, then he should get a shot. Rashad Evans?? A title shot now?? Are you kidding. He hasnt beaten anyone good. I like Rashad, but hes not ready for Rampage. If you think Bisping is great then your crazy.
Also…they announced the other coach at the video game awards….but didnt say anything about that UFC game that supposed to be coming out. How much longer do we have to wait??!!??
Jardine caught Griffin and he beat Liddell on points with a Houston Alexander KO sandwiched inbetween. He is the only other guy deserving of a shot at this point besides Griffin but with Forrest’s domination of the top 205er and his massive popularity, in addition to his TUF ties, he gets the shot. Jardines win over Liddell was against a guy who had just been destroyed in his previous fight and despite beating Griffin, he was also KTFO against Alexander. It’s a close call but Forrest gets the shot.
I think Bisping is good. So was Jason Lambert and Stephan Bonnar. Rashad dominated them. Is there a difference between beating a bunch of good fighters and beating ONE great fighter? Forrest beat barely beat Bonnar, beat Elvis (so), and Hector Ramirez (Rashad beat also). Then Forrest had a devistating loss to Jardine, which should have put him out of the top 15 in the LH division. Then he beats Rua and is the #1 contender? And all the while Rashad has no losses and gives Bisping, a top 20 fighter his first loss. Look, I like Forrest, and I hope he wins. I was just saying “I” think there are others who deserve a title shot more (like Rashad, who would put Forrest away for sure).
reverse order of Ramiez and Jardine fights. Either way… doesnt make sense
Well I guess it just depends who you think a good fighter is. I dont think Bisping is a good fighter at 205. He should have lost his last 2, not just his last one. Once he beats a good fighter, then I will be impressed.
Rashad lost to Tito…I dont care if it was a draw. Tito won that fight if he didnt grab the fence. They are both up and comers. I think a Evans vs Rua should be in the making. Bisping vs Tito is also a fight everyone wants to see. I like Rashad…he is one of my fav coming off TUF, but he needs a little tougher of a test than with Bisping.
I am interested in seeing how Dana is going to “shake things up” in TUF 7.
not to drag this on longer than it should, but Tito would’ve won if he didn’t hang onto the fence??? What do you think would’ve happened afterwards if he didn’t grab the fence to stop the takedown. Rashad would’ve scored more points for the takedown, or better yet, that could’ve been the beginning of the end for Tito.
One of my guesses for TUF7 is live fights maybe? The only thing I can think of.
I absolutely love this fight. I would pay top dollar to see this fight on PPV. I know it won’t happen, but if the UFC doubled the price of this PPV; I would still buy it: this is how bad I want to see this fight. Griffin trains with Couture who has in the past trained with Rampage. I think Couture will map out a great game plan for Griffin. Griffin by decision.
Here are my thoughts for up and coming fights.. ones i want to see…and i think should happen!
Heavyweight: Kongo vs Silvia, Arlovski vs Couture, Gonzaga vs Nouguria and Lesnar vs Cro Cop
Like a playoff..I think it would then be Silvia vs Couture, Gonzaga vs Cro Cop – that would be cool to see…
Light Heavyweight: Evans vs Forrest, Rampage vs Jardine, Liddell vs Silva, Tito vs Thiago Silvaa .. then I think it would be Forrest vs Rampage, and Silva vs Silvia – again, GREAT matchups…
Middleweight..well…boring…but obviously the up coming match – Silva vs Henderson, Belcher vs Franklin, Lawler vs Herman, and Quarry vs Martin – Silva vs Belcher and Herman vs Quarry…could make middleweight entertaining i think.. though i left out some decent guys like Leban, Okami, etc..
Welterweight…St Pierre vs Fitch, Hughes vs Serra, Koscheck vs George S.(this seasons relaity show) and Diego vs Parisyan with GSP vs Hughes, Koscheck vs Parisyan – this is by far the best weight class, I think
Lightweight…Danzig vs nate diaz, Edgar vs Florian, Huerta vs Sherk, Penn vs Stevenson with Danzig vs Edgar and Sherk vs Penn
Well thats my idea’s…long post I know, but I’m bored at work and figured this could spark a long thread…so why not?!?!
With all of the great fighters in the 205 division I would expect more fights between the top ten then what we are getting. For a division to be as stacked as it is, why are we not seeing more mega-cards or perhaps a grand prix?
Jason N. your heavyweight fights have all already happened. No need to repeat them.
As to the LHW title shot… Jardine DOES deserve it more than Griffin. Jardine beat Liddell AND Griffin himself. And if anyone goes back and looks at that Griffin/Jardine fight… Jardine really whooped him…so much in fact, that Forrest was crying like a baby and wouldn’t even stay and comment on the fight (something he does a lot). Don’t get me wrong…I like Griffin… but Jardine’s only mistake is underestimating Alexander…but Griffin’s mistake? Fighting Jardine to begin with. Jardine > Griffin.
Rampage KO or submission 2nd round max.
Rashad already scored the round, so it really doesn’t matter how many points somebody scores under the present system of scoring. If Rua won that fight, would you people be freaking out about him getting a title shot? Forrest “shocked the world” by beating the **** out of Rua. He didn’t just beat him, he tapped him. Forrest deserves the shot over anyone. Chuck is done. Jardine beat a washed up Chuck and caught Forrest, sure, and would have probablly got the shot if he wouldn’t have got canned by Alexander. If Evans or Jardine can beat Thiago Silva, or Wanderlei, then maybe. Those four fighters will be scrapping it out for the next shot. I think that Tito Ortiz and Shogun are going to be fighting next.
Now, Jason N.,
I hope those are just dream senerios you have. Couture is done (for now) Robbie Lawler is comfortable as champ in EliteXC, Ed Herman is on a 1 fight win streak(or is it 2?), and Lesnar hasn’t even fought Mir yet. You are a WWE fan huh? Those fights would be fine, but not friggin’ likely.
Hell no…I liked it when it was WWF when i was young and thought it was real… havent liked the sport since…well .. if u call it a sport… as for Lesnar…he fought once and looked good.. yes, the competition wasnt as good as Mir or other UFC vet’s but i put his name in there on pure potential… like how other sports puts people in top 50 lists when they’ve barely done anything, but have potential through the roof.. and i put lawler in there bc i was drawing a blank….those are just fights i want to see… i really just want to see good ppv’s instead of mediocure at best…and have stellar free shows.. challenge these guys!! hell look at who koscheck has in UFC 82…i mean…give me a break…give him someone good…then again i laughed at the liddell jardine match….eh
As good of friends as they are, I think that sooner or later Kos and Fitch have got to fight. I think that Kos is considered a better wrestler (they say even better than Hughes) but Fitch seems MUCH more powerful. It might end up being a boaring fight, but I think it is coming, and necessary to widdle the competition down.
Yea.. the fights I want to see are:
Hughes vs Serra
BJ Penn vs Sherk
Anderson Silva vs Henderson
Rampage vs Wanderli (however u spell it)
Courture vs Rampage
Huerta vs winner of Penn/Sherk
Theres my wish list for now… oh and KOS vs someone good..
I agree with Griffin getting the shot. Rua was “#1″ in the world and he submitted him. I think Jardine should be next in line especially if Liddell beats Wanderlei, or at least fight Silva should he beat Chuck for the next #1 status.
Griffin should get the shot based on the “holy ****, that did not just happen” factor of his win over Rua. There are a couple of fights each year that absolutely define the sport. That was one of them. Couture Silvia was another. Jardine’s claim to the shot is his win over Liddell, which, while an upset, let’s face it didn’t really “shock” any of us, did it? Don’t know if Chuck is washed up. A KO over Wandy would put him right back in the mix. But it seems pretty unlikely that will go down. Jardine’s win over Forrest is factor two, but the brutal Alexander loss evens things out in that regard. Throw into the mix the fact that Forrest is vastly more marketable and you have an obvious choice. And between Forrest and Rampage, when you talk about who will win the stand-up, you mean stand-up comedy. Rampage by a chuckle…
FixXeR – I’ve done my research on this game and so far have only come up wit nothing but them saying that the game is apperently being released sometime in the first half of 2008 keep in mind that the video that they did realease was jus a rough copy of what THQ hopes to do with the game…the video only came out to cause a stir in the MMA community…
Dont count forrest out hes got almost a year to completely change his game for rampage…however i dont give forrest a snowballs chance in hell to beat rampage aslong as rampage is being trained by jaunito…forrest has a punchers chance…and maybe a jui-jitsu chance at winning the title…but the fight itself will be nothing short of spectacular (atleast im hoping)
Hey Kris..we gonna have another game against eachother for picks on mmaplaygorund for 79???
look forward to gettin ma ass whipped by u smart guys
I would also like to add about jardine in his loss against alexander, it shouldnt have been a KO loss for jardine cuz if im not the only one who isnt blind, and ya’ll watch the fight again…the knee that knocked keith out was totally illegal i’ve said this b4 but no one seems to care…both of jardine’s knees where on the ground and he was not standing when he caught that one on the jaw….maybe if the ufc sees this we’ll see a alexander vs jardine 2 and that fight could go a lil differently this time
i dont know where most get off saying griffin doesn’t deserve this fight, he’s been more than a tough competitor against every opponent, took jardine lighter than he should but that’s exactly what he needed to smarten up. since the KO he’s been picking his opponents apart and dominating just about every round (i still think he won against tito). shogun was the top 205lb, the uncrowned king if you will, i mean he dismantled big names in pride and said he was ready to fight a big name in the ufc, just didn’t expect such a warrior with a great gameplan. shogun was on of the only big stars who came out of pride and didn’t get a title shot in their first fight and for good reason, like cro cop, he wasn’t ready for the cage and new rules. this fight against griffin was more than a wakeup call for him and i expect to see violent things from him in the future, hopefully against someone like thiago silva or tito. i’m not sure if forrest is technically ready for rampage but i really don’t see this being a technical fight, i see it just being a scrap to the KO, they’ve both been there so let’s see who has the best strategy.
as for rashad, he barely beat bonnar and bisping, ended one fight against sean salmon (big woop) but also beat our friend keith jardine in HW to advance to the finals of TUF2 (hense why keith would be taken lightly by griffin). but even still, tito has been the biggest name he has fought and he let tito beat him up for the first two rounds (unlike griffin who did what he could, enough in my eyes to counter tito). no dominating preformances aside from salmon so he’s still growing as a fighter, i love rashad, but he’s not even ready for forrest, let alone rampage. i think he needs to fight a real finisher like houston or thiago silva before he’ll know what a fight really is.
and jardine is a great fighter when he shows up to fight, he’s kinda like vitor in that he’s either hot or cold. also still growing as a fighter but has the potential to do great things, let’s see him and rashad go at it again in a more reasonable weight class and on PPV so we see who really shines through.
i predict rampage KO’s griffin in the 3rd or griffin wins by split decision. should be a barn burner and hopefully comes to Canada! cheers eh!
I think RevJames hit the nail on the head, Forrest is more marketable that Jardine. They’ve both had a handful of wins, a somewhat shocking loss and then a big upset. You could argue that Jardine has a step up on Forrest because he beat him but I’d just rather see Forrest/Rampage.
I think Jardine/Evans would be a good bout to determine which one gets to move up to the upper-tier of LHW fighters.
I love your wish list for fights Jason N.
rampage cant make it across the canadian border which really sucks the big one…damn border patrol:(
The short version:
Let me start off by saying when i read this… i almost pissed my pants. I am the biggest Forrest Griffin fan in the world and was extatic to read this post. but to my point.
Forrest Griffin got beat by Keith Jardine… yes, this happened. Did you watch the fight? Griffin dominated the fight and got caught… but he still lost the fight. Shogun came into the UFC basically as the number 1 contender, he was widely reguarded as the best 205 pounder in the business. The bottom line is that forrest griffin beat the number 1 contender, therefore, earning his shot.
Well not to beat a dead horse…but by hearing that, why not Jardine then? If you say Griffen deserves it 1st bc he beat the #1 contender to the title, therefor making him #1..so then what do you call Jardine who beat the guy who beat the #1 contender and he also beat the guy who was just the champ?!
Regardless, I’m fine with the matchup and frankly, Jardine vs Rampage would be boring.. I actually cant wait to see Silva vs Henderson then maybe..MAYBE seeing Bisping fighting the winner… granted, he will have to get atleast 1 fight under his belt at 185, but I would like to see him fight Silva…maybe because I’d like to see Bisping get whooped
RAMPAGE vs. ANDERSON SLIVA….yea prob wouldnt happend but if the both win the next fights……who no’s..
ok well here is what i think about the fights and what should happen .first off forrest in my honest opinion does not belong in the same ring as rampage and i know what you are going to say is that he beat shogun and yeah thats true but tell me truthfully that that was an in shape shogun cause he looked out of shape and also it was his first fight in the ufc cage and probably took griffin a lil to lightley.
so please name another top contender in the ufc that griffin has beat that is either in the top 10 let alone even still in the ufc. NO ONE
also i don’t beleive iceman deserves to fight for the title and i also think they should give shogun a couple of good fights in the UFC befor everyone jumps the gun and says shogun was the best light heaveyweight contender cause he wasn’t the one with the pride championship it was dan henderson .
to me chucky need to prove himself again against maybe henderson to be back in the top 5 yeah he did beat the axe murderer but that was also wandies first fight in the cage since what mid 90’s so to me i beleive wandie and chucky should have another rematch.
also look at it this way the saying goes…….”you may be big but theres always someone bigger”>>>>>>>>
to me rampage has proved himself against chucky and dominated in both encounters there is always someone who has your # and can beat you like wandie against rampage and rampage against chucky .here is forrests fights so far;;;
stephan bonner isn’t even in the top 10 2 wins by desicion
maybe jardine is in the top ten but not top 5 and forrest got put to sleep ZZzzzZZZZZZZZZZZ
elvis sinosec not in top 10 forrest won by tko
who the hell is hector ramirez not in UFC AND NOT TOP20 and forrest couldn’t put him away
wow an overrated but good tito ortiz at the time was top 10 but not top 5 and he lost
then theres shogun who hadn’t fought in the ufc let alone a cage and was also out of shape and this is a fact cause he was gassed in the end of the first round and he still gave forrest the fight of his life till the rnc
so please can someone tell me where in this list of nobody’s and somewhat somebody’s is griffin in the top 5 let alone #1 contender cause how is it you can be devistatingley put to sleep by a maybe top 10 fighter then win against a nobody and get a match with ring rusted rua for the #1 seat
it just baffles me how the UFC has been going downhill in their match up selections. i would love to hear from someone who has been watching real mma fights for almost as long as i have and not be bias to their fighter cause i am not a griffin fan nore a rampage fan just a true to heart mma fan
i’m not taking anything away from griffin cause he is a semi good fighter
RAMPAGE will win one way or another by KO,TKO or decision
but my prediction is KO in first or second round
and the UFC game is set to come out in 2009 spring cause the PS3 system has been ****ing up everything in the process of making the games