Opinion & Analysis
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Staff Editorials
BENT COLUMN: Jackson vs. Griffin: Christmas in July By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Contributor
Jul 9, 2008 - 3:49:31 PM
UFC 86 was similar to a birthday or holiday in that more time was spent anticipating its arrival than could possibly be spent celebrating this actual event and it was over in seemingly an instant. Most things that are enjoyable are over in an instant. It’s true. Of course most does not mean all and by no means should you use the aforementioned line to justify the fact that lovemaking with your significant other doesn’t last as long as an episode of “Red Shoe Diaries” but rather the opening sequence. I am strictly referring to the fact that something enjoyable seems to be over in a flash while things that bore tend to make us watch the clock. This may actually explain why your significant other knows exactly how long you do last in the bedroom. You may feel like you were Melvin Guillard after knocking out Dennis Siver yet she feels like she just sat through Patrick Cote getting the decision over Ricardo Almeida. It all depends on your perspective and from mine UFC 86 featured a main event worthy of the billing and fully delivered on all of its promise.
Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson went the full 5 rounds and it was more than enough to satiate our thirst yet it was so spectacular that we found ourselves parched for another round after it was over. Another point relative to enjoyable things is that you want it again and again, which explains why I am not alone in wishing to see Griffin and Jackson go another 5 rounds in the near future.
In the aftermath of Griffin winning the decision we find that this victory is being marred by a little controversy as Jackson’s coach, Juanito Ibarra, plans to protest the decision with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. It is Ibarra’s opinion that Jackson was “robbed” but I firmly disagree with his opinion and forthcoming protest. Post fight, Jackson said “He just whooped my ass” in reference to Forrest beating him and for the most part I have to agree. By no means do I feel Forrest dominated Rampage but from my vantage point he decisively won this match by my score of 48-46 and deserves to be the winner without any such protesting.
While many have argued that Jackson could have deserved a 10-8 1st round in his favor for dropping Griffin with a punch, I cannot justify such a scoring. MMA is different from boxing and in my opinion a knockdown is something that is cut and dry in boxing and not so when it comes to MMA. I feel a knockdown should not automatically earn a fighter another point on the scorecards. I believe that if you were to score each knockdown then you should have to score takedowns in much the same way and in MMA it is as much a matter of creating something out of a seemingly bad position as it is in getting your opponent into such a position. A fighter on top in half mount does not always mean that fighter is going to win the battle on the ground, and knocking down a fighter does not mean that the fight is over by any stretch of the imagination.
MMA is so much more than anything such as this that I feel a 10-8 round should be reserved for a truly dominating round in which one opponent not only wins most of the exchanges but also forces his opponent to alter his game as a result. Forrest did just that in the 2nd round by virtue of his attack on Rampage’s leg and this proved to mean so much more than Rampage’s knockdown in the first round. Griffin changed how Jackson fought in the 2nd round and I have to say that were it not for this damage done that it could have ended in a much different fashion. Yes, Quinton knocked down Forrest in the 1st, but this did not effectively make it anything beyond a 10-9 round for me as the knockdown was not capitalized upon. In MMA it is about what you do after a knockdown or upon taking down your opponent that should matter and the downing of your opponent should be considered a possible means to an end and not as the end itself.
Scoring is highly subjective and as long as humans perform the judging it will remain so. There have surely been some controversial decisions before but this was not one of those instances, at least in my opinion. The correct fighter won this fight and any energy spent towards protesting this result would be best used in preparation for the rematch when it comes to Ibarra and Jackson’s camp. Jackson admitted defeat in the ring after the decision was announced and I don’t think anyone deemed Rampage to be a loser; to protest this decision would make him into one, albeit of the “sore” variety.
Unlike what you tell a potential date at the bar will happen should she come home with you for the night, UFC 86 actually lived up to all of its promise and firmly delivered a classic main event worthy of all prefight hyperbole. Dana White and the UFC essentially asked us how we like our eggs cooked in bed as they wooed us with this matchup and asked us to fork over $44.95 for the proceedings. Much like the girl at the bar rolls her eyes at pickup lines such as this, we too rolled our eyes as we expected Griffin to prove to be an exciting opponent but not much more than that. The difference is that in this case, what happened afterwards was actually better than what was promised and as a result we are left covering ourselves with a bath towel and hoping Dana will call us back some other time.
Forrest got the win over Jackson, and while this changes how many of us perceive Griffin as a fighter, it does nothing to cause us to view Rampage as any less than what he was going into the fight. We witnessed a great fight between two of the best fighters and while Quinton Jackson was defeated, no one is a loser after UFC 86. No matter what your ex-girlfriend ever said, I am telling you that you are not a loser. Of course, if you did not see UFC 86, I am going to have to prod you to see this at once and reserve judgment until then.
As for me, Jackson vs. Griffin is in the record books and was everything it was supposed to be and yet so much more. This was a true main event and one that had me on the edge of my seat, from start to finish. Christmas in July came to us by way of UFC 86, and the next holiday will be here before we know us in the form of multiple events taking place on July 19th. The countdown begins all over again, and with the joy we have just experienced along with the promise of future events, I am glad that we don’t have to wait a year for the next UFC event. We only have to wait a few weeks, days, even hours and like a kid stuck in a car ride on a family vacation I am finding myself asking if we are there yet.
If the future can come even close to delivering on its promise as UFC 86 did, I simply cannot wait. It is time to start the hype machine up, all over again.
