UFC 101: SILVA SMASHES GRIFFIN

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva had lost a lot of his luster coming into Saturday night’s UFC 101 matchup with former light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin.  He was undefeated in his previous nine UFC contests, but his last three victories had been far from impressive.  He’d beaten overmatched James Irvin last July in his first effort at 205.  That was followed by a TKO win against Patrick Cote when Cote blew out his knee mid fight.  In his most recent bout, he’d pouted and showboated his way to a unanimous decision victory by default against a thoroughly overwhelmed Thales Leites.  On that night in Montreal he’d heard an abundance of boos from the fans who at one point started a “GSP” chant in reference to his most frequent challenger for “pound for pound” MMA supremacy.  Even Dana White criticized his effort and finally conceded that St. Pierre might, indeed, be the best all around fighter in the game.

There was none of the “bad Silva” on display Saturday night.  Silva was simply dominant as he overwhelmed the naturally larger Griffin, knocking his opponent down three times before finishing the fight with a spectacular—yet almost effortless—straight right hand.  The TKO victory was “The Spider’s” most impressive showing since his submission triumph over Dan Henderson at UFC 82.  Ironically, “Hendo”—off his own devastating KO victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 100—will likely be Silva’s next challenger for his middleweight title.

The live crowd in Philadelphia clearly favored the likable Griffin and gave him a huge ovation as he bounced to the ring to his trademark walk-in song “Shipping Up To Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys.  Silva, meanwhile, received a smattering of boos as he confidently strode to the ring to the sound of “Ain’t No Sunshine” by rapper DMX.  Silva displayed much more humility toward the fans than he has in his recent outings, bowing in all four directions after the entered the cage.

He displayed none of that courtesy toward Griffin once the fight began and was simply the wrecking machine that UFC fans had grown accustomed before his recent run of lackluster performances.  Forrest came right at Silva, assuming that his natural size advantage would equate to a strength advantage as well.  All that did was make him a stationary target for Silva’s pinpoint striking accuracy and “The Spider” quickly took control of the fight.  After an early feeling out process, Griffin flashed a body kick which was caught by Silva and countered with a short punch that sent him to the canvas for a flash knockdown.

The resolute Griffin quickly bounced to his feet, this time flashing a high kick which Silva easily countered for another knockdown.  This one clearly hurt Griffin, though he once again made it back to his feet quickly and landed a combination of his own.  This was his best—and last—offense of the fight.  Silva quickly floored Griffin with a left hand that left little doubt to the eventual outcome of the contest.  The double tough Griffin made it to his feet again, and tried to land a leg kick—which Patrick Cote had used with some success in their fight.

Silva, backing up, countered it perfectly and landed an almost effortless straight right that sent Griffin down for good.  The referee didn’t even bother to count as he waved his arms over the prone fighter as Silva celebrated his win.  Griffin quickly exited the cage and, reportedly, the arena.  Postfight reports suggested that he wanted to get immediate medical attention for a dislocated jaw suffered on the penultimate knockdown.

Silva, apparently making an effort to be more ‘fan friendly, did his postfight interview in English with a Portuguese interpreter standing at the ready.  He’d been criticized in the past (somewhat unfairly) for not making more of an effort to engage the fans, and conducting his interview in English was likely intended to help change that image.  His message was simple:  “I want to fight against the best. Whoever the best is at the time, I want to fight them.”  Though Silva didn’t really affirm that he’d be campaigning more at the heavier weight that was the implicit message of his comment.