This is the final part in my three-part series of previews looking at this weekend's highly anticipated MMA event, UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008! Despite the big name talent that are a part of this huge event, two seasoned veterans and winners of the first two seasons of The Ultimate Fighter will clash for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship!
UFC Light Heavyweight Title: Forrest Griffin (c) (16-4) vs. Rashad Evans (12-0)
Currently ranked the number one light heavyweight fighter in the world by Sherdog and MMAWeekly, Forrest Griffin is quite possibly one of the top light heavyweights the UFC has to offer. Starting out from humble beginnings, Griffin once took part in law enforcement, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Georgia, serving as a law enforcement officer Richmond County Sheriff's Office in Augusta, Georgia and then went on to serve as a patrol officer with the University of Georgia Police. He then decided to embark on a career in mixed martial arts when he took part in the very first season of The Ultimate Fighter, under the persuasion of UFC President Dana White. It was in the finals where Griffin (trained by Chuck Liddell) met Stephan Bonnar (trained by Randy Couture). The match was regarded as one of the greatest and most important matches in UFC history and was known for being the match that helped the UFC attain mainstream appeal to the public. Griffin would eventually walk away from that match with a Scion car, a dirt bike, a watch and most importantly, a UFC contract. A year later, Griffin would compete against his toughest opponent since winning TUF, Tito Ortiz. At UFC 59, both men waged war but in the end, it was Ortiz who scored the win due to a controversial split decision, but it was the match that further boosted Griffin's popularity to an all-time high. After a second win over Stephan Bonnar at UFC 62, Griffin's momentum came to a halt when he lost to TUF 2 semi-finalist, Keith Jardine at UFC 66. Griffin was absolutely distraught over the loss, but promised that he would be back. Griffin was able to mount a huge comeback and scored a win over Hector Ramirez at UFC 72, then went on to score one of his biggest victories thus far, defeating at that time the number one ranked light heavyweight fighter in the world, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 76. Griffin went on to become a coach for TUF 7 where he went up against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who coached Griffin's opposing team. Griffin's chosen fighter, Amir Sadollah, was able to win that show's season, so he had a huge advantage going into his impending bout with Jackson over the UFC Light Heavyweight Title. Despite being billed as a major underdog going into their fight at UFC 86, it was Griffin who scored the win after a hard-fought battle and in the process, capture the UFC Light Heavyweight Title!
Meanwhile, Rashad Evans is proving to be a very tough opponent for Griffin. A prolific amateur wrestler back in his college days, Evans is truly a natural athlete for the sport of MMA. His defeat of wrestling legend, Greg Jones, is truly remarkable as only four men have been able to defeat him thus far, including Evans himself. Trained under the legendary Dan Severn, Evans competed in five MMA bouts in his early career and won all five of them. This led to him being chosen to compete in The Ultimate Fighter 2 where he was coached by former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin. After a grueling season, Evans, who was 5'11" tall, was able to pick up a UFC contract after winning the tournament by defeating 6'7" Brad Imes in the finals. A natural heavyweight, Evans decided to shed some pounds by dropping down to the light heavyweight division where he competed against the likes of several TUF alumni, including Sam Hoger and Stephan Bonnar and accomplished MMA fighters, such as Jason Lambert and Sean Salmon. Next came a tough test at UFC 73: Stacked when Evans went up against the formidable Tito Ortiz. Despite a great effort by Evans and a point deducted to Ortiz for grabbing the fence, the match ended up going to a draw without a winner. Next up for Evans was a battle against the winner of TUF 3, Michael Bisping at UFC 78, where Evans continued his dominating ways by defeating the Englishman via split decision. His toughest test came at UFC 88 when he competed against Chuck Liddell. It all came down to luck and skill as an overhand right ounch took down The Ice Man and giving Evans his biggest win of his career thus far via KO!
The Ultimate Fighter winner vs. The Ultimate Fighter 2 winner!
It will be a huge, epic battle between two of the top light heavyweight fighters in the UFC today and something has got to give. Griffin has shown by facing tough competition that he is the real deal and truly deserving of being the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, not to mention being the number one ranked light heavyweight fighter in the world. Evans on the other hand has yet to be defeated with a perfect record of 12-0 and thus would prove to be a very tough challenger for Griffin. However...................
The winner of this bout will have a huge target on his back!
Depending on how you look at it, it might be the best time to be the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and it might be the worst time to be the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. The light heavyweight division has gotten very active and very heated as of late with many new challengers surfacing very now and then. Two of those fighters, Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva, are competing against each other on the same card as Griffin vs. Jackson. If that isn't enough, take into consideration the impending bout at UFC 94 between undefeated Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva where one of these fighters, Machida especially, would love to make a mark and someday challenge for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title.
But one thing is for certain, fans will truly get their money's worth when Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans do battle for the first time and the stakes could not have gotten any higher with the UFC Light Heavyweight Title on the line. Which one of these two highly amazing fighters will walk out of Las Vegas with the gold?
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