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Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Griffin over Jackson: Upset, or just Upsetting?

The pug nosed, cauliflower eared challenger certainly looked like he took the brunt of the punches when the final bell rang. His pasty skin was split and bleeding. His light eyes showed the 1000 yard stare of a shell shocked casualty of war.

And, the faithless look on his face when the "judges'" score cards were read and his hand was hoisted in 'victory' gave away his own personal disbelief. His own doubt. His own understanding that he was a pawn in the game. That for this moment, though his body and mind told him that he was beaten by his opponent, he was the 'champion'.

Almost all accounts of the fight between Forrest Griffin and Rampage Jackson question the decision. Most say that at best, Griffin might have earned a draw. Few that we have read do not question what sort of math the judges used to give Griffin the unanimous decision and the belt.

Famed MMA trainer, Juanito Ibarra (who has trained at least one UFC champion), had a cage-side seat for the fight. Ibarra has been cage-side for the past few UFC light heavyweight title fights. He, as much as anyone, is qualified to sort out the judging.

He was baffled that Byrd and Silbert gave Griffin a 10-9 advantage in the first round, during which Jackson dropped the challenger. In Ibarra's view, the knockdown warranted a 10-8 round in Jackson's favor. He believes Jackson won the third and fourth rounds on 10-9 scores, though he said Griffin deserved a 10-8 second round and a 10-9 fifth. That comes out to a 47-46 win for Jackson. - from sherdog.com

We just hope this wasn't the UFC and the judges' way of sending a message to Jackson. In a presser prior to the fight, Jackson acknowledged that much of his passion for MMA is based on the joy of getting the chance to beat up white people without repercussions.

Unfortunately, it seems Dana White is sending Rampage a pretty clear message:

Beating up white people will now come with a price.

Defeat.

13 comments:

Off the Books said...

ur out of ur mind forrest broke Jackson's leg

nation_of_islam_sportsblog said...

Sir, then that makes it all the more impressive.

Rampage kicked Forrest's ass with a broken leg?

The man is a legend!

ZEKE said...

Isn't Juanito Rampage's TRAINER???!!! WTF is the guy gonna say?????

Malcom Hex said...

the fight could have gone either way. but, i kinda agree, to beat the champ, there should be no gray area.

the rematch should be great

ultrasound tech said...

Was a good fight. Forrest did enough to win. That's all that matters.

lt_col_winslow said...

Seriously? Jackson lost because he joked that he liked to beat up white guys?

You forgot to mention the part where Jackson said after the fight that Griffin 'whooped my ass'.

nation_of_islam_sportsblog said...

"You forgot to mention the part where Jackson said after the fight that Griffin 'whooped my ass'."

Sir, and YOU forgot to mention that after Jackson had a chance to talk to his handlers and some of his supporters; he realized that (based on their reports) Griffin DID NOT kick his ass. And he backtracked on that statement.

A statement, clearly made under the duress of having just beaten up Griffin.

nation_of_islam_sportsblog said...

"Isn't Juanito Rampage's TRAINER???!!! WTF is the guy gonna say?????"

Sir, why does it matter who Juanito trains?

Just because his fighter lost does NOT detract from his experience or expertise when it comes to evaluating a title fight!

Dave the Wave said...

yea, its a real shame that the UFC now has a champ that is humble and appreciative, rather than some guy that likes to run around talking junk and pretending he is a thug.

Steven A's Cheese Doodles said...

"yea, its a real shame that the UFC now has a champ that is humble and appreciative, rather than some guy that likes to run around talking junk and pretending he is a thug."

what did rampage do that could be considered bad for the sport? the guy got a lot of attention, which is good for the sport. hell, there is even talk that he will be BA Baracus in the new A Team movie. That kind of exposure is bad?

real_mma_guy said...

You don't know SHIT about MMA.

Yes, Rampage landed some bombs. But Forrest dictated the pace and land many more point scoring punches.


Get a clue!

Anonymous said...

"Get a clue!" -Real_MMA_Guy

Sir, if I may call you that, need to get a clue that this blog is SATIRE!

Once more for those visually impaired:

SATIRE!

Adam J said...

@jeremy-- Nice try. No big surprise that Big Media is clearly hiring "bloggers" to subvert the truth like that. Who's paying you? Fox? Gawker? Stormfront.org???