UFC President Dana White has confirmed to Yahoo! Sports that current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin at UFC 101.
UFC 101 is currently scheduled for August 8 in Philadelphia, PA and will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between current champion BJ Penn and No. 1 contender Kenny Florian. The Silva vs. Griffin fight will be featured as a co-main event.
Earlier today, we speculated about Silva’s future opponent’s at light heavyweight, as Forrest Griffin was originally slated to face Thiago Silva at UFC 101.
“Forrest loved the idea and said he’d do it right away, and Anderson told me he would fight anyone I wanted him to fight, no matter who it is,” [Dana] White told Yahoo! Sports. “So we got the deal.”
Anderson Silva is, of course, coming off a unanimous decision victory over Thales Leites at UFC 97.
Forrest Griffin last fought at UFC 92 where he lost his light heavyweight title to current champion Rashad Evans via TKO in the third round.
It is unknown who might be named as a possible replacement opponent for Thiago Silva.
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Hari Khalsa
Ok, so Joe Silva has shut me up for the moment…This is 10x better than a matchup versus Jardine. What happened to Jardine?
Greg Jackson FEARS Anderson Silva.
Anyone have any predictions for this bout?
Silva has the striking advantage
Forrest has the grappling advantage
Silva has the BJJ advantage
Forrest has the wrestling advantage
Forrest has the size advantage
Silva has the speed/power/accuracy advantage
Forrest has the 205lb. weight acclimation advantage
(for Forrest, it’s just another fight at 205lb., for Silva it’s fighting heavier AND against one of the toughest opponents in MMA at that)
I cannot foresee Silva KO him out or dominating him on the ground, Forrest is too strong, crafty, and has too much heart.
i can see Anderson knocking Forrest out, Jardine and Rampage both dropped Forrest in the counter. unless this fight turns out to look like Lietes vs. Anderson i cant see Forrest winning, even if Griffin puts Anderson on his back he still has to do something with it and Anderson has awesome ground defense.
Awesome fight!
I’ll be rooting for Forrest, and he might be able to pull of a decision victory but I’m predicting Anderson Silva by third round TKO.
UFC 101 is shaping up to be a fantastic card, with B.J vs. Florian as the main event, and now Forrest vs. Anderson.
I’d also like to see Jardine fight Thiago Silva on this card as well.
I think the one thing that Forrest has over pretty much any other 205er right now is his conditioning man. He really turns it up in the late rounds when his opponents are almost always exhausted because he sets a nasty pace too.
However, this is only a 3 round fight so i dont think it will be much of a factor considering Anderson always comes into the cage in shape even if he doesnt put it on display.
I think Anderson is just more dangerous in every aspect of MMA, especially after what he did to James Irvins face at 205. Whens the last time you saw Forrest do that? last time Forrest got a KO was vs Elvis Sinosic back in 2005 and Elvis is about on par with Marvin Eastman for glass jaws.
Everyone has some pretty valid points bt I can’t count Forrest out so easily. I think he will train harder than ever to make sure he doesn’t let the middleweight champ come up and embarrass him, and still…
Let’s not forget that Forrest is one of the tallest fighters in the entire division and has a substantial size advantage, which will help him a great deal in the clinch. The area where Silva has had some difficulty, are the the areas that Forrest is strongest at (wrestling, grappling).
Also, Forrest has shown weakness off his back in his losses to Jardine and Rashad, BUT, I don’t see how Silva is going to be able to take Forrest down and mount him…
your right about the size thing, Forrest is a huge dude, and if there is one major hurdle for Silva to overcome thats it. i dont think we’ll see Anderson muscling Forrest up against the cage and going to town on him or anything like that, like i said before i think Silva wins in the counter. striking with Anderson is a bad idea (no matter how long your arms are) so that leaves takedown+ground’n'pound and repeat. the issue is with Forrest getting the fight to the ground is staying out of a bad position, if Anderson can scramble to top during a takedown or get a sweep from the bottom it could be over fast, just ask Marquardt lol. IF Forrest can play a very tight and disciplined game plan i could see him pulling it off BUT 15 minutes is a long time to go making zero mistakes. i’ll bet if Forrest pulls it off we’ll see him right back in the title mix, Forrest vs. Rampage 2?
I think it’s hard to compare Forrest to most of Silva’s previous opponents. It’s true that Forrest has never had much of anything to offer except his size and conditioning. I think another thing to consider is that Silva has very weak, thin legs which an experienced wrestler can use against him to bring him down. Training with Randy certainly doesn’t hurt.
Amir, i dunno how much of a difference how much muscle Silva has on his legs. I wouldnt say he has weak legs at all, thats just the way his body is built hes a lean fighter. Going by that assessment you would think that because his arms are skinny that he wouldnt have KO power either, but as we all know he has KO power in both his arms and legs.
Look at Tito, his legs are skinny but it hasnt hurt his wrestling game. Even if Forrest does get him to the ground, Silva is amazing off his back, look what he did to Travis Lutter and Travis has much better BJJ than Forrest.
I think Forrests best chance is to use his reach, try and out point Silva, if he can score a few takedowns and stand back up that would be good too. This is definately anyones fight considering the weight difference, but i think Silva just has more ways to win that Forrest.
even the reach isnt enough, everyone knows Forrest is droppable (yeah i know its not a word lol) and Silva is a great counter puncher. Forrest needs to come in with his hands in Anderson’s face just enough to get the take down (Anderson has shown he can be taken down) and when on the ground he has to work hard enough to stay there but not too much that he might end up in trouble, any other game plan will end in a loss IMO.
I disagree RJ, i dont think that Andersons guard is where Forrest wants to be. I think Forrests best chance to win is by decision, the takedown is a good weapon for scoring big points. Forrest is tough man, he can definately take a punch, and i think he could last longer jabbing from a distance.
It depends on how Anderson fights too, because if hes gun shy like this past fight and we only see about 6-10 punches/round from both guys the takedowns will make all the difference. If Silva comes out aggressive, maybe it would be a better idea to take him down and just hold him, maybe burn off some of that steam.
I love these conversations, makes it so much more interesting to see what gameplan Forrest will actually use in the fight and how effective it will be.
I can’t picture Forrest using his jab, or most of his other strikes to neutralize Silva in any way, especially trying to actually land the punch. However, Forrest has notorious leg kicks…which surprisingly, many have never followed through on using against Anderson Silva.
I think most of Silva’s past opponents beat themselves before they even enter the cage. They read and listen to all the hype surrounding him and become very intimidated (a very justified reaction I might add). Forrest Griffin is NOT one of those fighters. The guy is a total scrapper and does whatever needs to be done to win.
I honestly don’t think the weight is an issue because Silva probably walks around at close to 205lbs. anyway. But, there is a difference between weight, size, and physique proportion. Forrest is tall, muscular, broad-shouldered and yet pushes a relentless pace. I’m very curious to see how Anderson will adjust to fighting someone taller and wider than he is. Yushin Okami is a very big dude, but again…a middleweight.
I think too many people online are using Silva’s last 2 performances to reach the conclusion that he has no heart and I couldn’t disagree more…betting on Forrest for that reason alone I think would be nonsense, because Silva is simply bored.
All the more reason for a great fight. Both have much to prove.
If Forrest loses to a middleweight: where does that put him? that’s why he’ll train harder than ever.
If Anderson Silva loses to a heavyweight: He wouldn’t let that happen and risk losing his status as the greatest fighter on the planet.
Forrest and his camp are fight gameplan masters, if he shows discipline with the plan, I can see him pulling off an upset yet again.
the problem with Forrest throwing leg kicks is it opens you up to get hit. this is not one of those fights Forrest can afford to get banged up and take damage, if Anderson hurts Forrest he WILL go hard for the finish. we’ve seen Forrest get hurt and have problems defending him self after (Rashad Evans/Keith Jardine) so if he gets cracked by Silva it could be over. i think he need to get to the mat early and hopefully Anderson will ether make a mistake and allow Forrest to pass and maybe set something up or just work as much as he can from the guard. but like BV said that why these matches are cool, because who knows what will happen but it gets you wondering/guessing/talking about it.
Amir its true that Anderson probably walks around at about 205, but Forrest doesnt, he probably walks around at 225.
If Forrest loses, its nothing to be ashamed of, hes not losing to a middleweight, hes losing to the best middleweight in the world and one of the best in history.
I agree that Randy is the master of gameplans and he has worked miracles in the past, cant think of a better place for Forrest to be.
BV, I have to disagree. I think if Forrest loses, he will have a lot to be ashamed of. I don’t mean from me or you, but himself. No one will understand the importance of this match more than he will. If he loses, it’s a loss to a guy that doesn’t even fight in your weight class, that you’ve trained your entire career in…there is much significance to that.
Until Silva starts fighting at 205lb. more often, against the cream of the crop, (Not James Irvin), it’s going to be hard to gauge how great he really was, is, and will be…you only become the best when you beat the best…I never believed that Franklin was the best because the middleweight division has been heavily dominated by B-Level fighters. There’s no reason why Bisping should not have already fought Silva a long time ago…but, once again, the UFC have their own agendas working hard.
you make a good point Amir, the MW div has always been the weakest division in the UFC. Anderson HAS fought the best MW fighters in the world (with a few exceptions) but the division just doesnt have the depth and diversity of talent that is at 205.
I would love to see Anderson stick around at 205 but imagine if your the champ and the most dominant champ ever at that weight class, can you just walk away from that? or trying to bounce back and forth between divisions? that just doesnt work man, you wont be at peak form in either division because you cant put muscle on that fast it will be mostly fat and water weight shifting around.
Should Forrest be ashamed? i guess its a matter of opinion but look at it this way, you say thats where Forrest has been fighting all his life, but how long has he been 100% committed to MMA? maybe the past 4 years since TUF when he quit his day job. So what does Forrest have in terms of acclaimations? a brown belt in BJJ.
Anderson has been serious about training all his life with a black belt in tae kwon do, a black belt in Judo, a blackbelt in BJJ and hes a master of Muay Thai with championships in brazil and going almost undefeated except for a controversial loss to pele.
Ofcourse its not all about belts, but you have to admit, its pretty impressive man lol. Ofcourse the weight and strength will be to Forrests advantage but should he really be THAT ashamed to lose to Anderson? i think not.
“I would love to see Anderson stick around at 205 but imagine if your the champ and the most dominant champ ever at that weight class, can you just walk away from that?”
It’s sometimes hard to tell who would have a tougher time walking away from the division..Silva or the UFC marketing machine.
If Silva is as bored as he currently exhibits and will probably continue to exhibit, shouldn’t someone be thinking we need to bring in some outside talent, no matter where they’re from or which organization they currently fight with.
I personally would have loved to see Silva face Dennis Kang or the obvious Bisping, so, if the fights that SHOULD happen, WOULD happen….maybe these issues would never surface.
Amir, i agree that they should be seeking the best MW fighters in the world to keep Anderson interested and keep him challenged. The thing is there is a shortage of marquee MW contenders, not just in the UFC, but in any promotion.
Everyone seems to be upset that Leites got a title shot, but the guy had only 1 loss and was on a 5 fight win streak in the UFC including a win over Marquardt. The only other fighter in the UFC who is in a similar position is Bisping like you said. Ofcourse that wont happen for a while because hes doing TUF then hes fighting Hendo, so whoever wins that fight will definately get a title shot next.
So while thats going on Anderson will need a different opponent and as much as i like Kang, he hasnt looked too good lately. He lost to Belcher who i see as kind of a gatekeeper at MW which puts Kang in the bottom half of the division.
Besides the UFC guys, we got Robbie Lawler, Cung Le, Frank Shamrock and Gegard Mousassi. I wouldnt mind seeing any of those guys step into the cage with Anderson even if its not for the title.