Who will win at UFC 92 Forrest Griffin vs Rashad Evans?
- Thread starter Shogun Locc
- Start date
I really don't see rashad subing Forrest. Especially sinces Forrest trains with better High level grapplers like Andre glavo, Robert drysdale, Ronaldo Jacare desousa, and Demian Maia. I think If Rashad does win it's either going to be by KO or Decision. He has the blue print on how to beat Forrest in Keith Jardine his teamate.
UFC 92: EVANS AIMS TO SILENCE THE DOUBTERS
Most fighters will say that at least 70 or 80% of fight preparation is mentally being ready for the battle ahead. One shining example of a fighter who works to out-think his opponent before the cage door ever closes is No. 1 light heavyweight contender Rashad Evans, who is not only physically ready for his title shot against Forrest Griffin, but he's as mentally prepared as ever.
When the "Ultimate Fighter" season 2 winner stepped into his fight against Chuck Liddell most people were somehow counting him out before it even started. The Michigan native was happy to disappoint, as he landed a thunderous punch that put the "Iceman" out cold, giving him the win.
After the fight, Evans credited his coaching staff of Greg Jackson and Mike Winklejohn for coming up with the perfect strategy to beat Liddell. The next fighter to break down will be Forrest Griffin at UFC 92 on Dec. 27.
"We're working on a gameplan and going over it extensively, me and Coach Winklejohn and Greg Jackson. They see what I do well and they just capitalize on that and try to make me do what I would do, but just do it better and just add a few things here and there," Evans said recently during an appearance on MMAWeekly Radio.
He understands all to well that Griffin is a much different type of fighter than maybe anyone he's faced in the past. His fellow Ultimate Fighter champion is seen as a hard worker and sort of a "jack of all trades" when it comes to his MMA style.
"It can be more difficult in some areas because he's just so well rounded in all avenues, but it just means I have to step my game up another notch," Evans commented about his fight preparation. "He's definitely talented in all areas and he has a gas tank that can just keep going and going, so I welcome the challenge."
The camp at Greg Jackson's gym consists of the regular rogue's gallery of training partners including Keith Jardine, Nate Marquardt, Georges St. Pierre, Joey Villasenor, and Eliot Marshall. Still despite an undefeated record and an overall impressive fight resume, Evans will enter the Octagon on Saturday night as the decided underdog.
"I don't know if I like playing that role, but it's a role that I've gotten used to," he said about being the underdog in the fight. "I just learned not to pay it any mind. When you're playing a favorite, you fight from a different position. You're fighting from a position that everybody you're telling about the fight is talking about, 'awww man, I don't even know if I should wish you luck. I know you going to mop him up.' So that puts pressure on you in a different kind of way.
"But when you're the underdog it kind of puts pressure on you in the fact that you want to prove everybody wrong."
The biggest lesson that taught Evans how to battle out of that underdog role was his 2007 fight against Tito Ortiz. In the bout, Evans was admittedly giving too much respect to his opponent and not fighting his fight, which cost him early on. Now, he feels like he has the mental aspect of his game down as well.
"You can't get to the point where you make it such a mental game that saying, 'Oh I have to win this. This is my only chance. I'm never going to get another opportunity, another title shot.' I'd like to go in there and win the fight, but I'm going to go in there and compete, and if I go in there and compete to my best then the bi-product of that is going to be a win," said Evans. "If things aren't going in my favor, I can definitely climb that mountain again and enjoy the journey all the way up to the top once more."
With all the hard work and training winding down, Evans is simply happy to get back in the cage and fight again and with a win this time around, everyone will cease calling him "Rashad" or even "Mr. Evans." He will simply be "Champ."
"That's going to be the greatest feeling in the world. I can't lie," he stated. "To have that title, it just says that I put in the work and I reaped the reward for doing that work and it would just be an amazing feeling."
Most fighters will say that at least 70 or 80% of fight preparation is mentally being ready for the battle ahead. One shining example of a fighter who works to out-think his opponent before the cage door ever closes is No. 1 light heavyweight contender Rashad Evans, who is not only physically ready for his title shot against Forrest Griffin, but he's as mentally prepared as ever.
When the "Ultimate Fighter" season 2 winner stepped into his fight against Chuck Liddell most people were somehow counting him out before it even started. The Michigan native was happy to disappoint, as he landed a thunderous punch that put the "Iceman" out cold, giving him the win.
After the fight, Evans credited his coaching staff of Greg Jackson and Mike Winklejohn for coming up with the perfect strategy to beat Liddell. The next fighter to break down will be Forrest Griffin at UFC 92 on Dec. 27.
"We're working on a gameplan and going over it extensively, me and Coach Winklejohn and Greg Jackson. They see what I do well and they just capitalize on that and try to make me do what I would do, but just do it better and just add a few things here and there," Evans said recently during an appearance on MMAWeekly Radio.
He understands all to well that Griffin is a much different type of fighter than maybe anyone he's faced in the past. His fellow Ultimate Fighter champion is seen as a hard worker and sort of a "jack of all trades" when it comes to his MMA style.
"It can be more difficult in some areas because he's just so well rounded in all avenues, but it just means I have to step my game up another notch," Evans commented about his fight preparation. "He's definitely talented in all areas and he has a gas tank that can just keep going and going, so I welcome the challenge."
The camp at Greg Jackson's gym consists of the regular rogue's gallery of training partners including Keith Jardine, Nate Marquardt, Georges St. Pierre, Joey Villasenor, and Eliot Marshall. Still despite an undefeated record and an overall impressive fight resume, Evans will enter the Octagon on Saturday night as the decided underdog.
"I don't know if I like playing that role, but it's a role that I've gotten used to," he said about being the underdog in the fight. "I just learned not to pay it any mind. When you're playing a favorite, you fight from a different position. You're fighting from a position that everybody you're telling about the fight is talking about, 'awww man, I don't even know if I should wish you luck. I know you going to mop him up.' So that puts pressure on you in a different kind of way.
"But when you're the underdog it kind of puts pressure on you in the fact that you want to prove everybody wrong."
The biggest lesson that taught Evans how to battle out of that underdog role was his 2007 fight against Tito Ortiz. In the bout, Evans was admittedly giving too much respect to his opponent and not fighting his fight, which cost him early on. Now, he feels like he has the mental aspect of his game down as well.
"You can't get to the point where you make it such a mental game that saying, 'Oh I have to win this. This is my only chance. I'm never going to get another opportunity, another title shot.' I'd like to go in there and win the fight, but I'm going to go in there and compete, and if I go in there and compete to my best then the bi-product of that is going to be a win," said Evans. "If things aren't going in my favor, I can definitely climb that mountain again and enjoy the journey all the way up to the top once more."
With all the hard work and training winding down, Evans is simply happy to get back in the cage and fight again and with a win this time around, everyone will cease calling him "Rashad" or even "Mr. Evans." He will simply be "Champ."
"That's going to be the greatest feeling in the world. I can't lie," he stated. "To have that title, it just says that I put in the work and I reaped the reward for doing that work and it would just be an amazing feeling."
UFC 92: FORREST GRIFFIN BREAKS DOWN RASHAD
Known throughout the industry as one of the hardest working competitors to fight in the sport of mixed martial arts, Forrest Griffin will have the opportunity to defend his UFC light heavyweight title for the first time on Dec. 27 when he squares off against Rashad Evans at UFC 92 in Las Vegas.
While Griffin's physical abilities have never been questioned, it's his mental game that has earned him a place among the best fighters in the world. He has a distinct ability to pick his opponents apart in such a way that he takes them out of their game on his way to a victory.
As he prepares for his fight with Evans, the champion has nothing but respect for his opponent, and understands exactly the task at hand.
"Rashad's a guy that's undefeated, never been knocked out, never been submitted. I've never seen him hurt, knocked down," Griffin told MMAWeekly Radio recently. "I mean, I've seen him look tired, but I've never seen him ever quit moving. He's a guy with a lot of strengths and few weaknesses."
When analyzing past fight performances by Evans, Griffin admits to being surprised at the way he was able to knock out Chuck Liddell in his last fight, but believes that their match-up has a much different dynamic.
"I don't know if Rashad's gameplan in that fight will apply to the fight we're going to have. Chuck is a special guy and he had the right gameplan, did all the right things, and he capitalized on a mistake that Chuck made with that incredible speed he's got, but I’m not a one punch knockout guy," Griffin stated. "Obviously I see a fight with myself and Rashad a little more like his fight with Bisping."
In the fight with Michael Bisping, which resulted in a three-round split decision in Evans' favor, the former Michigan State wrestler showed his takedowns early on, but focused on the stand-up portion of his game for most of the fight, which was back and forth for all 15 minutes.
Getting past that performance, Griffin also looks at how Evans will react to a 25-minute title fight, something he's never had to prepare for. The former "Ultimate Fighter" season 1 champion learned his championship pedigree preparation on the way to peak at the right time from none other than the legendary Randy Couture.
"I would train hard and then taper and then show up and feel good on the day you need to feel good. Not the day after the fight or two days before, but the day of the fight, make that day your best day to perform," Griffin said about what he learned from Couture.
Griffin is also cognoscente of the wrestling game that Evans brings into this fight, something he's faced before when squaring off against fighters like Tito Ortiz.
"A wrestler of Rashad's caliber, if they don't like the way things are going, even if they do like the way things are going on the feet and they feel the takedown there, they're probably going to be asked to go for it," Griffin said.
As he breaks down the fight, Griffin has nothing but compliments for his opponent, and he never shies away from some self-deprecating humor when describing his own fight techniques.
Regardless of jokes or strategy going into the fight, one thing has been made certain. Forrest Griffin is ready to fight and defend his light heavyweight title at UFC 92.
Known throughout the industry as one of the hardest working competitors to fight in the sport of mixed martial arts, Forrest Griffin will have the opportunity to defend his UFC light heavyweight title for the first time on Dec. 27 when he squares off against Rashad Evans at UFC 92 in Las Vegas.
While Griffin's physical abilities have never been questioned, it's his mental game that has earned him a place among the best fighters in the world. He has a distinct ability to pick his opponents apart in such a way that he takes them out of their game on his way to a victory.
As he prepares for his fight with Evans, the champion has nothing but respect for his opponent, and understands exactly the task at hand.
"Rashad's a guy that's undefeated, never been knocked out, never been submitted. I've never seen him hurt, knocked down," Griffin told MMAWeekly Radio recently. "I mean, I've seen him look tired, but I've never seen him ever quit moving. He's a guy with a lot of strengths and few weaknesses."
When analyzing past fight performances by Evans, Griffin admits to being surprised at the way he was able to knock out Chuck Liddell in his last fight, but believes that their match-up has a much different dynamic.
"I don't know if Rashad's gameplan in that fight will apply to the fight we're going to have. Chuck is a special guy and he had the right gameplan, did all the right things, and he capitalized on a mistake that Chuck made with that incredible speed he's got, but I’m not a one punch knockout guy," Griffin stated. "Obviously I see a fight with myself and Rashad a little more like his fight with Bisping."
In the fight with Michael Bisping, which resulted in a three-round split decision in Evans' favor, the former Michigan State wrestler showed his takedowns early on, but focused on the stand-up portion of his game for most of the fight, which was back and forth for all 15 minutes.
Getting past that performance, Griffin also looks at how Evans will react to a 25-minute title fight, something he's never had to prepare for. The former "Ultimate Fighter" season 1 champion learned his championship pedigree preparation on the way to peak at the right time from none other than the legendary Randy Couture.
"I would train hard and then taper and then show up and feel good on the day you need to feel good. Not the day after the fight or two days before, but the day of the fight, make that day your best day to perform," Griffin said about what he learned from Couture.
Griffin is also cognoscente of the wrestling game that Evans brings into this fight, something he's faced before when squaring off against fighters like Tito Ortiz.
"A wrestler of Rashad's caliber, if they don't like the way things are going, even if they do like the way things are going on the feet and they feel the takedown there, they're probably going to be asked to go for it," Griffin said.
As he breaks down the fight, Griffin has nothing but compliments for his opponent, and he never shies away from some self-deprecating humor when describing his own fight techniques.
Regardless of jokes or strategy going into the fight, one thing has been made certain. Forrest Griffin is ready to fight and defend his light heavyweight title at UFC 92.
Griffin vs. Evans According to Their Trainers
Preparing for their main event light heavyweight title fight at UFC 92 “The Ultimate 2008” this Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, champion Forrest Griffin and undefeated challenger Rashad Evans are a study in contrasts.
Griffin (16-4), training to defend his belt for the first time, still hits the gym with that same sobering sense of purpose he first displayed some six months ago as he readied for his first title shot against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. A unanimous decision victory made him champion at UFC 86. Griffin’s trademark sense of self-deprecating humor is still checked at the door, according to Shawn Tompkins, Griffin’s mixed martial arts coach at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.
“There’s a new Forrest,” Tompkins said. “He’s hungry … just the fact that he’s got that belt and he has to prove something. And Forrest loves to have to prove something to people.”
A hundred eighty degrees away, metaphorically speaking, Evans (12-0-1), preparing for his first title shot, views Saturday’s bout as just another day at the office, to hear his camp tell it.
“It’s just another fight to us,” said Evans’ trainer, Greg Jackson, who runs Jackson’s Submission Fighting in Albuquerque, N.M. “If we were fighting Forrest and there was no belt involved, it would all be exactly the same. That’s how we come at it to deal with those pressure situations.
“We never look at it in that Rocky Balboa way, you know, ‘It’s my one shot at the title,’” Jackson added with a decent Stallone impression. “That’s for the movies.”
Griffin, 29, is a durable, hard-hitting boxer and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. Evans, also 29, comes from a wrestling background -- he amassed a 48-34 record while wrestling for Michigan State University -- but has developed into a well-rounded MMA fighter with explosive strikes. Both fighters are winners of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, Griffin in season one and Evans in season two. Oddsmakers favor Griffin at UFC 92.
Another contrast between the two fighters is that Griffin’s camp is considerably more willing to discuss its game plan for Evans, while Evans’ coaches prefer not to tip their hand quite so much.
Tompkins said Griffin plans on utilizing a good boxing guard and hopes he will not chase Evans around the Octagon like Chuck Liddell did in Evans’ last fight on Sept. 6. In a definite “Knockout of the Year” contender, Evans crumpled Liddell with a devastating overhand right at 1:51 of the second round at UFC 88.
“Obviously, we have to make sure Forrest’s hands are up nice and high and not get caught into a game where we chase Rashad around,” Tompkins said. “I think that’s really where Chuck went wrong. And so we have to be smart with that ’cause Forest has a bit of a habit of just wanting to fight so badly that he’ll fall into that. Make Rashad come to us and really just do what Forrest does, and that’s really make the fight as tough as possible, because he’s such a durable guy.”
Because Griffin is known for his monster cardio, the longer the fight goes, the greater advantage he has, Tompkins said. At 6-foot-3, Griffin also has a considerable height and reach advantage over the 5-foot-11 Evans, Tompkins noted.
“What I think makes Forrest so durable is that thickness, that muscle density that he has,” he said. “So I think that’s what we really have going for us. When it comes to Rashad in those fourth and fifth rounds, that weight and that thickness is really going to weigh on him. Forrest is a mountain to deal with.”
When asked to elaborate on Evans’ gameplan, Jackson laughed.
“We want to win,” he said. “Seriously, I can’t go too much into specifics, but we’re expecting a really, really tough fight from Forrest. He’s an amazing fighter, a super tough guy. We expect him to try to wear us down and use a lot of kicks and body shots, so we’re trying to be ready for that.”
Evans’ striking and kickboxing coach, Mike Winkeljohn -- a former ISKA champion -- was equally reserved.
“Our gameplan would be to avoid anything that can tear Rashad down and put Rashad in position to take Forrest out of his gameplan,” he said.
Winkeljohn said that since he and Jackson believe Griffin will try to take Evans deep into the fight in an attempt to make fatigue a factor, Evans’ cardio training has been a priority. Evans also has been working on adding new weapons to his MMA arsenal, according to Winkeljohn.
“He’s not all about overhand rights, that’s for sure,” he said. “I mean, I hope that’s what people think.”
When pressed about Evans’ new weapons, Winkeljohn pointed to his brutal head kick knockout of Sean Salmon at UFC Fight Night 8 in 2007.
“Rashad can kick,” Winkeljohn said. “We’ve seen that with Sean Salmon. Rashad has become much more comfortable when he’s out there standing up. That’s about all I can tell you as far as the new stuff goes. You guys have seen each fight he gets better.”
Griffin and Evans are not completely about contrasts in priming for their title clash. Both are healthy and injury-free, the result being strong training camps for each.
While keeping intact his reputation for a second-to-none work ethic in the gym, Griffin has matured as a fighter and thus has learned to train more intelligently, said Ron Frazier, one of his Xtreme Couture boxing coaches.
“From the day he started to the day he ends, he’ll always be that guy who works harder in the gym than anybody,” Frazier said. “But one thing he’s a little bit smarter about now is that if his body tells him he needs to take a day off or a session off, he will do that. And now that he’s champion, he knows that some of the things he got away with earlier in his career, he just can’t do anymore ’cause it weakens him as a fighter.”
Besides Tompkins and Frazier, Griffin’s other main coach is muay Thai specialist Mark Beecher, based at Warrior Training Center in Las Vegas. One of Griffin’s primary sparring partners has been fellow light heavyweight Wanderlei Silva -- who will fight Jackson for the third time at UFC 92.
“It’s been perfect,” Tompkins said. “The two of them are very intense guys, and to have both of them be able to help the other get ready for the exact same night is great.”
Evans’ training is going well, too, Jackson said.
“He’s on point, and he hopefully should peak at the right time, so everything is going well,” Jackson said, noting that Evans’ close friend, Keith Jardine -- a light heavyweight who holds a TKO win over Griffin -- is his main sparring partner, as well as “a great strategist with a lot of good insights.”
“And Rashad is very healthy, other than being mentally insane,” Jackson said with a laugh. “Actually, he’s one of the sanest people I know.”
Winkeljohn, meanwhile, said Evans plans to make the most of his first crack at the light heavyweight crown.
“He’s gonna make his dreams come true and become the biggest thing out there,” he said.
Preparing for their main event light heavyweight title fight at UFC 92 “The Ultimate 2008” this Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, champion Forrest Griffin and undefeated challenger Rashad Evans are a study in contrasts.
Griffin (16-4), training to defend his belt for the first time, still hits the gym with that same sobering sense of purpose he first displayed some six months ago as he readied for his first title shot against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. A unanimous decision victory made him champion at UFC 86. Griffin’s trademark sense of self-deprecating humor is still checked at the door, according to Shawn Tompkins, Griffin’s mixed martial arts coach at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.
“There’s a new Forrest,” Tompkins said. “He’s hungry … just the fact that he’s got that belt and he has to prove something. And Forrest loves to have to prove something to people.”
A hundred eighty degrees away, metaphorically speaking, Evans (12-0-1), preparing for his first title shot, views Saturday’s bout as just another day at the office, to hear his camp tell it.
“It’s just another fight to us,” said Evans’ trainer, Greg Jackson, who runs Jackson’s Submission Fighting in Albuquerque, N.M. “If we were fighting Forrest and there was no belt involved, it would all be exactly the same. That’s how we come at it to deal with those pressure situations.
“We never look at it in that Rocky Balboa way, you know, ‘It’s my one shot at the title,’” Jackson added with a decent Stallone impression. “That’s for the movies.”
Griffin, 29, is a durable, hard-hitting boxer and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. Evans, also 29, comes from a wrestling background -- he amassed a 48-34 record while wrestling for Michigan State University -- but has developed into a well-rounded MMA fighter with explosive strikes. Both fighters are winners of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, Griffin in season one and Evans in season two. Oddsmakers favor Griffin at UFC 92.
Another contrast between the two fighters is that Griffin’s camp is considerably more willing to discuss its game plan for Evans, while Evans’ coaches prefer not to tip their hand quite so much.
Tompkins said Griffin plans on utilizing a good boxing guard and hopes he will not chase Evans around the Octagon like Chuck Liddell did in Evans’ last fight on Sept. 6. In a definite “Knockout of the Year” contender, Evans crumpled Liddell with a devastating overhand right at 1:51 of the second round at UFC 88.
“Obviously, we have to make sure Forrest’s hands are up nice and high and not get caught into a game where we chase Rashad around,” Tompkins said. “I think that’s really where Chuck went wrong. And so we have to be smart with that ’cause Forest has a bit of a habit of just wanting to fight so badly that he’ll fall into that. Make Rashad come to us and really just do what Forrest does, and that’s really make the fight as tough as possible, because he’s such a durable guy.”
Because Griffin is known for his monster cardio, the longer the fight goes, the greater advantage he has, Tompkins said. At 6-foot-3, Griffin also has a considerable height and reach advantage over the 5-foot-11 Evans, Tompkins noted.
“What I think makes Forrest so durable is that thickness, that muscle density that he has,” he said. “So I think that’s what we really have going for us. When it comes to Rashad in those fourth and fifth rounds, that weight and that thickness is really going to weigh on him. Forrest is a mountain to deal with.”
When asked to elaborate on Evans’ gameplan, Jackson laughed.
“We want to win,” he said. “Seriously, I can’t go too much into specifics, but we’re expecting a really, really tough fight from Forrest. He’s an amazing fighter, a super tough guy. We expect him to try to wear us down and use a lot of kicks and body shots, so we’re trying to be ready for that.”
Evans’ striking and kickboxing coach, Mike Winkeljohn -- a former ISKA champion -- was equally reserved.
“Our gameplan would be to avoid anything that can tear Rashad down and put Rashad in position to take Forrest out of his gameplan,” he said.
Winkeljohn said that since he and Jackson believe Griffin will try to take Evans deep into the fight in an attempt to make fatigue a factor, Evans’ cardio training has been a priority. Evans also has been working on adding new weapons to his MMA arsenal, according to Winkeljohn.
“He’s not all about overhand rights, that’s for sure,” he said. “I mean, I hope that’s what people think.”
When pressed about Evans’ new weapons, Winkeljohn pointed to his brutal head kick knockout of Sean Salmon at UFC Fight Night 8 in 2007.
“Rashad can kick,” Winkeljohn said. “We’ve seen that with Sean Salmon. Rashad has become much more comfortable when he’s out there standing up. That’s about all I can tell you as far as the new stuff goes. You guys have seen each fight he gets better.”
Griffin and Evans are not completely about contrasts in priming for their title clash. Both are healthy and injury-free, the result being strong training camps for each.
While keeping intact his reputation for a second-to-none work ethic in the gym, Griffin has matured as a fighter and thus has learned to train more intelligently, said Ron Frazier, one of his Xtreme Couture boxing coaches.
“From the day he started to the day he ends, he’ll always be that guy who works harder in the gym than anybody,” Frazier said. “But one thing he’s a little bit smarter about now is that if his body tells him he needs to take a day off or a session off, he will do that. And now that he’s champion, he knows that some of the things he got away with earlier in his career, he just can’t do anymore ’cause it weakens him as a fighter.”
Besides Tompkins and Frazier, Griffin’s other main coach is muay Thai specialist Mark Beecher, based at Warrior Training Center in Las Vegas. One of Griffin’s primary sparring partners has been fellow light heavyweight Wanderlei Silva -- who will fight Jackson for the third time at UFC 92.
“It’s been perfect,” Tompkins said. “The two of them are very intense guys, and to have both of them be able to help the other get ready for the exact same night is great.”
Evans’ training is going well, too, Jackson said.
“He’s on point, and he hopefully should peak at the right time, so everything is going well,” Jackson said, noting that Evans’ close friend, Keith Jardine -- a light heavyweight who holds a TKO win over Griffin -- is his main sparring partner, as well as “a great strategist with a lot of good insights.”
“And Rashad is very healthy, other than being mentally insane,” Jackson said with a laugh. “Actually, he’s one of the sanest people I know.”
Winkeljohn, meanwhile, said Evans plans to make the most of his first crack at the light heavyweight crown.
“He’s gonna make his dreams come true and become the biggest thing out there,” he said.