UFC 92: Rashad Evans Beats Forrest Griffin
Rashad Evans is the new UFC light heavyweight champion.
Evans beat Forrest Griffin by TKO with a dominant ground and pound display in the third round of tonight's main event of UFC 92, taking the title belt in the UFC's marquee weight class.
Griffin dominated the early part of the fight: In the first round, it was completely a stand-up battle, with Griffin doing a good job of using his superior height and length to land kicks to Evans' legs and body. In the second Evans landed a couple of solid punches, but for the most part Griffin wasn't hurt, and he continued to control the fight with his superior reach.
But in the third, Evans caught a kick, took Griffin down, and punished Griffin on the ground. Although Griffin got Evans into his guard, Evans was doing significant damage when the fighters were on the canvas, and Evans eventually pounded Griffin out.
Griffin, who became the champion when he beat Rampage Jackson in July, was making his first title defense. Now Evans may end up defending the belt against Rampage, who knocked out Wanderlei Silva in an undercard fight. Evans vs. Rampage would be a great fight.
Evans improves his record to 13-0-1. Griffin falls to 16-5.
Knockout Night at UFC 92
Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans go toe-to-toe in a three-round slugfest.
Rashad Evans was ripped left and right on his season of "The Ultimate Fighter." He was too small and Matt Hughes said his attitude sucked. UFC president Dana White thought he was the worst prospect of all the heavyweights on Season 2. He overcame everything thrown his way that season to win the title and now he's blazed his way through some of the best 205-pounders in the world to become the UFC light heavyweight champ. In an all-out slugfest, it was ground work that did it for the former Michigan State wrestler who stopped Forrest Griffin via TKO at 2:46 of the third round Saturday.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, currently recognized as the largest MMA promotion in the world.[2] The UFC is owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The UFC began as a single-event tournament to find the world's best fighters irrespective of their style, and was based upon Brazilian vale tudo fighting. Although there were a few limited number of rules, fighting in the UFC was marketed as no holds barred, and contests were often violent and brutal. Early UFC fights were less sport than spectacle, which led to accusations of brutality and "human cock fighting" by Senator John McCain and others.[3] Political pressures eventually led the UFC into the underground, as pay-per-view providers nixed UFC programming, nearly extinguishing the UFC's public visibility.
