UFC 101 Analysis: Can Griffin Pull off the Upset?

Forrest Griffin has long been one of the UFC's most popular fighters. Through four years of hard work, he's also become one of the best. Griffin, famously, works harder than anyone else in the sport of MMA. The result is a fighter who can test his opponent for five long rounds and can more than hold his own both on the ground and on his feet.

Anderson Silva is the anti-Griffin. It's not that he doesn't work hard: he certainly does. It's just that every thing he does comes so naturally. While Griffin struggles to maintain good footwork, Silva flows around the cage, a natural killer. Even Griffin's supposed weight advantage seems moot. Looking like a young Jack Johnson, it seems Silva even puts on extra bulk gracefully.

In almost every category, Silva has the distinct advantage. If it's a pretty fight, where the guys stand at a normal distance and trade strikes, Forrest is a dead man. But in close, in the trenches, when things get ugly, this is his opportunity. A source close to his camp tells me Griffin's gameplan is to create this ugly fight. If you see a fight where Forrest is pushing Silva against the cage, leaning on him, trying to bully him...this may still result in a knockout win for Silva from the Thai clinch. But Griffin will have gone out fighting his fight.