MMAVu

I wonder if it was by coincidence that the UFC matched the recently under-performing Anderson Silva up against Forrest Griffin in Philadelphia? In Philly, where they have some of the most rabid and fanatic fans on the entire planet.

Anderson can expect a near-riot if he puts in another uninspired performance like at UFC 97 or UFC 90. He won those fights, but did little except avoid losing, that he lost some of his aura with those two wins. Granted, his opponents did not engage with Silva, but you can’t fight “to not lose” like Tim Syl…what’s-his-name, you have to push and put your opponent away, like Silva did in all his previous fights.

Griffin will not just stand back like Patrick Cote, or flop on his back like Thales Leites did before him. Griffin will engage, take a few shots, and likely get put away by Silva, if he isn’t successful in taking Silva down and grinding on him a bit. Griffin isn’t known for his shot or his wrestling, but if Travis Lutter can take Silva down and mount him, so can Griffin. Expect this fight to end in the first or second round via TKO, in Silva’s favor.

Main event:

UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian – BJ by TKO.

Main card:

205 lbs: Forrest Griffin vs. Anderson Silva – Silva by TKO

170 lbs: Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks – Sadollah via arm bar

185 lbs: Kendall Grove vs. Ricardo Almeida – Almeida via rear naked choke. Speaking of which, I’d like to get that new ring girl in a rear naked choke myself.

155 lbs.: Kurt Pellegrino vs. Josh Neer – Neer via decision

Under card (May not be broadcast):

170 lbs: John Howard vs. Tamdan McCrory – Tamdan, by sub

170 lbs: Matt Riddle vs. Dan Cramer – Riddle via decision

155 lbs: George Sotiropoulos vs. George Roop – George by TKO

170 lbs: Danillo Villefort vs. Jesse Lennox – Who?

185 lbs: Alessio Sakara vs. Thales Leites – Expect Thales to be booed like crazy, but he’ll win via submission

155 lbs: Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley – Riley, because Nelson is a bit of a punk. There you go; I’m expecting a cut of your winnings.

Roy Jones Jr. vs Anderson Silva inside the UFC Octagon, in a mixed-martial-arts bout. That’s the hot rumor du jour…but as long as Silva is under Zuffa’s contract, it ain’t happening, according to Dana White:

The fight would make some money, but it hurts MMA in the long term. We don’t do that because we love the sport. That’s a PRIDE or K-1 matchup. It’s not what we do.

The Silva/Jones Jr. boxing match has been making the rounds for about a year now, after Silva defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 82 last year and wondered aloud about his desire to box Jones Jr. This time however, cbssports.com reports that Jones Jr. is willing to come to Silva’s domain to make it happen. The UFC isn’t game however, which leaves Silva two options:

A.) Fight out the remaining four fights on his contract, which could take two years or more, depending on injuries and availability of “big” fights. If Silva is still champion at that time, don’t expect Zuffa to just let him go without a fight; expect a long, drawn-out legal battle. I remember something about a fighter’s contract automatically extending for one fight if he’s still champ at the expiration of a contract…or something like that.

B.) Pull a Randy Couture, expediting the long, drawn-out legal battle.

Either way, the Silva/Jones Jr. fight, under any rules, will not happen any time soon.

Nick Diaz has also thrown his name into the mix, challenging Jones Jr. to a boxing match…but despite his relatively high profile in MMA, Diaz is hardly on Silva’s level, and not really worth Jones Jr.’s time.