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.

However, standing in front of him is BJ Penn, and despite how much Kenny has improved…BJ seems just a bit better than Kenny in all aspects. BJ has deceptive boxing, and hits like he has a  roll of quarters in his hands. Kenny landed multiple shots on Huerta, including punches, knees, elbows and kicks, but all that seemed to do as piss of Huerta. Either Kenny was playing the out-pointing game, or his strikes had little effect on Huerta.

Wrestling-wise, Kenny is over-matched as well; while neither guy is known for their wrestling, BJ is able to stifle top wrestlers like Matt Hughes and GSP (for a while anyways). Ground game? Forget about it. Kenny is 8/10 while BJ is 10/10. The guy is the best grappler at 155lbs.

The only potential advantage Kenny has, is cardio. Even then, he has to make it to the third round in order to cash in on that potential advantage.

So while Kenny’s determination to win has finally matched his physical skills, he will come up just short again, falling to strikes in round 3.

Kenny Florian appears to have a 1″ height advantage over BJ until you realize it’s just his helmet hair. Then he loses an inch. Anyways, the co-main event, and possibly more anticipated fight features Anderson Silva taking on Forrest Griffin at 205lbs. One has to assume that Anderson Silva is on the doorstep of a title shot at 205lbs should he get past Griffin, though the UFC would have to shell out big bucks for Silva to take on his teammate Lyoto Machida.

However, as good as that fight would be for hardcore fight fans, the casual fans may still not be aware of Lyoto Machida yet. I say build the fight on TUF 11. You heard it here first. Here’s the rest of the card:

Main event:
UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian

Main card:
205 lbs: Forrest Griffin vs. Anderson Silva
185 lbs: Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks
185 lbs: Kendall Grove vs. Ricardo Almeida
155 lbs: Kurt Pellegrino vs. Josh Neer

Prelims (May not be broadcast):
170 lbs: John Howard vs. Tamdan McCrory
170 lbs: Matt Riddle vs. Dan Cramer
155 lbs: George Sotiropoulos vs. Rob Emerson
170 lbs: Danillo Villefort vs. Jesse Lennox
185 lbs: Alessio Sakara vs. Thales Leites
155 lbs: Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley

One has to believe Leites is just a loss away from being cut, despite winning 5 of 6 bouts prior to his snoozefest against Anderson Silva at UFC 97. Leites blew the biggest opportunity of his career, flopping over like a turtle on his back when he realized he could not take Silva down.

Sakara, on the other hand, is coming off of an impressive head kick TKO of Joe Vedepo. Overall though, he has a 4-4-1 record with the UFC and I still maintain he likely has some incriminating photos of Dana White…possibly with some farm animals, to still be with the UFC. This was a guy who openly discussed taking on Chuck Liddell when Liddell at his peak, and promptly got subbed by Dean Lister. The guy crumbles against the upper tier fighters, and has/had a suspect ground game. We’ll see if he’s improved upon that, in the unofficial, “Loser leave Town” match this August.

Griffin and Silva tangle in Philly!!

Anderson wanted “big fights” and he’s getting a big fight. He’s got a date with UFC golden boy, Forrest Griffin at UFC 101 in Philedelphia.

There’s no way Silva can sit back and not engage until the other guy engages, because that’s not Griffin’s style. Griffin said it himself, he’s not a knockout guy, he’s not a “jits” guy, he’s just an all-around, “wear you out” kind of guy. He won’t be flopping on his back like Thales Leites, hoping to engage Silva. Silva will need to engage and drastically change his tactic.

This is a smart move on the UFC’s part. If Griffin wins, their poster boy is back on track to a title shot, having defeated one of the top pound-for-pound guys in the world. If Silva wins, he picks up a win over the former 205lb Champ, and a title shot at 205lbs is sure to follow. Plus, it will put some lustre back on Silva’s star, lustre he lost with lacklustre performances against Patrick Cote and Thales Leites. Enough use of the word, “lustre” for you?

Besides, a loss wouldn’t hurt Griffin. He’s like teflon and unless he lost to 3 or 4 guys in a row, the UFC will still back him. It’s a win, win, win for the UFC. There’s a “place to go” if you will, if either guy wins…unlike their curious UFC 96 main event pitting Quinton Jackson vs Keith Jardine.

Kenny Florian finally gets his shot at 155lb Champion, BJ Penn, after Penn’s failed attempt at simultaneously holding the Lightweight and Welterweight titles. We all know how that debacle turned out after his loss to George St. Pierre.

However, it’s time for Penn to move on and focus on the increasingly dangerous Florian. Florian has been on an unbelievable tear, taking down top contenders Roger Huerta and Joe Stevenson in his most recent fights. He is much, much more equipped for a title shot at this point in his career. As an added bonus, Georges St. Pierre is helping to prepare Florian for this bout, as one last jab at Penn.

Penn has been completely consumed by the apparent greasing during his last bout, and can’t seem to let it go. He has convinced himself it would have been a vastly different fight had the vaseline not been applied to St. Pierre. He had better refocus, and fast. Florian has cardio until next Tuesday, and is head and shoulders above the rest of the 155lb class.

Now we await Nogueira’s camp. It’s hard to imagine that Nogueira would turn the fight down, with Couture being one of the biggest names in MMA and the two have much mutual respect for eachother.

I also bet both guys are chomping at the bit to get back at it, after their respective sub-standard showings in their last fights.

Couture suffered a TKO loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91, dropping his Heavyweight title in the process; Nogueira looked 42 instead of 32, also losing by TKO to Frank Mir at UFC 92.