Silva vs. Griffin
The co-main event of UFC 101: Declaration is a battle between middleweight champion Anderson Silva who will move up a weight class to face former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.
Silva enters this fight as the favorite at -340 over
Strengths: Silva is considered by many as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Silva has diverse striking as combines boxing, kickboxing and muay thai into one seamless striking game. If his striking wasn’t good enough, Silva is also a jiu jitsu black belt who has submitted some of the best fighters in the world. Silva’s reach and length make him dangerous in any position and hard to get inside of while striking.
Weaknesses: If Silva has a weakness, he has yet to show it in the UFC. His last two fights have left something to be desired, but more so because his opponents have not wanted to trade with the dangerous striker. In his only weak moment in the octagon, Silva was taken down and controlled for one round by Dan Henderson, showing that he could be susceptible to takedowns. Silva is also going to be the smaller fighter against
Last Five Fights:
Unanimous Decision win over Thales Leites at UFC 97 on April 18, 2009
Third round TKO win over Patrick Cote at UFC 90 on Oct. 25, 2008
First round KO win over James Irvin at Ultimate Fight Night 14 on July 19, 2008
Second round submission win over Dan Henderson at UFC 82 on March 1, 2008
Second round TKO win over Rich Franklin at UFC 77 on Oct. 20, 2007
Forrest
Strengths: Forrest
Weaknesses:
Last Five Fights:
Third round TKO loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 92 on Dec. 27, 2008
Unanimous Decision win over Quinton Jackson at UFC 86 on July 5, 2008
Third round submission win over Mauricio Rua at UFC 76 on Sept. 22, 2007
Unanimous Decision win over Hector Ramirez at UFC 72 on June 16, 2007
First round TKO loss to Keith Jardine at UFC 66 on Dec. 30, 2006
Who will win: Silva is the clear favorite for a reason, but
Additional Line: Over/Under 1.5 rounds for the fight. Over (-220), Under (+160)
UFC 101 takes place from the
Posted: 8/07/09 1:35PM ET