Forrest Griffin Overcomes the Rampage, Wins UFC Gold
July 6, 2008
Forrest Griffin proved to the world of MMA that he’s more than just a reality star by beating Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson for the UFC light-heavyweight championship.
Days before the fight, Griffin was the clear underdog for the fight and some experts believed that Jackson will win the fight, at least based on paper. But Griffin stepped up for the biggest fight of his career and fought his way to capture the 205-pound world title by unanimous decision.
At the ring of the bell, Griffin took the fight to Jackson immediately; flicking some jabs and kicks to the head and legs of the champion. Jackson was caught off guard at some instances but was also able to throw some punches to the challenger.
Jackson’s left leg was pretty banged up by the second round and it was clearly bothering him. Griffin connected yet another kick to the left leg, this time really hurting Jackson’s leg. Despite the busted leg, Jackson held his own and fought until the final bell.
After the nasty exchanges for five long rounds, the fight was to be decided by scorecards. Two judges scored the bout 48-46 while the other one had it 49-46 all in favor if Griffin. The win improves Griffin to 16-4 and drops Jackson to 28-7.
-fouledout
Condes Loses His IBF Title
June 16, 2008
Florante Condes lost his IBF minimum weight title by unanimous decision to Mexican boxer Raul “Rayito” Garcia in La Paz, Mexico.
Condes, nicknamed as “The Little Pacquiao”, managed to drop Garcia with a hard right in the final round, but it wasn’t enough to salvage a win against the Mexican fighter as he was already down in points. Two judges scored the bout 115-112 while the third one had it 118-110 all in favor of Garcia.
The undefeated Raul Garcia improves to 23-0-1 (16 KOs) while Florante Condes dropped to 22-4-1 (20 KOs).
-fouledout
Valero Stops Shimada By TKO
June 13, 2008
Venezuelan knock-out artist Edwin Valero retained his WBA super featherweight title after clobbering Japan’s Takehiro Shimada. Valero defeated Shimada via TKO in the seventh round.
The ref stopped the bout when Shimada was sent to the canvas by a right hook from Valero at 1 minute, 55 seconds of the seventh round.
Shimada dropped to 22-4-1 with 15 KOs while Valero improved to 24-0 all by way of knockouts.
Valero recently expressed his desire to move up to the 135 lbs. division since there are big names in the lightweight division. He will jump to the 135 division if he can have fight contract against Filipino fighter Manny Pacquaio, who recently moved up to 135.
It would be interesting to see Valero move up to 135 and compete with the big names in the division. If he actually moves up, he can face an assortment of 135 fighters. Manny Pacquaio or Nate Campbell or Joel Casamayor would be great options. He can also fight Juan Manuel Marquez or Joan Guzman, both expected to go up to the lightweight division. Things just got a little more exciting in the lightweight division.
-fouledout
