Main event is next but we’re treated to a clip of a new Nicholas Cage opus first…Now we’re doing the recap of the Forrest Griffin v. Rampage “feud” from the Ultimate Fighter. Rampage evokes the “wouldn’t bust a grape in a fruit fight” line from Jay-Z’s classic “99 Problems”.

Forrest Griffin being the challenger enters the cage first. Crowd gets all excited as Rampage prepares to make his entrance. Rampage looks *pissed* as he always does prefight, wearing a plain black t-shirt since he can’t roll in Affliction anymore. He’s all business and we haven’t even had a howl yet. No howls in the ring entrance as the cutman examines Rampage before he gets into the cage. Rampage may be the most intimidating looking dude in the sport–he’s downright scary. Kimbo Slice thinks that Rampage looks menacing…that is one tough looking man.

Bruce Buffer set to intro the fighters and will boom out his comparatively weak catch phrase ‘it’s time’! Michael really needs to work with him to get a better catch phrase–he’s a good announcer but he’s got to do better than that. Rampage’s glare is frightening–it makes Wanderlei Silva’s prefight gaze look comforting by comparison. Now they show David Spade. Get that dude off the screen. Forrest looks relaxed and he’s clearly the crowd favorite. Mandy Moore is shown–she’s been seen in the company of a certain GSP of late. Rampage intro’d next and he gives a glare that nearly breaks the camera lens. Fans give a mixed reaction–not exactly boos, not exactly cheers but a lot of noise. The fighters give a half hearted touch of gloves and we’re ready to go…

ROUND ONE:

Yves Lavigne starts the action and the two fighters meet in the middle. Forrest with a quick leg kick, Rampage counters and misses, Forrest with another kick. Griffin working a jab nicely, follows it up with a straight right but misses. Middle kick by Griffin. Forrest fighting a good tactical fight so far–Rampage counters, Forrest stumbles slightly and then eats a Rampage uppercut. Not sure that Forrest was hurt on the first punch as he may have stumbled. Griffin trying to keep Rampage on the outside with his leg kick. It’s at least got Rampage’s attention. Rampage unloads a big combination punctuated by a left hook that wobbles Forrest. Forrest responds with a combination of his own that backs Rampage up–not sure it hurts him but it backs him up. Another leg kick by Forrest and it appears to hurt Rampage. Just over a minute left, Forrest with another kick to Rampages thigh. He walks right into a straight right and Forrest goes down. Rampage bulls him over to the cage wall and tries to pass his guard. :30 left in the round and Forrest gets on his feet and the two fighters are trading. Forrest backs up Rampage with a straight right as the round end. Excellent first round–replay shows that Rampage clocked Forrest with a wicked uppercut for the knockdown. Rampage gets the round on the basis on the knockdown, but Griffin up until that point was fighting an excellent tactical fight. We’ll call it 10-9 on the SAVSCI scorecard…

ROUND TWO:

Another leg kick by Forrest and another. Rampage’s leg is hurt. Forrest has Rampage in a guillotine for a moment and in the process nails the champion with a couple of big knees. Forrest is a very underrated submission fighter–Rogan drops the verboten name of Randy Couture, since he trained with Forrest. Griffin in half guard and he’s mauling Rampage in the ground and pound. Griffin in side control now, and he’s grabbed an arm trying to set up an Americana. Forrest has the arm again and when Rampage goes to defend he wails him with elbows. Full mount by Forrest now and he’s mauling him with his forearm and elbows from the top. Rampage looks to be rolling over and the last thing he wants to do is give Forrest his back. Forrest continues the ground and pound but he looks to be setting up a submission and he keeps trying to grab the arm whenever Rampage moves it. 40 seconds left in the round and its been total domination by the challenger. Rampage eating a lot of punches but they don’t seem to be hurting him too much. He’s doing a good job defending Forrest’s submission attempts. Round ends and its an *easy* win for Forrest Griffin…you could make a case for a 10-8 round as Forrest overwhelmed him from the start. We’ll call it 10-9. Rampage’s leg is hurt as they immediately throw some ice on it and his trainer gives him a lecture. Replay shows that a Forrest kick landed right on the knee. Nasty. 19-19 fight…

ROUND THREE:

Rampage’s leg is hurt–he can barely stand on it which is going to seriously undermine his power. Griffin fighting smart and not rushing in. Rampage with a combination connects–he’s showing a ton of courage fighting on one leg. Forrest looking for an opening to go after the leg again. He needs Manny Steward in the corner to swear at him to get that guy out of there a la Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson. Griffin waiting for something to happen, and what happened was a three punch combo by Rampage, though not with the same power as before. Rampage catches Griffin with a left and wobbles the challenger momentarily. Rampage showing a ton of courage–middle kick by Forrest. Rampage doing a nice job so far protecting his injured leg. Pretty even round so far–Rogan suggests that the 2nd was a 10-8 for Griffin and that’s hard to argue with. Low kick by Forrest. Rampage coming forward, Forrest lands a nice left hook. Straight right by Rampage. Body shot by Rampage and then he retreats quickly. Forrest showing a lot of patience which will either appear brilliant or idiotic at the end of the fight. On one hand, Rampage’s knee isn’t getting any better; on the other hand he’s in with a dangerous opponent. Forrest with a nice combination; Rampage responds. Round 3 ends–tough round to score. We’ll give it to Rampage, but it could go either way. 10-9 Rampage, he leads 29-28 but it could be even if the 2nd was scored 10-8….

ROUND FOUR:

Forrest misses with a low kick then partially connects with a high kick. Rampage catches Forrest coming in with a hook and an uppercut. Now Forrest pulls guard and Rampage is on top. Forrest appears to be cut over his right eye, though he bleeds like Chuck Wepner. Rampage on top but has yet to get any significant ground and pound. Forrest with a triangle choke. Rampage is going to try to slam him, Forrest escapes the full punishment but escapes the choke. James Thompson’s ear thinks that Forrest’s eye looks bad–nasty cut but for now not causing any vision problems. Forrest doing a nice job defending on the ground with two minutes left in the round. Forrest tries an omoplata but Rampage escapes–he catches Forrest with a punch on the way up. Nice punch by Forrest connects, Rampage counters and connects. Just over a minute left–Forrest partially connects with a high kick and scores with a nice combination. Rampage with a big left hook right to Forrest’s cut. :30 in the round, one that Forrest will win if he just stays away from Rampage for the last :20 seconds. Rampage misses with a big combination. Middle kick by Griffin just misses, Rampage lands a couple of good shots as the round ends. Another close round, we’ll call it 10-9 Forrest Griffin meaning we’ve got a 38-38 score on the SAVSCI cards–don’t forget that round 2 could have been 10-8 which would have Forrest winning…

ROUND FIVE:

Final round starts in the center, Griffin with a right hook misses. Rampage looks to be loading up a big right hand, Griffin lands another low kick. Griffin doubles up his jab and lands a middle kick. Big right hand by Rampage lands. Low kick by Forrest. Forrest doubles up his jab, Rampage coming forward slowly. 3:30 left and the round and the fight still up for grabs. Big leg kick by Forrest. Rampage responds with a big right hand. Rampage respecting Forrest’s power now and *really* respecting those leg kicks. 3 minutes left now –two punch combo and a high kick by Griffin just misses. Griffin with a low kick, Rampage’s leg looks much better. Two minutes left and so far its Griffin’s round. Combination by Forrest sets up a middle kick. Rampage responds with a body shot. 1:20 left. Another leg kick by Forrest. Forrest lands a right, Rampage counters nicely. 1 minute left in what has been an excellent fight. Griffin is a tough dude–he could stay away from Rampage but he keeps coming at him. 30 seconds left now. Body shot by Rampage. Uppercut by Rampage. 10 seconds left and Forrest ties Rampage up in the middle as the horn sounds. Rampage and Forrest hug in the middle. We’ve got it 10-9 Forrest for giving him the fight 48-47. It could go either way, plus round two could have been a 10-8…we’ll wait for the official decision.

Lorenzo Fertitta talks to Rampage as ‘Stitch’ Duran looks at Forrest’s eye. Here’s the decision…

48-46
48-46
49-46

FORREST GRIFFIN WINS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION

If there’s a tougher dude on the planet than Forrest Griffin–how he managed to eat Rampage’s best power shots and keep coming forward is amazing. Forrest throws out every expletive he knows, but since he’s been eating Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson’s punches for 25 minutes we’ll cut him some slack. Props to Rampage, he doesn’t make any excuses saying “I got my ass whooped”. Classy postfight by the former champ giving props to the fans and to Forrest Griffin…

Thanks for joining us for tonight’s round by round coverage–THE SAVAGE SCIENCE is your source for live coverage of the big events in MMA no matter where in the world they occur….