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A charismatic champion, who can sting with his fists and words faces an overachieving, underrated challenger, who wins fights with heart and conditioning.
Is it Apollo vs. Rocky?
Nope. It's Saturday's main event between light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Forrest Griffin at UFC 86.
As the card closes in, here are some predictions for Saturday night.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin -- Light heavyweight championship
If Jackson is going to put away Griffin, it better be early. What we've learned from Forrest Griffin is that he's a cardio machine. He outlasted Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in one of the most exciting and improbable MMA matches ever. Jackson has all the talent in the world, but it's well known that training for a fight isn't his favorite thing to do. Rampage is a great champion. Outside of being one of the greatest interviews in MMA, he's fun to watch and always goes for the finish.
The standup might be a push, with the solid chin of Griffin neutralizing the heavy-handed champion.
As far as the ground is concerned, I give the wrestling edge to Rampage, while the submission grappling goes to Griffin. If it goes to the floor, Rampage's best bet is to hammer away from side control because Griffin is able to throw a few subs out there.
If Griffin avoids the first or second-round knockout, he'll grind out a very exciting five-round decision.
Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida
After an 0-4 UFC record, Patrick Cote has turned around his MMA career with three straight UFC wins. An impressive striker, Cote will need to stay off the ground against Renzo Gracie trained Ricardo Almeida. Despite the winning streak, I think that Almeida will impose his will and bring the lackluster fight to the ground for a large part of three rounds and earn the decision win.
Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau
There's no shame in losing to UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn. He's one of the greatest of all time. So it's almost tough to say that Joe Stevenson is coming off a loss -- but he is -- and so is Gleison Tibau. There is a good chance that the very explosive Stevenson will dominate this division and meet Penn once again for the title one day. The former TUF Season 2 winner is going to be around for a long time and will overwhelm Tibau and earn a referee stoppage in the second round of this one.
Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle
This has fight of the night all over it.
Both fighters are coming off impressive knockouts and both need another win to be considered title contenders in the talent-saturated welterweight division. We're talking 15 minutes of toe-to-toe boxing, kickboxing, aggressive wrestling, submission attempts and near finishes. Lytle has heavy hands and Koscheck has to feel confident with his improved kicking game. If Lytle doesn't get the knockout in the first two rounds, Koscheck wins this one by decision.
Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio
Griffin is a superior wrestler, but he will have to stay out of submissions if he decides to go on the ground with Aurelio. Griffin gets the better of the standup, avoids the sub attempts and earns the second round referee stoppage.
Submission of the night: This award goes to Gabriel Gonzaga who will get taken to the ground by Justin McCully after Gonzaga gets the better part of the standup. Gonzaga will catch him in something funky that we'll see after the main event is over.
Combatwire readers: What are your predictions for UFC 86?
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