Posted August 8, 2009
Anderson “The Spider” Silva (24-4) takes on Forrest Griffin (16-5) at UFC 101 tonight at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Silva has been destructive since he arrived in the UFC in 2006 with an unprecedented nine consecutive wins in the octagon beating some all-time greats like former middleweight champion Rich Franklin on two occasions and pride legend Dan Henderson.
Silva is the current UFC middleweight champion and steps up to 205 pounds tonight for his fight with Griffin after struggling to find suitable competition in his division. Despite the move to 205 pounds Silva is still the bookies clear favourite at odds of 1/5.
Griffin is the former light heavyweight champion and is a solid all-round fighter coming off back to back wins against Shogun and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Griffin is used to fighting at this weight and will no doubt test Silva with his size and strength. Griffin is the outsider at 3/1 and for good reason.
The only way I can see Griffin standing a chance at beating Silva is by taking it to the ground. Griffin would need to avoid submissions whilst dishing out some decent ground and pound to the smaller fighter. Griffin likes to put on an exciting fight for the fans and will move forward on Silva stalking him around the cage which could well be his downfall. Griffin cannot afford to stand toe to toe with Silva, Silva’s striking ability is second to none and many of his victories have come by way of knockout through devastating combinations of punches, elbows, knees and kicks.
Griffin will relish in being the underdog having pulled off major upsets in the past but I don’t think he will be much of a match for the superiorly gifted Silva. Although the odds for Silva are short I simply cannot see any other outcome. Silva is simply the best pound for pound fighter in the world today.
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Hi, I’m Dave; a 24 year old semi-professional gambler. I live in London, England and have been gambling online since 2004. I make a large part of my living betting on football matches and horse racing on the betting exchanges.
I placed my first bet when I was 11 years old when I backed Superior Finish in the 1996 Grand National. I didn’t win that day but the thrill of betting has had me hooked ever since.
In the past 12 months I’ve made over £24,000 from sports betting with my biggest single win coming on Kauto Star in the Cheltenham Gold Cup when I scooped £5,000.
