Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin: Trial by Fire

Tonight at UFC 101: Declaration, UFC Middleweight (185 lbs.) Champion Anderson "the Spider" Silva revisits the Light Heavyweight (205 lbs.) division to challenge Forrest Griffin. This is Silva's toughest fight to date, as he enters the Octagon against a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. If fighting a former champion isn't enough, he's also fighting one of the toughest contenders in the entire division! Forrest Griffin's toughness shines through his iron-clad fight-to-the-death will, as he specifically and repeatedly vows "I will never be broken... and I will never quit." His toughness is matched only by his legendary conditioning, of which UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture (also legendary for conditioning) famously remarked "(Forrest) is the hardest worker in training... I literally have to throw him out... and I crawl out of the gym after training with him." Forrest Griffin personifies "fortitude" and "challenge."

Silva faces such a tough contender, off the heels of two dissapointing and hotly-criticized outings. Though successful in defending the Middleweight crown AND cementing a UFC record 9-fight win streak, his defense against Patrick Cote (in November 2008 at UFC 90) ended in the 3rd round, due to Cote's freak right-knee injury. Silva's latest defense against Thales Leites (in April 2009 at UFC 97, ironically named "Redemption") ended in a highly uneventful unanimous decision, which Dana White remarked, "I have never been completely embarassed of a main event until tonight; I apologize." Although Anderson didn't lost a single round against Cote and Leites, the walking highlight reel of devistating knock-outs and submissions desperately needed a change.

Anderson Silva, who Dana White still maintains is "the Pound-for-Pound Best Fighter in the World," needed to be challenged. Seriously challenged. Although Cote is/was a very respectable competitor within the division, he was not prepared for Anderson Silva, who completely outclassed Cote for three straight rounds. Cote at least (carefully) engaged the champion, whereas Leites did not fight like a hungry challenger at all. When Leites wasn't deliberately falling to the mat, in futile hopes of engaging Anderson on the ground, he was merely at the mercy of the very bored Middleweight emperor. The mercy sent a message loud and clear to Dana White and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva: I am talented enough to decide when this fight ends, and how I want it to end.

Fortunately, White and Silva received the message. With four fights left on his current contract, and a public desire to box Roy Jones, Jr., Anderson Silva intends to retire on a monumental note. Beating Forrest Griffin silences critics, who believe his last two fights have somewhat tainted his image. Critics also believe Anderson has lost the motivation and the passion that solidified him as an all-time great, but rarely analyze in-depth the two prior challenges (or lack thereof).

But, silencing the critics is not a major concern, as beating Forrest Griffin achieves a feat rarely achieved: successful competition (regardless of a belt or not) in three different weight classes. In only his 6th fight, Anderson Silva won the high-regarded Japanese Shooto Welterweight (168 lbs.; now known as Middleweight) Championship from the legendary Hayato "Mach" Sakurai. Later in 2003, while fighting in Cage Rage and PRIDE Fighting Championships, Anderson graduated to the Middleweight division. During the initial pursuit, Anderson won the Cage Rage Middleweight Championship, and left Cage Rage undefeated (save for a questionable disqualification loss to Yushin Okami) with three defenses. Upon entering the UFC's Middleweight division, Silva's domination has been unprecedented. Silva completely cleared out the Middleweight division, and hints that he could also impact the Light Heavyweight division.

Silva hummed the first hint in July 2008, KO'ing (former) Light Heavyweight contender James Irvin in only one minute.

Tonight, Anderson intends to yell the next hint, at the expense of Forrest Griffin. Most expect Forrest Griffin to lose, much like nobody gave Chuck Wepner (the main inspiration for the "Rocky" movie series) a rabbit's chance in a Lion's den against Muhammad Ali in 1975. Wepner shocked the entire world when he sent Ali crashing to the mat in the 9th round. Although Wepner lost the fight in the 15th and final round by TKO, the amazing effort cripples the test of time.

Will Forrest Griffin embody a modern-day (but more successful) MMA equivalent of Chuck Wepner, or will he surpass Wepner and beat an all-time great?

Will Anderson Silva enhance his win-steak record to 10 wins and begin the twilight of his career on a high note, or will Forrest Griffin prove that Anderson Silva belongs solely in the Middleweight division?