UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin - Full Card and Bodog Odds

The hits just keep right on coming. Of course, I’m talking about the latest upcoming UFC event entitled UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin. It’s scheduled to take place on July 5th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, and the main event will be Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (Light Heavyweight Champion) defending his title against fan-favorite Forrest Griffin. Leading up to this fight, both men also acted as coaches on the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter.

UFC 86 COMPLETE CARD

Below is the complete card for UFC 86. When possible, I’ve included betting odds provided by Bodog. If you don’t see odds for a particular fight, there’s a good chance Bodog will have it as the date of the event draws closer.

Preliminary Card

(Lightweight) Corey Hill vs. Justin Buchholz

(Lightweight) Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Siver

(Lightweight) Jorge Gurgel EVEN vs. Cole Miller -130

(Heavyweight) Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Justin McCully

Main Card

(Lightweight) Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio

(Welterweight) Josh Kosceck -315 vs. Chris Lytle +240

(Lightweight) Joe Stevenson -215 vs. Gleison Tibau +175

(Middleweight) Patrick Cote -105 vs. Ricardo Almeida -125

(Light Heavyweight Title) Quinton Jackson -260 vs. Forrest Griffin +200

QUINTON JACKSON VS. FORREST GRIFFIN

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

Jackson first made a name for himself in PRIDE, and he’s been fantastic since debuting in the UFC. He knocked out Chuck Liddell in short order to win the title, and during his career he’s got wins over Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Arona, Murilo Rua, Igor Vovchanchyn, Matt Lindland and Dan Henderson.

Jackson is 3-0 in the UFC, and he’s riding a 6-fight winning streak. He has 28 career wins (13 by KO, 7 by submission), and he’s lost 6 times (being knocked out 3 times and submitted only once).

Jackson is supremely confident going into the fight. Just look at what he said about fighting Griffin in a recent interview, “If the fans want to see a good ol’ fashioned ass whoopin, if you just want to see somebody get their ass whooped, tune into this fight…he’s never fought anyone like me before, he’s never fought anyone meaner, uglier, stronger, he never fought no one like me before. He’s going to have a really hard time. But I’ve fought people like Forrest before–tough guy, no chin, no punching power, tall guy, good on the ground. I’ve fought guys like that.”

Forrest Griffin

Griffin’s title shot is a long time coming, but nobody can say that he hasn’t earned it. After beating guys like Stephen Bonnar and Jeff Monson, Griffin moved on to drop a close split decision to Tito Ortiz. Keith Jardine knocked him out in the first round, but Griffin bounced back by beating the highly-touted Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in his UFC debut (Griffin was a +235 underdog).

During his MMA career, Griffin has 15 wins (3 by knockout and 7 by submission) and 4 losses. He’s currently on a two-fight winning streak.

PREDICTION

While I hate to see either one of these guys lose, I’m going to have to predict Rampage by a first round TKO. Forrest will seek to take it to the ground at some point, but Rampage is freakishly strong. Forrest often has a slugger’s mentality, and I fear that this will be his undoing.

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UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin - Full Card and Bodog Odds