Forrest Griffin Out of UFC Octagon for Most or All of 2009 With Hand Injury

Posted Jan 13, 2009 10:44AM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)

Filed Under: UFC

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin will miss most or all of 2009 because of a hand injury he suffered in his UFC 92 loss to Rashad Evans, according to a report in The Sun.

The headline to the story says Griffin will miss "the whole of 2009," although the article says he could be back by autumn. Either way, that makes it a near certainty that the next UFC light heavyweight title fight will be between Evans and Rampage Jackson.

After the likely Evans-Jackson fight some time this spring or summer, the light heavyweight division is a little murkier. If Lyoto Machida beats Thiago Silva at UFC 94, Machida would likely earn the next title fight against the Evans-Jackson winner. But the light heavyweight division is so stacked with stars -- Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, Keith Jardine, the winner of the upcoming fight between Mark Coleman and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua -- that there's really no telling what direction the UFC will go in.

The only thing we know is that Griffin is, for now, out of the picture.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-13-2009 @ 1:34PM

Slim said...

MDS, you are my go to source for MMA. But Jardine a "star?" I highly disagree. Off the top of my head, he hasn't fought since W. Silva KO'd him in just over 30 seconds. His biggest win came over Liddell, who seems to be on the decline in his career. Jardine has a lot to prove before I even put him in the top 5, maybe even top 10 of lightheavyweights.

1-13-2009 @ 1:49PM

Michael David Smith said...

Thanks for the kind words, Slim.

Regarding Jardine, Wanderlei whipped him, no doubt about that, but then he bounced back and beat Brandon Vera in October. He's an easy guy to dismiss because he's had those two very quick knockout losses against Wanderlei and Houston Alexander, but his wins against Vera, Liddell, Griffin and Gouveia make him a legit Top 10 light heavyweight in my book.

john said...

Keith fought and beat Brandon Vera after loss to Silva.

1-13-2009 @ 2:37PM

Eric said...

This is a disappointing development.

I'm a huge fan of Forrest, but I find it unlikely that he will capture the title again. With his lack of punching power, he is in the difficult position of having to go rounds with dangerous guys and do his best to avoid getting clipped.

I think that a healthy Shogun is as dangerous as anyone at light heavy. Machida, Rashad, Rampage, and Shogun are the four I would pick to be the strongest contenders over the next year or two.

Let's not forget about Franklin & Henderson though ... if one has a dominate performance, who knows, one of them could be getting the next title shot. I'd be the first to say that Rampage is deserving though.

Up-n-comers like Cane & Cantwell could thicken up the talent pool pretty soon also.

1-18-2009 @ 6:42PM

Todd said...

I like Machida, but what if Thiago Silva wins? Doesn't that put him in title contention? I want to see Rampage vs. Evans, I just want to see Evans get knocked the %$#@ out.....