The Ultimate Fighting Championship isn’t taking the summer off, hosting a couple major events in the span of two weeks. The festivities begin Fourth of July weekend when light heavyweight champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson battles Forrest Griffin July 5 at UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advertisement

These two fighters coached on the just completed season of The Ultimate Fighter 7, building this matchup over the past couple of months. ‘Rampage’ is currently a decided $2.60 favorite (bet $260 to win $1.00) on various offshore sportsbooks to retain his title over Griffin, a $2.00 underdog (bet $100 to win $200).

Both fighters haven’t stepped in the octagon competitively since September, giving each a chance to heal up while taping The Ultimate Fighter. Jackson (28-6) won the title last May when he knocked out Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell in the first round before taking a unanimous decision over Dan Henderson in September.

“I don’t think the layoff will impact me at all, I had three tough fights last year and needed to recuperate,” said Jackson in a media conference call. “Nine months is perfect between fights and it was good for my body, I never get a chance to fight at 100 percent.”

Griffin (15-4) earned his title shot when he upset Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC 76: Knockout with a third-round rear-naked choke. Rua is the last fighter to beat ‘Rampage’ back in 2005, but was suffering from a knee injury that affected his cardio against Forrest.

Griffin, the winner of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter has three knockout victories on his resume along with seven submissions and five decisions. Two of his losses have come by knockout and the other two by decision.

“I was pretty banged up after my last fight, so I’ve had a chance to heal up,” stated Griffin. “This is no time to sit back on my laurels and think how far I’ve come in this sport, I can do that five or six years from now.”

There are also a couple of interesting fights concerning other divisions at UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin. In a lightweight matchup, Joe ‘Daddy’ Stevenson (28-8) returns to the octagon for the first time since losing to lightweight champion BJ ‘The Prodigy’ Penn at UFC 80: Rapid Fire. Stevenson will take on tough Brazilian Gleison Tibau (15-5) in an effort to rise back up the lightweight rankings.

Stevenson is currently listed as a $2.20 ‘chalk’ in this fight over Tibau, a $1.75 underdog. ‘Daddy’ was riding a four-fight winning streak until running into the ‘Prodigy,’ and it will be interesting to see how he rebounds in this spot after getting dominated by the champion. Stevenson has six victories by knockout, 12 submission wins along with 10 decisions while losing once by knockout, three times by submission and four times by decision.

Tibau trains out of Florida with American Top Team, and like Stevenson is also coming off a loss when he dropped a unanimous decision to Tyson Griffin at UFC 81: Breaking Point. Tibau has just two knockout victories, but seven wins by submission along with six decisions. Three of his losses have occurred by knockout, while the other two have been by decision.

The closest fight of the night at UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin involving the betting lines concerns the middleweight matchup between Patrick ‘The Predator’ Cote (12-4) and Ricardo ‘Big Dog’ Almeida (9-2). Both fighters are currently listed as a $1.15 selection.

Cote started his UFC career with four consecutive losses, including a light heavyweight matchup with Tito Ortiz, but has since rebounded with three wins in a row. The French Canadian started his octagon winning streak with a unanimous decision victory over Scott Smith before scoring technical knockout victories over Kendall Grove and Andrew McFedries. ‘The Predator’ has six knockout victories, three wins by submission and three by submission while losing twice by submission and twice by decision.

Almeida has fought in the UFC, Pride and Pancrase mixed martial arts promotions. The 31-year-old has won his last seven fights after submitting Rob Yundt by guillotine choke at UFC 81: Breaking Point, ending a four-year fighting hiatus. ‘Big Dog’ has no knockout victories, but four submission wins and five victories by decision. One of Almeida’s two losses occurred by knockout, while the other setback is listed as ‘other.’

Brad Young can be reached at byoung@vegasinsider.com.