UFC 103 Preview: Tyson Griffin vs. Hermes Franca

Tyson Griffin (13-2, 6-2 UFC) versus Hermes Franca (19-7, 6-4 UFC)

The Story So Far:

After nearly a year on the shelf thanks to a torn ACL in his right knee, Hermes Franca looks to finally build on his last victory, a unanimous decision win over his former mentor Marcus Aurelio at UFC 90.

Tyson Griffin looks to string together a second straight win after earning a hard-fought decision over Rafael dos Anjos back in April.

With a number of contenders ahead of them on the depth chart, both men look to use the other as a stepping stone to bigger fights and to help resuscitate their title aspirations.

Conventional Wisdom:

Tyson Griffin is a future title contender, but he needs to show that he can get a win over a top tier fighter, as his two losses came in fights against contenders Sean Sherk and Frankie Edgar.

Additionally, Griffin needs to find the killer instinct or new approach that will allow him to finish a fight. All of his fights in the UFC save for his debut have gone the distance, and while that results in a number of Fight of the Night awards and exciting fights for fans, constantly leaving it up to the judges isn't the best course of action available.

As for Franca, the biggest question coming into this fight is the condition of his surgically-repaired knee. Scheduled to fight Joe Lauzon as the Main Event of UFC 17 back in February, Franca now faces a stiffer challenge in the hard-charging Griffin who will most likely test the leg early and often.

WKR Analysis:

It's Tyson Griffin, so two things that very well could happen are:

1. Fight of the Night
2. 15 minutes of frenetic action

This is a fight tailor-made to showcase Griffin's skill to a PPV audience and re-introduce him into the title mix. He's younger, stronger, faster and has far superior striking, so chances are he'll look to keep it on the feet and use the boxing skills he showed against Sean Sherk to stop Franca.

What could throw everything for a loop is Franca's abilities on the ground, as we saw Griffin have to fend off numerous submission attempts against Rafael dos Anjos last time around, and Franca certainly has the jiu jitsu acumen to equal his countryman.

Fun Facts:

As confirmed by both Ryan Loco and Sam Stout, Tyson Griffin has a gigantic ass. That has absolutely nothing to do with this fight, means absolutely nothing to me personally, but is just one of those fun things to pass along to the readers.

Additionally, now you're going to be looking at Tyson Griffin's ass the whole time, debating how big it actually is.

You're welcome.