Tyson Griffin Faces Hermes Franca At UFC 103 Saturday Night

Sports Betting News - September 17th, 2009 - Written by Scott

The opening bout on pay per view at UFC 103 features Tyson Griffin and Hermes Franca.  This fight will take place on Saturday night in Dallas at the American Airlines Arena.  Fight fans should not expect this bout to be a back-alley slug contest, as both fighters like to stay off of their feet.  This will be a good chance to see how far Griffin has come in his young career as he battles against the more experienced fighter in Franca.

Griffin is coming in with a record of 13-2-0.  In his last 7 fights, all of them ended in decisions.  He is very aggressive on the ground and likes to keep his fights in this spectrum.  One of the up and coming fighters, Griffin does not have great knockout power, only five wins by knockout, but uses his takedown strength to move the fight to the ground.   He is only 25 years old and likes to use his youth and aggressiveness to push the pace in his fights.  Griffin has not been stopped in the octagon.  He also seems to have trouble finishing his opponents and has not won a fight by knockout or submission in three years.  His biggest strength probably is his ability to stay competitive throughout his fights.

Franca is a veteran fighter who possesses great knockout power.  The 5'6'' 155 pound veteran has lost two of his last three fights and has a career record of 20-7-0.  In his last two losses, he could not find a way to match the wrestling ability of his opponents.  He must find a way Saturday night as Griffin excels in this facet of fighting.  He has a history of forcing submissions by his opponents as eleven of his wins have ended this way.  Look for him to use his knockout power against Griffin.  Franca is a very good jiu jitsu fighter but as of late, he seems to have stayed away from this style and has relied more on his boxing ability.  He also has a hard time escaping takedowns and this could haunt him as Griffin excels while on the ground.

According to BetUS, Griffin comes into the fight as a huge favorite with his betting line set at -280.  The underog in this fight, Franca, has his line set at +210.  Griffin is progressing well in his young career, while Franca seems to be on a downslide.  Look for this fight to go the distance and take place mostly on the ground.

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