Inside Fights Interview: Forrest Griffin

Interviews, Top Story

Editor’s Note: Forrest Griffin is one of the most popular fighters in the history of the UFC. For those that know the story of the business, he’ll be remembered (along with Stephan Bonnar, Ken Shamrock, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell) as one of the people who put the company on the map and started the trend towards the immense popularity that mixed martial arts enjoys today. He won the first season of The Ultimate Fighter and in 2008, defeated Shogun Rua and then Quinton Jackson to become the top light heavyweight in the world.

Despite a loss to Rashad Evans at the tail end of 2008, Griffin remains as popular and as unflappable as ever. In August, he’ll step into the cage for what is arguably the single biggest fight of his career: a matchup with reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva, where’s been given the job of trying to draw the dangerous Silva out of the shell he’s crawled into during his last two fights.

Forrest sat down with Inside Fights associate editor Brian Oswald to discuss his career, his training methods, and how he’s going to prepare for Anderson Silva.

You are all set to take on a tough opponent in Thiago Silva and he seemed like an ideal opponent for you to come back to coming off your hand injury. Why did you decide to fight Anderson Silva instead?

I didn’t feel I was mentally as tough as I should have been preparing for the fight. I wanted to really test myself. You see a lot of guys fight Anderson and they just don’t look like themselves. They don’t look like they want to be there or look like they have any confidence. I want to at least come in and fight up to my ability. So this fight will either bring out the best in me … or I will have to go out and find a real job.

It seemed like everything happened so fast. Can you tell us exactly how the UFC pulled off the ole Silva Switch-a-roo?

Nope, I have no idea. They came to me and said, ‘hey Forrest; you want to fight a different Silva’ and I said sure. We are doing a photo shoot for something, for what I am not sure, and you know who came over and said, ‘Hey I gotta talk to you’ and I said ‘what I didn’t do anything wrong.’ This ain’t rocket science, if they ask me to fight someone I will fight someone.

Do you see this fight with Silva as a short cut toward getting back into a title fight or is it just one high profile fight at a time for you?

Yeah, I don’t know man. I am not really worried about all that. I am just focused on dealing with this dude. I just want to show up prepared and actually fight the guy. I just don’t think anyone has actually tried to fight him up to their ability.

Irvin went in and charged him, Leben went in and charged him. He is a southpaw counterstriker … it’s not like I am going to go jump his shit. If you rush into that guy you’re rushing into a knockout. So I am going to fight the guy, I will hit him, and not get too frustrated when I miss. Because he makes you miss and then he makes you pay for it.

He has made a lot of guys feel stupid. It’s when guys get hit, and then they can’t hit him back; they just look hopeless … like they almost want the fight to be over.

Anderson Silva is considered a lethal striker but can he really hit you any harder then Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans already have?

(Laughing) You know, a lot of guys have hit me real hard. The thing about Silva is that he is going to hit me a lot quicker. He has got a great reach, he actually has the same reach I do and I am not going to be much bigger.

Well you’re considered a pretty strapping young man. Are you saying your size is not really going to play an advantage for you this time?

I normally step into the octagon at around 220. Now that I think about it, I wouldn’t mind if Silva and I fought this fight at a catchweight of 215. I would come in at 225, which would be beautiful for me. When I am fat, the first ten pounds are what can slow me down but the next ten pounds I really don’t need to lose; it’s just to make weight. I could actually function better with it. When I start my weight cut, I feel good, I feel faster but you only need to shed so much fat. Honestly, where the sport is heading, we could have a weight class every ten pounds.

Do you think that is where we’re heading as the sport grows and we get more and more athletic guys competing?

Yeah I do but I don’t see them adding any new weight classes for at least five years. The adding of weight classes should parallel and keep pace with the continuing growth of the sport. With the heavyweight division there is not a need for creating a super heavyweight division yet. There might be six guys that would compete there.

But if it weren’t for the NFL and NBA we’d have ten more weight classes. If you’re athletic enough and you’re over 200 pounds, you’re either playing college football or basketball. Talent goes where the money is. It’s as simple as that. That’s why I got into the sport. I was like, ‘hey I could do this.’

So are you saying you beat the talent to the punch in terms of you getting into MMA?

Hell yeah. In five years, I don’t know that I will be able to compete at the level I do now. That’s just a legitimate statement. The guys competing are just getting so good and they keep coming. All these freaking wrestlers are coming out of the woodwork. They are great and it’s really unfair you know. I can’t wrestle; I have wrestled my whole life. I don’t remember what I was doing but I wasn’t wrestling that’s for sure.

Anderson Silva decided also to call out Fedor in a recent interview. Do you have any intentions of calling out Fedor or Brock Lesnar for that matter?

He said he wants to fight Fedor. Well I will help ease him into that heavier weight class if that is where he wants go. Like I said earlier, let’s go ahead and make this fight at 215. That would suit me just fine.

As far as Fedor goes, fighting in the UFC is a contractual thing. If you are going to fight for the UFC, well you’re going to fight for the UFC. They are the best show in town so if Fedor wants to come on over …

Submission, T(KO), or a decision win. What’s your best bet for scoring a victory in this fight?

I will come up with a game plan. I need to score some takedowns while avoiding any guillotine. Silva has got those long limbs. I go back to Silva being a southpaw. Also, his quickness and the unexpectedness of his style are on my mind. I have never fought a southpaw that I struck with before.

I don’t like the idea of fighting a southpaw, it’s weird. And his clinch work, he is just so relaxed when doing it. Other then that I am not too worried about the fight; it’s only going to be 15 minutes so what’s the worst that can happen.

How is your surgically repaired hand doing?

It’s good, it will be ready to go.

What are your thoughts on the Lyoto Machida-Rashad Evans title fight?

It could start out real slow since they both have a tendency to counter fight. So it could end up being a boring fight to some or it could end up being a very exciting fight. At this level, with the competition, you make one mistake, you get clipped, and your night is over. It’s unfortunate but it is what it is.

Speaking of that, hindsight is always 20/20. What could you have done differently in your fight with Rashad Evans to come away victorious, especially since you were winning the fight up to that point?

Obviously the body kick was not a good idea (laughing). With the body kick, I didn’t get my feet back down and so I didn’t get a punch in. And not getting punched in the face when you’re off balance and looking up with your head wobbling around.

And not get hit a bunch on the ground either. Also, you can’t rest. With the round almost over, I thought I might chill for a second. I just can’t chill with my opponent punching me in the face. It was what it was though. Obviously I can beat Rashad, so I look forward to a rematch with him; with Jackson too.

Well speaking of Rampage, he was pretty vocal about fighting you again. After his win over Wanderlei, he said he was willing to wait on a title fight and rematch you first.

I’ve never even heard that before. As far as Jackson, I have never seen a guy so mad over having a bad night. It’s not like I had the best night either. I am not sure if he feels the need to be mad at me over that but its whatever. Yeah, I would fight that guy again.

I just got my hands on a copy of your new book, “Got Fight?” Did you enjoy the process of writing your book or was it a pain in the ass?

You really have a copy of it? Wow, so they turned that into a real book. I thought they were pulling the plug on it. I actually had a lot of fun getting the book done; it was awesome. All I had to do was call the guy up and scream about how much I hate stuff and I guess he recorded it and now it’s a book.

My first UFC PPV was UFC 12, watching Randy Couture take it to a young Vitor Belfort and he has been one of my MMA idols every since. Is he as cool as I think he is? And what is it like training with him at Xtreme Couture?

That was the fist UFC I ever saw too. Actually it wasn’t the first UFC I saw, but it was the one that made me think it was an awesome sport. I was like ‘oh my god, I want to be a part of this.’ When I was in the police academy one of my instructors gave me that DVD. I watched it and said, ‘once they drop the tight shorts I am going to do that.’

Randy really is that cool, he really is. That is why so many people have looked up to him and gravitated toward him. Randy Couture is the kind of guy that if you share a hotel room with him, and he has got an early flight, instead of turning the light on he will use the light from his cell phone to try and pack his stuff so he doesn’t wake you.

That is the real Randy Couture, isn’t that awesome?

It’s been great talking to you Forrest. I appreciate your candor.

I appreciate it and I hope I wasn’t helpful at all.

Brian has been an avid fan of MMA ever since he saw Randy Couture beat Vitor Belfort back at UFC 15. In 2008, he decided to embark on a new career by combining his love of MMA and writing. Brian received his M.B.A. from Texas Tech University and currently resides in New York City.