Forrest Griffin

Born	Columbus, Ohio, USA
Fighting out of	Las Vegas, NV
Age	29
Height	6' 3" (191 cm)
Weight	205 lbs. (93 kg)
Overall MMA Record (W-L-D)	15-4-0
Strengths	Well rounded, good grappling skills

 

Although fighting the likes of veteran Dan Severn, Jeff Monson & Jeremy Horn, little was known about rookie Forrest Griffin before he entered the Ultimate Fighter house in its first season. Sporting a crooked, previously broken arm from a past fight, where Forrest had refused to tap out to an arm bar and yet still won through knockout, his fellow housemates were put on notice that he wouldn’t be going quietly. In fact Forrest went onto win the Light Heavyweight section of the show, beating fellow UFC star Stephan Bonner in a fight no one watching it would ever forget. It has widely stated that this was the fight that drew more fans than any, turning MMA into the fastest growing sport in the world and the UFC a global phenomena.

Upon leaving the house and beginning his UFC career, Forrest became an instant fan favourite, quickly gaining back to back wins against Bill Mahood and Elvis Sinosic. Next up was the biggest test of his career, a fight with long time Light Heavyweight champion and UFC legend Tito Ortiz. Although losing this fight by split decision many think that it was too close to call and Forrest went onto rematch his old adversary Bonner, winning in comfortable style this time. Many believed that even after his close loss to Ortiz, Griffin was only one or two fights away from a title shot coming into his December 06 clash with dangerous striker Keith Jardine. This fast paced, wild encounter ended with Forrest flat on his back taking repeated shots from Jardine in the first round, the opportunity had slipped from his grasp.

After rethinking his sometimes wild and open style, a more patient Griffin reappeared in June at UFC 72, dispatching Hector Ramirez by unanimous decision, before taking what many thought was the biggest gamble so far. That year the UFC had signed who many believed to be the best fighter on the planet at 205lbs, Pride star Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Griffin thought that a win over “Shogun” would put him in line for a title shot and laid down the challenge for a September showdown. Many believed Rua would make short work of Griffin but to everyone surprise, Griffin dominated the fight, submitting his foe at the end of the third round, thus earning him a shot at the title.