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From police officer to UFC contender: The Forrest Griffin story |
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Written by Neil Davidson, THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Thursday, 03 July 2008 |
Mixed martial arts fighter Forrest Griffin, left, fights Tito Ortiz in Anaheim California on Saturday, April 15, 2006. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO/UFC
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LAS VEGAS - Forrest Griffin is a fighter, former cop, cookie monster, and occasional people-person. After Saturday night, he could also be UFC light-heavyweight champion.
If that happens, expect his time atop the 205-pound mixed martial arts mountain to be marked with dry, quirky wit.
"I'm pale and hairy and have no chest. What are you going to do?" Griffin says in assessing himself. "I've accepted my faults, I'm not worried about them."
Griffin (15-4) goes up against title-holder Quinton (Rampage) Jackson in the main event of UFC 86 on Saturday. Jackson (27-6) is also an entertainer outside the cage, although his stream of consciousness humour is more rapid-fire and pointed than Griffin's. Interviewing Jackson is like being front row at Yuk Yuk's. You better be prepared to be made fun of for your weight, glasses, clothes or anything else than strikes the wild man in front of you.
Griffin's humour is a little stranger, and often pointed at himself.
Both fighters are both are wildly popular among fans. "He's that guy at 205 right now, obviously," Griffin says of Jackson. He's not so sure why he holds the allegiance of so many fans.
"I don't know," Griffin says. "I think I'm pretty honest about what I am and what I'm not. I think I tend to call the things the way I see them with everybody. And I'm careful not to offend too many people or step on anybody's shoes. Whatever, I don't know. I hadn't thought about it, maybe that's why."
It's a very Griffin-esque answer.
The UFC is less circumspect about Griffin's claim to fame. UFC president Dana White says Griffin's slugfest win over Stephan Bonnar in the finale of Season 1 of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show in April 2005 put the sport on the map.
"This kid, seriously, is the American dream," White said Thursday. "One of the best people you could ever meet and one of our biggest supperstars."
The TUF finale contest was so good, the peak in ratings suggests people called their friends during the fight to make sure they were watching it. Even today, it is featured prominently in the highlight video, set to the rousing sound of The Who's "Baba O'Riley," that the UFC airs just before the pay-per-view portion of each main card to whip the fans in the arena into a frenzy.
Ironically, Griffin says he got sick of that fight.
"I haven't seen that in a long time. It kept coming on. It kind of like haunted me a while when it first happened. It was like I couldn't shake it. It was like some 'Twilight Zone' shit. I'd go in a bar, like be at a neighbour's house and that fight would be on."
But he is also smart enough to know the opportunity winning the show afforded him. He was able to fight full time, training with top pros at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. His boxing coach is White's former boxing coach.
"I had a lot of good publicity in the beginning. The UFC certainly helped me on my way. ... I had a lot of opportunities given me, I realize that," Griffin admitted.
There is sense of Everyman to Griffin, who looks happiest in shorts, T-shirt and battered cap pulled down low on his head as he lopes past fans.
At 6-3 he is both big and long. He has battered jug ears that stick out the side of his head like handles on a sports trophy.
He relies on his instincts rather than overthinking. Routine makes you calm and organized, he notes. In the cage, "you lose yourself in the details."
"Once everything happens, you try to think, oh shit, hands up and move this way. Am I moving the right way, what's the deal, and watch the level change. Can I kick?"
He has rethought his training in recent months, he admits. "I didn't really know how to train any harder and not die."
Fans like the fact he wears his heart on his sleeve. Knocked out by Keith (The Dean of Mean) Jardine at UFC 66 in December 2006, Griffin crouched crying at the edge of the cage before composing himself, offering curt remarks on the microphone and then stalking out of the cage.
He bounced back at UFC 72 in June 2007, fighting a smart tactical fight en route to a decision over Hector (Sick Dog) Ramirez. Then he took down Mauricio (Shogun) Rua, a fighter with a star-studded resume, at UFC 76 last September.
Following the win, a bloody Griffin jumped around the cage like a five-year-old.
"Oh my God," he said in the ring. "I haven't done that many drugs but I think this is what Ecstasy feels like, baby.
"You know I really felt like I was there," he continued, referring to elite status among the 205-pounders. "I felt great, I had a great camp and then Keith knocked me out. I got depressed and sad and ate a lot of cookies. But you know my friends and family, they told me 'Forrest, you're not good at anything else. You better get back to fighting."'
After beating Rua, he had surgery to correct a shoulder problem that had been bothering him since injuring it in training three weeks before beating Elvis Sinosic at UFC 55 in October 2005. The shoulder got worse and eventually it got to the point that he would wake up in pain if he rolled onto it.
He was out for five months after going under the knife. Today the joint is stable but nowhere near normal.
"Right after the shoulder surgery, I realized how much it means to me, not being able to train, not being able to do anything," he said.
At 6-3, Griffin is a big light-heavyweight. If he had more power in his fists, he could hold his own against heavyweights. But in typical self-deprecating fashion, he says he has quick feet, slow hands.
"I'm not a one-and-done guy, I wish," he said of his punching power.
Griffin never quits and often bleeds - asked how many stitches he got to staunch a nasty cut after one tough night at the office, he replied dryly: "All of them."
He's got a good jab, decent kicks and can move well for a big man.
In short, he's come a long way from his days as a police officer (two years) in Athens, Ga., and sheriff's deputy (one year) in Richmond County.
"I cruised around, answered domestic complaints, did a lot of traffic accidents," he said in recalling his days in law enforcement. "Carried a weapon. Drove fast, got free coffee and some chicks dig a guy in uniform, so it wasn't a bad gig."
He also got into self-defence in the police academy, which led to mixed martial arts, which led to a career change.
But White revealed Thursday that Griffin didn't show up the first day of "The Ultimate Fighter" after deciding he wanted to stay in law enforcement in Georgia. The UFC managed to change his mind and he went on to win the show.
Now Griffin is an at-times reluctant celebrity.
"You know I'm a weird guy like that," he explained. "I'm kind of a people-person when I'm a people-person. The thing is everybody wants to talk to you at the wrong time. I kind of zone out. I do my own thing before practice. After practice I'm a nice guy. Before practice, I've got to prepare, I've got to wear the weight of that fight, you know. I'm stressed out. I'm preparing myself more than stressed out. I'm really a nice guy."
And one with flaws, he is quick to point out. Although he says living in Sin City does not exacerbate them.
"Not at all, everybody's got their own thing. My temptation is cookies. Turns out there's an Albertsons near everywhere I move to, so anywhere I go there's going to be a 24-hour convenience store, grocery store.
"My temptation stuck with me. I wish I had other addictions, it would be cooler. But I really like junk food. It's crazy. I can eat 24 ounces of Oreos in a span of a movie."
Thanks to his prominence in the sport, Griffin has his brushes with celebrity, be it appearing on an awards show or a one-off TV appearance on "Law and Order: SVU," playing a fighter.
Keeping in character, Griffin downplays the role.
"I had a bunch (of acting offers) and then I did that gig with 'Law and Order' and people realized what I've always known that I can't act. So I did a play in 10th grade and I sucked and I've done nothing in the last 12 years to make me think I've gotten any better.
"The actual part of it was fun but I don't like sitting around in a trailer for four hours," he added. "You've got to bring magazines and shit, they don't tell you that. Bring books, bring a portable DVD player, bring something."
Real or cultivated, there is an "aw shucks" feel to Griffin. It's hard to tell because while he co-operates with the media, he rarely opens the door too wide to strangers.
Saturday night is something special, he acknowledges.
"This is the biggest thing in my life. It's not a big thing in the grand scheme of things but it's the biggest thing that's ever happened to me."
That's about as much as you get from Griffin in terms of big picture.
"I'm 29 years old, I'm in the prime of my career. Reflection's later. Everything I get, posters, magazines, everything I put them in a box. And whenever, if I ever feel like looking in that box, I'll look at it right then.
"Putting shit in a box, I'd really like to put a belt in that box.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 03 July 2008 )
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