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April 7, 2005 by Josh Gross (joshg@sherdog.com)

To many fans of The Ultimate Fighter, Forrest Griffin was the show’s comedic relief, the person who could be counted on to turn wacky at just the right time. Fortunately for the Athens, Ga.-based Griffin, he knows when to get serious, and that ability translated well in the Octagon. The once-retired 25-year-old light heavyweight is on the cusp of winning a UFC contract and, he tells Sherdog.com, it’s time to go to work.

Sherdog.com: Let’s talk about your fight on Saturday. How much are you looking forward to it?

Forrest Griffin: I’m looking forward to it a lot. It’s my 15 minutes to be a rock star and be the center of attention. I’m excited about.

Sherdog.com: You retired and walked away from the fight game. Why did you do that and what compelled you to return?

Griffin: You know I broke my arm. It was the third major injury in three years. Just the opportunity to come out here and spend some free time in Vegas brought me back.

Sherdog.com: What did you walk away from when you decided to go onto the show? What did you have to do to change your life?

Griffin: I was a cop. I was working. I had a girlfriend at the time. I was wanting to move up there and get a job where she lived, and all that good nonsense. And, it ended up with things not working out there. You know how that goes.

Sherdog.com: So that dream to be a professional fighter was strong enough that you were willing to sacrifice those things?

Griffin: Oh yeah.

Sherdog.com: Did you always have that feeling put on the backburner until this opportunity came?

Griffin: Sitting there for three months, you can’t get a job because you’ve got a f___ing cast on. That’s the third time that’s happened in three years — you can’t get a job; you can’t train; you got no way of making a living; there’s nothing you can do. Thank God I was still in school and I lived off student loans. It’s just not worth it. The benefits, the perks don’t outweigh the downtime.

Sherdog.com: What were you other injuries?

Griffin: Well, I completely dislocated my right shoulder in South Africa in a fight (he defeated Wiehan Welsh by rear-naked choke in the first round); my clavicle still’s not attached. I shattered my two metacarpals in my right hand — the pointer and middle finger I had five pins put in there, which I didn’t have insurance when I did that. I did that training for King of the Cage. I had a big fight coming up and I shattered my hand. That was about nine months. And then I broke the arm. That was a big one. And then, of course, there’s the little stuff. But that was the three big ones that … think when you add that up, I’ve been training since 2000, you add that up that’s two years without training. A little over actually.

Sherdog.com: If you take all those things into account, does that make this opportunity that much bigger for you?

Griffin: Yeah. You know, if I win this fight I can actually break even fighting.

Sherdog.com: You’re talking money-wise?

Griffin: I’m talking money-wise, as far as money spent on medical bills and shit. (laughs)

Sherdog.com: What about the other things: the chance to fight in the UFC and contend in that division.

Griffin: You start fighting, what do you want to do? You want to fight in the damn UFC. It’s the Super Bowl of fighting. If you play basketball you want to play in the championship game. It’s the same thing.

Sherdog.com: Talk about your experience in the house. Now that you’re done with it, you actually spent time in the house and you had a chance to watch it on TV, was it what you expected coming in or was it different?

Griffin: I felt they did a good job with it to tell you the truth. That’s not just because I was on it. I felt for the most part the show was pretty entertaining. I don’t think I watched any of the episodes twice, but I was happy to see ‘em all.

Sherdog.com: Was there ever a time where they portrayed you in a way you didn’t feel was right?

Griffin: No. And I figure I got lucky too, because at the end there I was just a big bitch. Just whining, whining, whining. And they didn’t show too much of me messing around, being a bitch.

Sherdog.com: Being cooped up, was that difficult for you?

Griffin: Of course. And I didn’t know going in that it was going to be like that. That’s not how they told me things were going to be. I was sort of misled about the whole premise of the thing. And we get out there you’re like, “whoa, I’m what?”

Sherdog.com: What did they tell you the scenario was?

Griffin: You know what, the way they kinda sold it to me was like “you’re going to get these opportunities” and “we’re going to take you out and do stuff for you.” It was like a dream come true. “Work with these coaches. You won’t have TV or books but we’ll take you out and let you do stuff.” And they took us out one time the whole thing.

Sherdog.com: And that turned into an interesting night, huh?

Griffin: But you know what, though, my retort on that would be if they had done it sooner and more often then we all wouldn’t have gone shit-nuts. That’s probably the best episode on the show, right?

Sherdog.com: It was definitely the craziest. What about the training aspect of it. You trained primarily with Chuck Liddell.

Griffin: It was the coaches around Chuck that were so great. The boxing coach, Peter Welch, and Ganyao (Fairtex) and Marc Laimon. That’s what made the great experience that it was.

Sherdog.com: When you’re in Georgia you train with Rory and Adam Singer. What do they bring to the table for you that you enjoy?

Griffin: I mean, they got everything. The got the ground, clinch, wrestling, boxing and kickboxing. They’ve got everything. They find a way to import people and bring in stuff.

Sherdog.com: Talk about Stephan Bonnar. I think he out of the four finalists might have been the most surprising to people. I think people really hadn’t had a chance to see him fight.

Griffin: Yeah, you know I hadn’t either. But after seeing two of his fights you know he’s good, you know he’s game. He’s got everything you need. He can be a contender at that 205.

Sherdog.com: It seems like he likes to scrap and that’s similar to you. Are you anticipating a toe-to-toe, slug ‘em out kind of fight?

Griffin: That’s what I hope. That would be my wish come true. No matter how it ends up, that would be more fun than the alternative, dancing around the guy for a round and then deciding, “Hey, I may as well be in a fight here.”

Sherdog.com: Talk about your fight with Sam Hoger to get into the finals. He was no somebody you seemed to get along with.

Griffin: You know, I don’t really like to not get along with anyone. I tried my best to get along with the guy. I realized that I personally I didn’t like him, I was never going to like him but you know you function with people. It’s like co-workers you don’t like. You can still benefit from their knowledge and whatnot. The guy’s a good training partner. I just personally didn’t like him. That didn’t make him a bad guy. And I don’t like the animosity, the tension there. I just figure life’s best if you just put all that away.

Sherdog.com: Did that make it easier to fight him? Because obviously the teammate versus teammate — they threw a wrench in there.

Griffin: No, it didn’t make it easier or harder. Man, I just don’t give a f___. You know, for me it’s just a fight. It’s not about friends or enemies. I’m going to hit you just as hard if I love as if I hate you.

Sherdog.com: Did you play other sports growing up? Did you always have that kill ‘em attitude, it didn’t matter to you?

Griffin: No. I wasn’t much of an athlete.

Sherdog.com: So what drew you into fighting?

Griffin: F___ if I know, man. I was in the police academy and the Defense and Tactics instructor showed me a UFC, this is in ’99. I thought it was pretty cool. I’d seen on in ’95 when I was in middle school or high school or some shit, and it was the most boring thing I’ve ever seen. I was like, “why is that guy wearing pajamas … why is that guy wearing tights?” Then I saw Belfort knock out somebody and I was like, “oh my God, that’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Man, I gotta do this.”

Sherdog.com: You definitely have more experience than Stephan in big fights. Obviously, you fought in that big IFC tournament in Denver and you’ve had to chance to fight a lot. That experience, do you think that’s going to be a difference at all?

Griffin: Well, he lost to (Machida) by cut. His only loss is by cut. And didn’t that guy beat fricken Rich Franklin? … [Bonnar’s] been in there with the best at 205 or at last the top of the barrel. [Machida] beat Penn as well. He knows the game. I’m no Machida or whoever that fella is. I don’t know. Experience doesn’t really matter that much. This is something new to all of us, being on television in front of however many millions of people and everything.

Sherdog.com: This fight is probably different for you in that you know more about your opponent than any opponent you’ve ever fought before and had the ability to seen him up close.

Griffin: Yeah, but like I said, it doesn’t really matter. He went home and worked on what he wanted to work on. He changed his game, I changed mine. It’s not going to be as bad as it was with me and Sam where you know exactly what the other guy wants to do.

Sherdog.com: Have you always been prone to getting cut (Griffin suffered a bad cut during the taping of TUF) or was that just a freak thing?

Griffin: I don’t get cut too much. I’d kinda like to get cut more. I kinda think it’s sporty.

Sherdog.com: Do you? You enjoy the bleeding all over yourself.

Griffin: It’s kinda cool, man. It’s sexy.

Sherdog.com. Yeah? The girls dig it?

Griffin: I like it. That’s what matters.

Sherdog.com: The chance to fight on Saturday, you’ve been training for a while. You got itchy wanting to fight on the show, and that was just a few weeks in. What’s your emotion like right now?

Griffin: I’m ready for this. Really, I got out here and I was loving the experience. It’s gonna be great.