Forrest Griffin might find his rebound performance in a rematch with
Tito Ortiz, who he faces this Saturday at
UFC 106 in Las Vegas.
Their first bout at UFC 59 in April 2006 garnered controversy, as Ortiz wrestled aggressively in the first round, only to wane in the second and third sets before taking away a close split decision.
“I would score it maybe a draw,” Griffin told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show last week. “I could see that. I would probably go 8-10 on that (first round). I was never out of the fight, but you could really tell one guy is totally dominating another.”
Even in defeat, Griffin, who had won the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” just a year before, said he walked away a bit wiser.
“It definitely wasn't a bad experience,” Griffin said. “It was just weird for me fighting a guy I've seen on TV, fighting a guy I chipped in 10 bucks to watch a pay-per-view of when I was a kid and now you're actually fighting that guy. It was something I actually talked about years before, but I didn't really plan on it coming to fruition.”
Awe is not something Griffin will feel again come Saturday.
“I'm coming off being knocked out the last two fights in a row,” said Griffin. “I'd be motivated for any fight but Tito is a real good opponent for me because you really want to beat Tito. You just do. Everything about him you want to shut him up a little bit. So, it's definitely a good motivating factor.”
Forrest Griffin on Beatdown.
Another motivation will come from Griffin’s last bout at UFC 101 in August, where he challenged middleweight champion
Anderson Silva in a featured 205-pound bout, but was dismantled by the suave Brazilian in under one round.
“That was bad,” said Griffin. “You could tell after the first 30 seconds he just swipes my hands out of his face and he just looked at me like, 'Dude are you kidding me with that?' And at that point I was just like, 'Wow, what the f---.'”
It was the type of fight Griffin never saw coming.
“I never thought that was something that would happen to me in my life,” said Griffin. “I always say the same s---. I'm going to do everything in my power to prepare for the fight. Work as hard as I can. And I'm going to know that I've done everything I can to prepare when I step in there and I'm going to know I won't quit. And those are the only two things you need to know going into a fight. That's where I derive my confidence from. Well, in that fight, I mean I got scared. Quit. Whatever. You know?”
Making almost as much news as the fight was Griffin's reaction immediately following the loss. He ran out of the cage, refusing to address the media at any point. Griffin said he reacted that way to protect himself.
“The media's not people,” said Griffin. “The media's not fans. The media, especially in this sport too, it's a different beast, I think. You think about my level of interaction versus that of a real professional athlete-type guy. You could see me every day. You're never seeing Tom Brady, Alex Rodriguez, those guys. But me you could talk to me pretty easy. So I think we don't have that level of insulation so you kind of have to look out for yourself, which is why I don't do a lot of interviews. “
Three and a half years removed from his first encounter with Ortiz, the 30-year-old Griffin is now a veteran, with seven more major bouts and a one-time UFC title to prove it. And he knows what he wants.
“Winning's OK. Winning's great, whatever,” said Griffin. “But losing is the worst thing in the world.”
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