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Forrest Griffin Profile |
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Birth Date: November 26, 1978
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Birth Place: Columbus, Ohio, USA
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Birth Name: Forrest Griffin
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Height: 6'3"
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Biography |
Forrest Griffin (born November 26, 1978 in Columbus, Ohio)
is the first-season winner of Spike TV's The Ultimate
Fighter, a reality show which showcases mixed martial arts.
He defeated Stephan Bonnar in a popular final bout, widely
acclaimed as one of the best MMA fights of all time, winning
by unanimous decision and landing him a professional
contract to fight in the UFC.
He currently holds a professional mixed martial arts record
of fifteen wins (3 by KO/TKO, 7 by submission, and 5 by
decision) and four losses (2 by KO/TKO and 2 by decision).
Griffin is currently ranked by MMAWeekly.com as the #8 light
heavyweight fighter in the world, and by MMANews.com as the
#5 light heavyweight fighter in the world.
He holds notable wins over: Mauricio Rua, Stephan Bonnar and
Jeff Monson
Forrest was recently announced as one of the coaches of the
popular TV series "The Ultimate Fighter", airing on Spike
TV. The other coach will be current UFC Light Heavyweight
champion, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
Griffin graduated with a bachelor's degree in political
science from the University of Georgia. While attending
school, he served as a law enforcement officer. He trained
at the HardCore Gym in Athens for five years under Adam and
Rory Singer. He later retired from police service to pursue
a career in professional mixed martial arts.
On April 15, 2006, Griffin took on his toughest opponent yet
when he fought former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz
at UFC 59, which he lost via split decision.
At UFC 62, Griffin fought Stephan Bonnar in an anticipated
rematch. Griffin won by unanimous decision, sweeping all
three rounds.
Griffin was then defeated by Ultimate Fighter 2 semifinalist
Keith Jardine at UFC 66 by way of TKO at 4:41 of the first
round. After the fight, a visibly distraught Griffin sat in
his corner crying. Moments later, he walked away from Joe
Rogan's attempt to interview him, saying "I don't ev...Keith
came in, and he did exactly what I wanted to do, and he
knocked me the fuck out. Let's go home." Griffin then walked
off camera, leaving Joe Rogan to speak to the camera by
himself. Moments later, Griffin reappeared heading the
opposite direction saying, "I'll be back," as he headed out
of the Octagon.
Griffin's next fight was supposed to be at UFC 70 against
Lyoto Machida on April 21, 2007 but he was unable to fight
due to a staph infection.
On June 16, 2007 Griffin defeated Hector Ramirez at UFC 72
in Belfast, Northern Ireland via unanimous decision.
His latest fight was at UFC 76 against PRIDE's 2005
Middleweight (205 lb) Grand Prix champion Mauricio "Shogun"
Rua. Griffin won by rear naked choke at 4:45 of round three.
It has since been reported that Griffin required surgery
after the fight due to a serious shoulder injury that was
sustained in the bout. It has also been reported that this
has been a reoccuring problem for a long time.
On The Ultimate Fighter 6 finale, Dana White announced that
Forrest is not only the number one contender for the Light
Heavyweight title but is also one of the coaches for The
Ultimate Fighter 7 and will fight the other coach at the end
of the series. The other coach, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
was announced by Dana White on December 9th at Spike TV's
Video Game Awards show.
On November 28, 2007 he had a brief cameo in the Law &
Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Fight" as an MMA
champion and murder suspect. |
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Other Information |
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MMA record is 12-2-0 as of UFC 55. |
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since January 18, 2008