Griffin Returns with Win over Franklin

Read on for the UFC 126 main card report... LAS VEGAS, February 5 – After more than a year away, Forrest Griffin had doubts about his ability to perform in the UFC 126 co-main event against Rich Franklin Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, but Griffin got through three fast-paced rounds the way he always does – by working, and the result was a close, but unanimous decision win.

Griffin vs. Franklin
“Rusty, rusty,” said Griffin, who was sidelined by injury since his UFC 106 win over Tito Ortiz. “It’s hard to come back after a year. It’s great to be back.”

Scores were 29-28 across the board.

A trading of kicks produced a takedown by Griffin in the opening minute, and the former light heavyweight boss went right to work with his strikes. The ensuing action on the mat wasn’t pretty, but it was effective as Griffin stayed busy and tried to break his foe down. Franklin did his best to pull himself free, but the bigger Griffin wasn’t having it, and he finished the round in complete control.

Franklin was able to get his striking game in gear early in round two, but in the second minute Griffin got the bout back to the mat, this time taking his opponent’s back. Franklin was able to struggle back to his feet though, drawing a roar from the crowd. Again, Franklin was the crisper striker, but it was Griffin who rocked his foe with a chopping punch. Franklin recovered quickly and got back in the pocket, picking his shots more carefully than the more active Griffin, who was taking deep breaths through the late stages of the round.

Despite fatigue, both fighters kept working in round three, with each having their moments both standing and on the mat, but it was Griffin emerging with the victory when the final bell sounded.

With the win, Griffin improves to 18-6; Franklin falls to 28-6 with 1 NC.

Ellenberger vs. Rocha
Jake Ellenberger pinned the first pro loss on Carlos Eduardo Rocha’s record, winning a close three round split decision over the Brazilian in welterweight action. See post-fight interview

Scores were 29-28 twice and 27-30 for Ellenberger, who improves to 24-5; Rocha falls to 9-1.

Ellenberger and Rocha traded takedowns in the opening stages of the bout, with Rocha having more success as he pinned his foe to the mat while working from side control. Staying active, Rocha worked on securing Ellenberger’s leg from the north-south position, but Ellenberger worked his way free and got back to his feet with a minute left. Rocha came up short on an ensuing takedown attempt, but while Ellenberger pounded away with strikes, the Brazilian almost scored a rolling kimura that had the fans roaring as the round ended.

Round two was a tactical one, with Ellenberger able to land enough strikes, as well as a late takedown, to win the frame.

Rocha’s final round attack consisted of a steady diet of leg kicks, with Ellenberger unable to get off with his own strikes with any consistency. “The Juggernaut” did score a takedown late in the fight, apparently sealing the victory for himself.

Torres vs. Banuelos
Former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Angel Torres was successful in his UFC debut as he scored a shutout three round unanimous decision win over Antonio Banuelos. See post-fight interview

All three judges saw the bout 30-27 for Torres.

Banuelos had few answers for Torres’ height and reach advantage, leaving Torres to simply poke at his foe with his jab for five minutes while occasionally delivering a right hand or kick to the legs.

Torres didn’t deviate from his fight plan in round two, but as he upped his work rate and his accuracy, he left Banuelos’ face reddened and nose bloodied, and in the third round the East Chicago native began walking his foe down, even rocking him in the final minute. And while Banuelos was game, he was unable to do anything to Torres outside of a late flurry of activity in the final ten seconds.

With the win, Torres improves to 38-3; Banuelos falls to 19-7.

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Griffin Acknowledges Pressure, Ring Rust Ahead of Franklin Bout

Forrest Griffin | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Forrest Griffin has been away from the fight game for longer than he ever has before.

On Saturday, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion will step into the cage for the first time in over a year to take on fellow ex-champ Rich Franklin at UFC 126. Last week, Griffin spoke to the media via conference call regarding his co-main event contest at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

“Being off for a year, that’s a weird feeling. I’m a little more nervous than usual. During this year, I’ve had some spurts of really good training when I thought I was going to fight,” said Griffin. “The big thing will just be that first minute, making that adjustment, getting back in there. This is the longest break I’ve ever had from fighting, so it’s weird.”

UFC 126 has a fight bill filled with talent on both the main and preliminary cards. When asked if he felt more pressure in co-headlining the stacked event after sitting on the shelf for so long, the ever-candid Griffin delivered a predictably honest reply.

“Yes, it does [feel like there is more pressure],” said Griffin. “If you look at the way Rich fights and you look at the way I fight, the makings for a great fight are there. You just hope that it comes together and it’s the fight that you think it can be, you know? ”

After avenging a loss to Tito Ortiz in the main event of UFC 106, Griffin was slated to return to the Octagon against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 114. A recurring shoulder injury forced Griffin to withdraw, however, and surgery was required. But even while sitting on the sideline, the Xtreme Couture product found ways to stay active.

“I was able to do some basic stuff. You never let the body just lie dormant. [I did some] hiking, physical stuff that wasn’t fight-related. I thought my shoulder was fine after eight weeks, but it wasn’t, so I had to take another three to four weeks off,” said Griffin.

While Griffin entered his bout with Mauricio Rua at UFC 76 with the injury, that setback did not prevent him from submitting the heavily favored “Shogun.” The dry-humored 31-year-old made light of the periodic problems inherent with such an injury.

“I [initially] hurt the shoulder in 2006. I had surgery on it and that gave me about two good years. So, that’s the plan. About every two years, I’ll just have surgery on it,” Griffin chuckled.

Though the layoff has provided the fighter with some mental relief from the grind of fighting for a living, he asserts that some negatives have also come with the sabbatical.

“Well, it sucks [not being able to train],” said Griffin. “It’s nice to get to do other things and not really worry about fighting. ... It’s mentally refreshing, but physically, even though a break every now and then is good for your body, it was too long without competing. This is the most ring rust I’ve ever had. I’m not excited about it. I’m definitely going to fight more.”

During his time on the shelf, Griffin has been forced to watch his peers suffer the triumphs and failures that come with fighting in the world’s largest MMA organization. These are the times when Griffin’s desire to compete surfaces most strongly.

“Usually during the fight weekends is really the only time [it's difficult to be out], you know? When the fights are on, I feel like I should be [out there competing],” said Griffin. “The biggest thing is that I’m not getting any younger. I’m kind of in the prime of my career, and I’d really like to get some fights in.”

So what is the original “Ultimate Fighter” looking forward to the most in returning to the Octagon?

“[I’m excited for] that feeling when everything starts clicking. It kind of feels like home.”

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A Special Treat: Franklin vs. Griffin

Rich Franklin versus Forrest Griffin is a marquee matchup involving two former champions still in their competitive prime. I typically break down the top matchups for each fight card. Not this one. No Xs and Os. No keys to victory. Not this time.

Rich Franklin versus Forrest Griffin isn’t that type of fight. Sure, it is a marquee matchup involving two former champions still in their competitive prime. It deserves as much promotional attention, in my opinion, as the main event between pound-for-pound ruler Anderson Silva and one of the sport’s favorite sons, Vitor Belfort.

Not because it is for a championship or to determine the next in line for a title shot. The winner will certainly put himself into the title discussions. The guy who comes up short likely won’t be doing much damage to his standing in the division. So, why does this deserve the same level of attention as a title fight or title eliminator? Because this puppy has all the ingredients to be a timeless war that the fans will talk about for ages.

That is all fine and good. But it doesn’t explain why I’m abandoning my traditional Xs and Os approach to the fights.

Let me explain. Even though I watch virtually every UFC fight live, I always watch tape of at least two fights of each competitor before diving into a breakdown. Why? Memories fade or get distorted during recall. The privilege of watching bouts again immediately before breaking down the action provides the luxury of pause and rewind, slow motion and looking for nuances, mistakes or tendencies through the filter of comparing one fighter’s strengths to another’s weaknesses.

Watching tape on these two for most of the day made me realize something very special. I noticed that after several hours of sitting in front of the television, I had not taken any notes—neither mental nor written—of their tendencies. I am also quite certain that I neither hit the pause, rewind or slow-motion buttons to break down the tape based on the matchup.

I also realized that I hadn’t watched four or five total fights. I instead watched Franklin and Griffin compete in a total of 17 bouts. That wasn’t my original plan. Like I said, the intent was to break down the tape of a handful of fights, per my usual routine.

That is when it hit me. Even though it was the fifth, sixth or even twentieth time that I had seen each of the fights, I had become lost in the action, viewing the bouts through the eyes of a fan, not the trained eye of someone breaking down tape.

Maybe that is because I started the day by watching the fight that many credit for changing the fortunes of the sport in terms of mainstream attention—Griffin’s first bout with Stephan Bonnar. It is tough to watch that fight and not get caught up in the moment. Has there ever been more exciting back-and-forth action inside the Octagon? The rematch wasn’t that much different.

Next up for me was Franklin’s bout with the late (and dearly missed) Evan Tanner. For my money, that fight isn’t that far behind Griffin-Bonnar I. Franklin’s resiliency surviving the early knockdown, and the awe-inspiring display of the human spirit by Tanner in refusing to quit, despite the certainty of defeat from midway through the second round onward, kept me glued to the action.

Franklin’s three knockout losses to Anderson Silva and Belfort and Griffin’s knockout losses to Keith Jardine, Rashad Evans and Silva followed. I was looking for mistakes that led to their brutal defeats. Instead, all I remember is the honesty of their effort and the raw emotion that followed. It was a vivid reminder that guys are baring their soul to the world each time they fight.

Great performances by Franklin in his bouts against Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, Matt Hamill and Chuck Liddell served as reminders of what “Ace” can do when he is firing on all cylinders. For the record, I am convinced that Franklin deserved the nod against Hendo, despite the judges seeing it differently.

Griffin showed the same level of dominance in “shock the world” wins over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. And, well, Forrest was just being Forrest in his two bouts with Tito Ortiz - an all-action, entertaining mixed martial artist. Those bouts serve as unquestioned evidence that Griffin can compete with anyone on any given day—often putting forth an effort worthy of Fight of the Year consideration.
The reality is that the fans are in for a rare treat each and every time Franklin and Griffin enter the cage. The hard-earned dollars of the fans pay their bills. Franklin and Griffin get it. They work extremely hard before and during the fight to repay the fans for the opportunity to earn lucrative livings doing what they love. That is why they fight to entertain, as much as they do to win.  They realize that MMA is a spectator sport first and foremost.

The end result of their commitment to engaging in thrilling bouts has been nothing short of astonishing. In their last eight bouts, the pair has captured four Fight of the Night awards, a Submission of the Night award, and the always favorite Knockout of the Night award. That is serious entertainment value for the fans. It is also why Saturday night is must-see TV.

 As far as this particular matchup goes, it has all the ingredients to be a timeless war. Neither man has true one-strike stopping power. Yes, I know Franklin destroyed Chuck Liddell in his last fight with a single punch. But even he would admit that he is more of a surgeon with his strikes than a destroyer.

Griffin has similar governors on his explosive power. He might not be as surgical with his attacks as his foe. Then again, who needs to be when the game plan often involves coming forward without any regard for self preservation and attacking in whirling dervish style? He forces opponents to stand and fight because they have no other option. Griffin simply won’t stop coming forward until they make him stop.

I would be shocked if either man spent much, if any, time trying to score a takedown, since neither has much interest in wrestling, other than trying master the art of anti-wrestling. They will more likely look to trade on the feet from the moment the action gets underway until either the referee or the timekeeper calls a halt to the action.

Sure, each of these guys has his own distinct advantages over the other. Franklin is the more technical of the two. Griffin is the bigger, stronger man. Franklin probably has a more polished submission game. Griffin has a sturdier jaw. Both could be mistaken for the Energizer Bunny on any given day.

But again, this fight isn’t about trying to compare their respective strengths and weaknesses. Not to me, at least. It is about grabbing your favorite beverage, sitting on the edge of your seat in the arena, on your couch or your favorite bar stool and watching two men bare their heart and soul inside the cage in an effort to entertain the fans and win a mixed martial arts contest.

To quote Donnie Brasco, “that, my friend, is a beautiful thing.”  And that, my friend, is why I will be watching on Saturday night. You should, too.

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"Ace" Quotes from Franklin

On February 5th, former middleweight champion Rich Franklin faces former light heavyweight boss Forrest Griffin in a clash of two of the most popular fighters in UFC history.  On February 5th, former middleweight champion Rich Franklin faces former light heavyweight boss Forrest Griffin in a clash of two of the most popular fighters in UFC history. And when you read some of the quotes we’ve gathered from Franklin over the years, you’ll know why fans love “Ace”.

SHAMROCK AND THE TURNING POINT (2005)
“Prior to the Stout and Rivera fights last year, I had given some serious consideration to quitting. I was going to go back to my job and teaching, and I wasn’t making bad money, but I wasn’t making great money, and I thought if I can make X number of dollars a year teaching and make the same amount of dollars fighting, it makes no sense to me if teaching is more of a secure environment. So with my degree and everything, I really thought about going back to teaching and just hanging the hat up here. But how quickly things turned around. I prayed about it, asked for some guidance, and God gave it to me.”

A RETURN TO TEACHING? (2005)
“Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching and I love working with the students but I can’t imagine, having experienced what I’ve experienced in life, going back to just a normal 9 to 5 job. But we’ll see. If you asked me five years ago what I thought I’d be doing now, I would not have had any of this in mind. So I don’t know what I’ll be doing five years from this point in my life either.”

THE MENTAL EDGE (2005)
“I train hard and come into the fights well prepared, but mentally, by fight day I’m ready to go. And if I do everything that I should have done up to that point – and I always do – I don’t feel like I can be beat. There’s no reason why I should lose the fight. Granted, something can happen and there’s always a puncher’s chance, but skill for skill, I feel that when I’m stepping into the ring, there’s nobody stepping into the ring who’s better than me. I’ve convinced myself of that, and because of that I’m capable of taking the fight where it needs to go so it’s favorable towards me.”

LIFE IN THE SPOTLIGHT (2005)
“At this point it’s not that tough. My true private life I can keep private. I don’t have paparazzi following me around and taking photos. I can walk out to my mailbox and get my mail without being concerned about what I’m wearing that day or whatever. I don’t live that kind of lifestyle. And I think at the level that I’m at, with the notoriety I have, so to speak, this level doesn’t bother me. And I’m here in Cincinnati, so I don’t get it a lot. My wife and I may go out to dinner for an evening and between dinner and a movie we might get stopped two or three times by people that recognize me and that’s not all that bad. It’s not like being in Vegas the week before a fight and everyone knows who you are. That’s a bit overwhelming, and if life was like that every day, then I would have to take some different measures to be able to cope with that. And I just can’t imagine life being like that yet, at this point.”

THE PERFECTIONIST (2006)
“I don’t like to use the word perfectionist. I can look at freeze frames of a fight or anything else and find slight little things – maybe my hand was down two inches lower or four inches lower than it should have been, or off of a break I didn’t react as quickly as I should have, I wasn’t explosive as I should have been – and even if it’s just minor details that most people wouldn’t even think about, I still pick up on.”

FIGHTING HURT (2006)
“Any time you have a major injury and you’re aware of it, you can feel it. But it’s not like the kind of feeling I would get if I were to break my hand in a car door and then had to sit there with it. I’m in the middle of a fight, so most of that pain is masked. But you know it’s there and it hurts a little bit. What else am I gonna do? Punching is a big part of my game, so the only option I have is to kick and keep throwing punches.”

THE ESSENCE OF RICH FRANKLIN (2006)
“I don’t know what it is, I just have this drive. I was a kid that didn’t have a whole lot growing up. I was from divorced parents, kinda poor, and we had to make do with what we had and fight for what we got. And I think the Lord kinda put me in that situation, so I grew up with that kind of mentality that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get what you need. This is the path that I’ve chosen in life, God’s granted me with the talent to fight, so I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get what I need, and in Saturday’s case, that was a victory.”

FIGHTING FRIENDS (2006)
“You see the marketing that’s put into these fights, and especially in the boxing world you see two fighters shove each other at the weigh-in, and it really doesn’t make for a better fight. I don’t think you could have asked for a more exciting fight than Saturday’s fight (against David Loiseau), and that’s coming from two guys who like each other and consider themselves friends - as much as you can be friends in this business and in the same weight class - and yet we still put on a good show.”

THE FANS (2006)
“I love the fans out there and any fan that has met me could probably vouch for me and say that.  I’m usually the last guy to leave and the first guy to show up to sign autographs and I always have to have somebody pushing me out the door saying ‘Rich, we’ve got to be here’ or ‘Rich, we’ve got to be there.’  And I love the fans in that sense.  However, I don’t thrive on the fame or anything like that.  I just understand that from a fan’s perspective, if somebody waits around to meet Rich Franklin, and they put a lot of time and effort into meeting me, then the least I can do is sign an autograph, be cordial, and make the most of that particular encounter.”

THE DIFFERENCE (2007)
“Most people in this country, they participate in team sports, and a lot of people don’t understand the difference between team sports and individual sports. For me, when I walk into the cage, it’s kinda like that feeling of having two seconds left on the clock and I’m at the free throw line and I have to make both my free throws to win the game. Or it’s the bottom of the ninth and I’m the last batter and we need a run driven in to win the World Series. You have that kind of feeling of pressure on you where you have to be the one to perform. You don’t have four other teammates on the court that you can blame it on when the game is lost. When the fight’s lost, it’s your fault. People look at you and want to know what you did wrong, what you did right, and how you’re going to fix things so that you can win next time.”

MONEY PLAYER (2007)
“I think that individual athletes and fighters like myself, these are the guys that would be the playmakers on teams. You’re the guy that wants the ball in a pressure situation. You’re the guy that can say, ‘You know what, I can make the difference between winning and losing in a game.’ I do believe it’s that mentality.”

DEFENDING THE GAME (2007)
“I get tired of the misconceptions. I honestly get tired of doing interviews that constantly use words like ‘barbaric’ and ‘bloody’, and just those kind of adjectives to describe what you do. In reality, I feel much safer doing what I do than I would riding a bull or driving NASCAR or doing flips on a motorcycle at a motocross event. That’s just my choice. I have a good referee in the ring at all times to keep watch on me and I have the ability, if I want to, to tap out of a fight. That keeps me safe and I know it. The misconceptions of just how brutal this sport is just gets irritating after a while, to constantly defend yourself.”

WINNING THE TITLE AGAIN (2007)
“There’s no quarterback in the NFL that ever won one Super bowl ring and didn’t want to win another one. One of my favorite posters that I had growing up was a poster of Joe Montana. He was holding a football and he had a Superbowl ring on four fingers. Just to see that picture and know that not only is he a good quarterback, but he was dominant. And I think every kid dreams of that. You don’t go into sports and say ‘well if I could win one Superbowl, that would be great.’ If you’re gonna play ten years, you’d want to win ten, and that’s the same way here. After I win my championship belt, I don’t want to lose it. If I fight ten more fights in my career, I want to defend my belt ten more times and that’s what I’m trying to get back to.”

GOING HOLLYWOOD? (2008)
“The movie work that I did, I had been talking to my business team about it, and it seemed like an opportunity for something that was just kinda fun to do. I don’t really have any acting experience and don’t necessarily think that I have a future in acting as a career. When I talked about doing a small part in a movie, I said something about having three or four lines and more or less like a cameo appearance. So here we are, we find ourselves in a smaller budget action film and it was a good opportunity. But never once did it cross my mind that ‘yeah, this is something I can do when I’m done fighting.’ I’m just not sure that I enjoy acting that much. It’s hard work, its long hours, and it’s a slower pace of work than I’m used to. Being in front of a camera when you’re acting is much different than when you’re doing an interview, commentating, or any of that stuff. Would I do another movie? Yeah, possibly. I had a good time doing it. Would I want to do it as a career? I’m not quite sure.”

FAR FROM FINISHED (2008)
“People in this world assume that once you’ve earned the title, been the main event, and been in the limelight and then lost it that now you’re done. I’m not done. I can still put on exciting fights, the fans love watching me fight, I love to compete still, and I can move to 205 and see what I can do there. I don’t mind not being the main event, I don’t mind not having to do 5,000 interviews – now I only have 4,999 because I’m not nearly important as I once was. (Laughs) To me, it’s all the same – I have fans who still love me and critics who hate me. It will be that way whether I’m a titleholder or not, so in between now and then, I’m just trying to put on good fights, entertain people, and enjoy doing what I do.”

HATERS (2008)
“Everybody has haters. I was watching (comedian) Katt Williams. He said Jesus only had 12 friends and he had a hater, and he (Jesus) was perfect. Judas threw him under the bus. So it doesn’t matter what you do in life, there are gonna be people who don’t like you.”

REINVENTING RICH (2009)
“It’s easy when you get to the top and you’re winning and to say to yourself – here’s the equation that got it done for me – I’m gonna stick with this. But once you lose and you’re not on the top anymore, a lot of guys are just comfortable saying I was there, I was world champ, and I’m happy with that, so let me just skate through here on my own coattails and make the money I can make throughout the rest of my career. And they invest all the time, work, and effort that they need to in getting to the top, and once they’re there, they’re sick of putting that work in and they don’t want to have to go back to the drawing board and say I need to change myself as a fighter. For me, I’m not satisfied being on the top and then beginning my downward descent into retirement. There are still things I’d like to accomplish in this sport.”

BURN OUT (2009)
“I’d be lying if I told you that I didn’t get burned out occasionally. There are days when I come in the gym and I ask myself why I do what I do. It happens all the time, but every fighter goes through that. Whether it’s gonna be physically difficult, where you don’t want to go through that hard workout, or it’s gonna be mentally difficult, where you’re constantly focusing on things but you don’t feel like putting the attention span in on something, you have those days from time to time and you just have to work through that stuff. I keep telling myself that in this profession, I have a short window. It’s not 30 years and then retire. I’ve got maybe 10 or 11 years in this and then I’m done. So even when I have days where I don’t feel like doing what I need to do, I’ve just got to suck it up, do my stuff, and remind myself that this is a short-lived amount of time.”

THE STORYBOOK ENDING (2010)
“It’s the classic Cinderella story – any athlete, or anybody in any kind of job in life, that’s what they want to do. I want to try my hand at going for the number one spot again and if I can make it there, that would be great to get back on top, and once I get there I’ll figure out where to go from there. So I would think that fights with some of the big names in the sport are what’s going to take me there, and obviously these fights with guys like Chuck Liddell are gonna put me in a position to start stepping me towards that.”

THE COMPETITOR (2010)
“I love competition and this is what I’m good at. At this point in my life, I can’t imagine doing anything besides this. If you were a doctor and you came to me and said ‘Rich, you could never fight again,’ I would sit here and wonder what I would do. There’s nothing I really enjoy doing like I enjoy fighting and training. I do what I love and I really need to thank God for the fact that I’m not stuck doing some job that I hate.”

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