Author: By Thomas Gerbasi

Though it’s debatable how many diehard mixed martial arts fans sat down and watched the entire final of the Women’s World Cup of Soccer between Japan and the United States on July 17th, the result was undoubtedly one that struck to the heart of another underdog looking to pull off a major upset of his own.

“I am inspired by watching various sports,” said number one middleweight contender Yushin Okami through translator Gen Isono. “Especially, I was inspired by the victory of the Japanese women’s soccer team in the World Cup at this time. It taught me how important it is for me to believe in myself once again.”

Against the odds, the Japanese women survived scoring chance and scoring chance by the Americans, some with great skill, others with a wink from Lady Luck. But when it was time for them to fire back, they made sure each shot counted, eventually earning a victory via penalty kicks.

This Saturday’s UFC RIO main event against Anderson Silva is much the same for Okami. To beat the best pound for pound fighter in the planet, Okami must survive the inevitable bursts of speed, accuracy, and power from Silva, and while he won’t get many chances to even the score, when he does, he must make sure he delivers. If he can do that enough times or get Silva in enough precarious positions, either against the fence or on the mat, he has the chance to become the only Japanese fighter in history to win a UFC title.

Looking over the roster of his peers who have competed here, from Kazushi Sakuraba and Tsyuoshi Kosaka to Caol Uno and Takanori Gomi, to do that would be an amazing feat. To do it against Silva lifts the achievement even higher. But he isn’t going to bow down to such pressure, only saying, “Taking the belt from Anderson would let me establish myself as an MMA fighter throughout my life.”

More than that, Okami will become an inspiration for a country devastated by an earthquake in March that tragically tore through the Land of the Rising Sun. He knows it too.

“I believe it (a win over Silva) would add one more boost to the Japanese people who are now working really hard to reconstruct Japan. Japan has been suffering in a difficult situation, and when I think about what I can do, the answer is getting the belt from Anderson, so I have been focusing on it.”

To do so, Okami traveled to Portland, Oregon to train with the members of Team Quest, including former UFC middleweight contender Matt Lindland and current 185-pound standout Chael Sonnen. It’s not the first time he’s worked with the man who came the closest to beating Silva in the UFC, and his expertise couldn’t have come at a better time for Okami.

“Matt Lindland, the people in Team Quest and Chael are giving me a lot of advice and support in my training,” he said. “They have a lot of ideas about Anderson Silva because Chael fought him once.”

So did Okami, and a lot of the talk surrounding this highly-anticipated bout is that “Thunder” is the last man to defeat Silva. Of course, that 2006 win in Hawaii comes with a bit of an asterisk, as Okami’s win came via disqualification when Silva cracked him with an illegal upkick at 2:33 of the first round. To his credit, Okami understands the circumstances that led to his win, and it’s something he has downplayed over the years.

“I do not think that was my victory,” he said. “I think the fight has never been given any conclusion. I am glad to bring an end to that fight on the best stage.”

It’s a classy response and one that is truthful. There was no resolution to that first bout, and what better way to settle it than in a UFC main event with a world title on the line. And while getting here took some time, Okami always believed that Silva had the goods to become the fighter he is today.

“I have known how good he was,” he said. “There is no surprise when I watch his success in his UFC career.”

By his second fight in the Octagon, Silva was a world champion. On that same UFC 64 card in Las Vegas, Okami notched his second UFC victory, stopping Kalib Starnes in the third round. A 4-1 slate in his next five bouts secured him a rematch with Silva for the title at UFC 90 in October of 2008, but a broken hand forced him out of the fight.

Now, nearly three years later, he’s facing Silva, but after a series of starts and stops, it took a November 2010 win over Nate Marquardt to finally secure his dream fight. Before the UFC 122 bout, Okami was understandably nervous, and when asked if he felt the pressure that if he didn’t win he would never get a shot, he responded quickly and to the point.

“Yes, I did.”

But with everything on the line, Okami performed, taking a three round unanimous decision and a shot at the belt. It also gave him something he has taken with him to Rio De Janeiro this week.

“The victory over Marquardt gave me a lot of confidence,” said the 30-year old Okami. “Also by winning that fight, I was given a clear vision of my title shot, so I started to think about fighting Anderson Silva from that moment.”

He hasn’t stopped thinking about the fight yet, and he won’t until the Octagon gate closes and it’s just him and “The Spider.” Okami remembers what it’s like being in that spotlight with Silva.

“I still remember his appearance,” he said, “It was something like an aura. And I felt how good he was, but I will utilize that experience to guide myself to a better direction.”

A winning one. And though Silva left Hawaii that night with a loss, he has gone on to become a fighter many believe is the best ever. But what many forget is that Okami is not the same fighter he was in 2006 either.

“I assume that we both have changed a lot,” he said. “Anderson has been changed and I have been improved in all aspects.”

Okami also has everything to fight for.

The transition from star to icon is a sudden one. Sure, there are signs along the way that the tipping point is coming, but when it does arrive, it almost sneaks up on you.

For UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, his move into that rarefied sporting air that only a few occupy came in sneaky, then explosive form, all in one, when a single front kick to the face of countryman Vitor Belfort in the first round of their UFC 126 bout knocked out “The Phenom,” and set a sport on fire once again.

It was a far cry from 2010 for “The Spider,” as he survived a year in which he was vilified for a bizarre decision win over Demian Maia and then given a steady four-plus round thrashing from Chael Sonnen before a miracle fifth round comeback.

Now, the Curitiba, Brazil native is coming off the stirring knockout of Belfort, a successful showing of the documentary about his fight with Sonnen, “Like Water,” at the Tribeca Film Festival, and perhaps most notably, recent endorsement deals with Burger King and Nike.

“First of all it’s an honor to have such companies put faith in my work, and help bring MMA to mainstream sponsors,” said Silva through translator Derek Kronig Lee. “It’s a great opportunity for myself and all the fighters.”

This Saturday night, Silva will fight in his home country for the first time since 2003, and while he doesn’t remember the specifics of his last bout on home soil – a first round TKO of Waldir dos Anjos – he does welcome the opportunity to return.

“It’s great to be fighting in Brazil again after such a long time defending the country overseas,” said Silva, and that’s been the responsibility for so many of the sport’s greatest competitors over the years. After fighting their way through the Brazilian fight circuit and proving themselves, it was off to the United States, Japan, and sometimes Europe if they wanted to make a career in the sport.

From Silva to “Minotauro” Nogueira, “Shogun” Rua, Wanderlei Silva, Belfort, Lyoto Machida, Jose Aldo, and so many more, to become stars in the sport Royce Gracie and his family introduced to the world in 1993, it was necessary to leave their home land. That was tough, but living with the knowledge that you could create a better life for yourself and your family if you left but not doing so was even worse.

So Silva and the aforementioned fighters made their reputations elsewhere. Many would still train at home and live in Brazil between fights, but they were unable to showcase their wares for their people.

But things have changed, as evidenced by the rapid sellout of the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro for Saturday’s UFC RIO card, and of the amazing reception the fighters and the UFC have received in the country.

“The sport has grown and matured a lot,” said Silva. “A lot of things that needed to change have changed and it created a true sport that has a huge fanbase all over the world and has grown immensely in Brazil in the past few years.  I am grateful to make a living from what I love to do.”

Did he ever see this day coming back when he was just another promising up and comer on the local fight scene?

“It’s hard to say because I don’t know if anyone back then was really thinking about how big it could potentially get.”

It’s an honest answer because back then, a hungry young fighter was just that – a hungry young fighter. The priority was winning fights so your paychecks would increase and you could put food on the table. This way of life made fighters. And no matter how Silva’s life has changed for the better in the last few years, he remains a fighter.

For proof, look no further than the Sonnen and Belfort bouts. Against Sonnen, he could have curled up in a defensive shell in the fifth round, content just not to take any more punishment in a fight he was on his way to losing on the scorecards. He didn’t. He kept fighting and pulled off a miracle comeback win. With Belfort, there was some heat between the two former training partners, with Silva definitely intent on teaching his challenger a painful lesson. He did.

It was an emotional two fight stretch for Silva, which makes you wonder whether he can dig down deep and reignite the fire he had for Sonnen and Belfort for a new challenger in number one contender Yushin Okami.

“It’s always very emotional to win,” he admits. “After months of training and dedication this is when I show my work. It’s my job, this is what I love to do and thankfully I am healthy and able to continue doing what I love.”

And you would think that if he needs any sort of push, Okami is the last man to beat him, at least technically. But that was via disqualification in 2006, Okami doesn’t even consider it a win, and Silva, well, he just says “A fight is a fight, and win or lose, it’s in the past.”

So that’s that. But just because there isn’t the heated rivalry between Silva and Belfort or the trash talking Sonnen to ignite Saturday’s main event, that doesn’t mean it isn’t an intriguing bout. On the contrary. Okami is a powerhouse groundfighter who can control and win a fight if he gets his hands on you and takes you down. Sound familiar? Well, the same man who almost pulled that strategy off to perfection – Sonnen – has been Okami’s lead training partner in Oregon. Mention this to Silva and wonder if he expects Okami to try and implement a similar gameplan, the answer is a terse one.

“I don’t know.”

What Silva does know is that despite his record-setting stint in the UFC thus far, Okami won’t care about all that when the bell rings. So the 36-year old champion has prepared accordingly, and he’s ready to do whatever is necessary to send the Rio fans home happy.

“It’s a tough fight,” said Silva. “He (Okami) is a complete fighter and I think the fight could be decided on our feet and on the ground as well. I think he will be prepared to go where the fight takes us and so will I.”

It’s about the only thing that remains constant for Anderson Silva – the desire to fight, win, and perform to the best of his ability. The rest? Well, he’s an icon of mixed martial arts now – abroad, and at home. He’s come full circle in his life and his career, but strangely enough, he’s not satisfied yet.

“I want to keep defending my belt and writing my history in MMA,” he said.

You want to tell him he can’t?

UFC RIO, which is headlined by the middleweight championship bout between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami and the light heavyweight rematch between Forrest Griffin and “Shogun” Rua, airs live on Pay-Per-View from the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil at 9pm ET / 6pm PT. Fans can also tune in to Spike TV at 8pm ET / 5pm PT to see live UFC 134 preliminary bouts, and those who “like” the UFC on Facebook can see the rest of the prelim bouts at 6:00 pm ET / 3:00 pm PT.

MAIN EVENT – UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Anderson Silva (184) vs. Yushin Okami (183)

PPV
Forrest Griffin (205) VS Mauricio Rua (205)
Brendan Schaub (247) VS Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (243)
Edson Barboza (155) VS Ross Pearson (155)
Stanislav Nedkov (203) VS Luiz Cane (204)

SPIKE TV PRELIMS
Spencer Fisher (156) VS Thiago Tavares (156)
Dan Miller (184) VS Rousimar Palhares (185)

ONLINE FIGHTS
Paulo Thiago (169) VS David Mitchell (171)
Raphael Assuncao (134) VS Johnny Eduardo (135)
Erick Silva (169) VS Luis Ramos (171)
Yuri Alcantara (144) vs. Felipe Arantes (145)
Yves Jabouin (135) vs. Ian Loveland (135)

No matter how fertile your imagination, it would be hard to come up with a more interesting sight than a young Spencer Fisher performing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu moves with his friends in his basement, complete with Portuguese accents.

“I’ve been a Rickson Gracie fan since Day One, and I used to try to emulate those guys when I first started watching the fights and I even developed a Portuguese accent as a kid,” laughs Fisher. “My buddy Gary and I, we would be in my basement and we would hold our hands like those guys did and we would pronounce things like ‘armlock’ like they would.”

Yes, it’s true. So it goes without saying that when Fisher sets foot in the Octagon in Rio De Janeiro this Saturday night against Thiago Tavares, he’s not only fighting for a win, he’s almost making a pilgrimage to a spiritual home of sorts when it comes to mixed martial arts.

“To tell you the truth, this is my dream,” he said. “It’s a dream come true to fight in front of those guys, and I’m very thankful to (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva for giving me this chance.”

And what a chance it is. At 35, the native of Cashiers, North Carolina (which only had one traffic light when he was there) will fight in a packed house in Brazil against a hungry opponent looking to get back on the winning track in front of his home country fans. When it comes to pressure, high stakes, and an electric atmosphere, it doesn’t get any better than that. And though it may be the unpopular opinion if you’re in Brazil or a fan of Tavares, Fisher is ultra-confident that he is going to run the table on his fellow veteran.

“I’m feeding off of that (Tavares having the “homefield” advantage) because it’s all up to him to come out and fight,” he said. “I know his game like the back of my hand. I’m having everybody emulating him, and it’s easy to find guys that are Thiago Tavares. But there’s no way he’s gonna find another Spencer Fisher unless you go through the backwoods of North Carolina. (Laughs) I’ve got jiu-jitsu guys here, his chin is suspect, the cardio’s in my favor, and the pressure’s all on him. I’m gonna go out there, and he’s not making it out of round two.”

Fisher’s always been the confident sort, but perhaps adding to his certainty of victory is that his training camp has been augmented by a visit from an old rival of Tavares’ and of himself – fellow lightweight standout Matt Wiman, who knocked Tavares out in the second round of a Fight of the Night battle in 2008, and who was knocked out by Fisher two years prior.

“He is probably the nicest guy that I’ve ever met inside the cage as far as getting to know someone on a personal level,” said Fisher of Wiman. “His work ethic is top notch, and the biggest thing that’s disappointing about him is that he eats clean. He got me to start eating vegan patties, and I can’t believe it.”

Fisher laughs, but in the interest of Rocky III references, did the two ever clear out the gym and have a rematch behind closed doors?

“The day he left,” said Fisher, “the last round we got in there it was part two of our first fight. We were in there and we were throwing rocks. We should have charged admission for people to see that one.”

“The King” admits to getting a black eye out of that last sparring session, but more importantly his work with Wiman refueled a fire that was starting to dim a bit in recent years.

“Whenever I go out there and I fight somebody, I try to fight tooth and nail ‘til the end,” he said. “When I was a little younger, I could get away with doing things because my philosophy was, and it almost blew up on me, to go balls to the wall, be in great shape and the guys could take me down, but they would tire. But now everybody kinda caught on, they’re in good condition to keep going, so I kinda got away from that. But that’s what got me here in the first place and in my last fight I kinda got back to that a little bit. I was real aggressive and I put pressure on and it worked for me. In the end I got taken down, but I didn’t try to get back up like I should have. This time, we’ll see.”

Winner of three in a row in 2008-09 before back-to-back defeats against Joe Stevenson and Dennis Siver (with the Siver loss being a razor-thin one that many believed he won), Fisher defeated tough Brit Curt Warburton at UFC 120, but then lost a competitive decision to Ross Pearson in February of this year. The Pearson fight did show that Fisher was starting to get his groove back, and he promises even more of a return to his prime form this weekend.

“That’s something I kinda got away from, being aggressive, and I started calculating stuff and cutting angles, but for this fight, I’m still gonna cut angles, but you can bet your ass you’re gonna see flying knees and spinning back kicks,” he said. “Of course I’m always looking for the W, but more than anything, I want to give people their money’s worth. Whenever they watch a Spencer Fisher fight, I want them to say ‘damn, he hasn’t lost it, that guy is as hungry as ever and he’s as exciting as ever.’ And those are the kinds of shows I love to put on.”

If that tune sounds familiar, it was the mantra of the recently retired UFC action hero Chris Lytle, who walked off into the sunset in amazing style earlier this month with his submission victory over Dan Hardy. Fisher, who has no plans on leaving anytime soon, would love to carry on the work started by “Lights Out,” beginning this weekend.

“I’m a fan of Lytle and the guy does it again and again,” he said. “As for me, I’m the old guy, but with the old guy comes experience and everything gets better with age with me. Maybe I’m not as herky jerky or as fast as I was, but my intensity is there, I’m in good shape, I’m having fun again, and it’s a cliché, but you’re gonna see me aggressive, I’m gonna come after Thiago, and I’m looking to knock him out.”

The last time Mauricio Rua fought in his home country of Brazil, things were a lot different than they will be on Saturday night, when he performs before thousands at the HSBC Arena against Forrest Griffin in the co-main event of UFC RIO.

Back then, in August of 2003, the 21-year old Rua was just two fights into his mixed martial arts career, years removed from his Grand Prix title in PRIDE and his light heavyweight championship in the UFC. He was a kid with potential – no more, no less. His opponent that night in the Meca World Vale Tudo 9 event in Rio De Janeiro was the local hotshot – Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos.

“I remember it perfectly, as it was a very exciting and hard fight,” said Rua through manager / translator Eduardo Alonso. “Back then, Cyborg was tough and very feared; he was beating everyone and I was still very young, so people didn’t give me much of a chance.”

But Rua showed the heart, power, and talent that would soon become his hallmarks that night, as he stopped Santos at the 8:12 mark of the bout to move to 3-0 as a pro.

“That fight was a war and I got my brown belt in BJJ after that fight,” he recalled. “It was a very important win on my record back then.”

Next stop, the world.

Eight years later, when the discussion turns to the best 205-pounders on the planet, Rua’s name is always prominently mentioned, and rightfully so. But despite still being a few months removed from his 30th birthday, he is being greeted with questions about his future following the loss of his UFC title to Jon Jones in March of this year. The loss, a third round TKO, sent shockwaves through the Curitiba native’s devoted fanbase, and it hit the fighter just as hard.

“It was a very sad defeat, and it really made me think a lot,” said Rua. “However, you have to put things behind you and work hard to achieve your goals, so as soon as I started to train again it was in the past.”

That’s the key to success in anything. Dwelling on your losses and setbacks will only keep you chained to them. Rua has only tasted the bitterness of defeat five times in his nearly nine year career, and each time he has been able to shake off the disappointment and move on. He’s never lost two in a row, and he doesn’t intend on starting that habit now.

But this comeback fight is different, mainly because the man he’s facing – Griffin – is the one who shot an arrow through Rua’s aura of invincibility back in September of 2007.

Before that fight, Rua had lost a 2003 bout to Renato Sobral, one which you could write off due to inexperience, and a 2006 PRIDE bout to Mark Coleman which ended due to a freak injury. So when he made his move to the UFC, he did so as an unstoppable force whose greatest accomplishment to date was the 2005 Grand Prix tournament win that saw him defeat Quinton Jackson, Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem, and Ricardo Arona in succession. Griffin, while popular and a legit 205-pound contender, was not going to have a chance with “Shogun.”

Griffin didn’t get the memo, and with 15 seconds left in the bout, he submitted Rua via rear naked choke. Rua was crushed.

“It was very sad,” he said, when asked about the morning after the UFC 76 defeat. “It was a tough phase of my life with many changes being done, and others on the way, and losing is always sad. But things come for a reason so you have to learn from your experiences.”

Was he as shocked with the result as the rest of the world was?

“I’m a very confident fighter, and I always do my best and believe in my chances,” said Rua. “Obviously I entered the fight thinking I would win, but I wasn’t shocked at all, because I knew he was tough and when you enter a fight it’s either winning or losing.”

Saddled with a series of knee surgeries in the ensuing years that came before and after wins over Coleman and Chuck Liddell and a controversial decision loss to Lyoto Machida, Rua carried on with his career and eventually won the 205-pound title in the rematch with Machida in 2010. But did he ever think of a rematch with the man who handed him his first UFC loss?

“As a fighter you always want to fight again against guys you lost to, because you know you could have done better,” he said. “But I try to always think about my next fight only, and let things happen naturally, so even though I always wanted it, I wasn’t really pushing for it.”

But now it’s here, and it couldn’t have come at a better time, as Rua is undergoing a fistic rebirth of sorts, not only returning to fight at home in Brazil, but doing so with his original Chute Boxe trainer, Rafael Cordeiro, by his side.

 “Master Rafael is a great coach and knows my game very well, as he was the guy that I started out with in fighting who has taught me everything from white to black belt,” said Rua. “He knows how to bring out the best out of me as a fighter, so it has been very good. He has knowledge about my game, my style and how I fight the best, and he also knows how to build a lot of confidence in fighters.”

“I had been in touch with him often for a long time, as we were always friends and I always respected him,” continued Rua. “Unfortunately he was living in the U.S. and I was living in Brazil, so it wasn’t that easy to train together, but for this fight I made the effort to live abroad for a while and focus only on my profession, so I could train with him.”

If it sounds like everything has turned around for Rua in a positive way since the Jones fight, that would be accurate. In fact, the only bad news over the last few months was when another Cordeiro student – and Rua’s friend – Wanderlei Silva, lost via crushing knockout to Chris Leben at UFC 132 in July.

“It was very difficult,” said Rua of Silva’s loss. “Wanderlei is not only a great fighter, but also a friend and our hero. He was my biggest source of inspiration when I was starting out, along with my brother Ninja. But when you fight you can win or lose, and it only happens to those who fight. Now it’s time for him to work hard and I’m sure he can comeback with a win.”

That’s precisely what Rua plans on doing this Saturday night in Rio. In many ways, this fight can be symbolic of a new beginning for him, as he gets a chance to restart his UFC career against the man who originally spoiled his debut. But he won’t go as far as to put such pressure on himself. There will be enough of that coming from Griffin.

“I try to not think about those things,” he said. “It may seem to be or mean a lot of things, but I only think of it as one more fight against a very tough fighter, and winning is always the only way to move up.”

Sometimes the simplest approach is the best one, and it’s the way “Shogun” Rua found his greatest success. That success began in Rio eight years ago, and now he’s come full circle.

“It’s a very special moment and I’m very happy to be fighting in front of my hometown fans, my family and my friends,” he notes. “But when you are inside the Octagon it’s always the same – a fight against a tough guy – so you have to block all that out and just focus on the job ahead.”

 
 

The beauty of Forrest Griffin is that he doesn’t put too much stock in drama, but he’s been a part of so many dramatic moments in the UFC Octagon. He isn’t prone to waxing poetically about the emotional highs and lows of life in the fight game, yet he’s worn his heart on his sleeve and bared himself to the world on a more than a few occasions.

It’s that paradox that keeps us watching, keeps us glued to his every move, even though that’s something that doesn’t exactly thrill him too much. If he had his way, his job would consist of training, the occasional fight, and a paycheck at the end of the night. Action figures, video games, and interviews aren’t really his thing (well, maybe the action figures are), and he hasn’t been shy in letting that part of his personality run wild.

And that’s fine, considering that when the bell rings, he isn’t holding anything back. He is as raw as it gets in this sport, and while raw isn’t always pretty, there is something so compelling and pure about it that we can’t turn away.

Back in September of 2007, Griffin showed how good raw could be. He didn’t have the hype Mauricio “Shogun” Rua had as one of the best light heavyweights on the planet and he wasn’t expected by most fans to be anything but a sacrificial lamb for the Brazilian bomber’s debut in the UFC. But 14 minutes and 45 seconds into their fight, it was Griffin’s hand that was raised in victory after he submitted the former PRIDE Grand Prix champion with a rear naked choke. Even today, the usually deadpan Griffin can admit that it was one of those moments he will never forget.

“That was really a good night for me,” he said. “You can tell by how stupid I acted after the fight. The momentum, finishing the fight with 15 seconds left, it was one of those things – I don’t think he’s gonna stop me, I’m not gonna quit.”

Nearly four years later, Griffin and Rua will meet again, this time in Brazil in the co-main event of UFC RIO. Both men have won and lost the UFC 205-pound title and seen their share of ups and downs. They’re not the same fighters or men that they were in 2007. But Griffin’s approach to the fight is the same as it was then.

“It’s the same mentality this time,” he said. “I’m gonna try and go forward, I’m gonna fight him and I’m not gonna back down. I’m not gonna fall down and crumble, and every scramble, I’m gonna scramble with him. Yeah, there’s a good chance that he’ll catch me with a running hook or a knee or something, and I’ll be done, but he’s gonna have to earn that. I’m coming after him too. I’m in a pretty good place mentally because I’m not so attached to the outcome. I care more about how I perform and more about not going out there and laying an egg, aka pulling an Anderson Silva. As long as I fight and fight well, I don’t give a f**k.”

The win over Rua was a huge upset, not as huge as that year’s Matt Serra win over Georges St-Pierre, but a damn close second. Yet lost in the euphoria and surprise of one of the sport’s greatest shockers was the fact that Griffin wasn’t shocked at all. In fact, he requested the fight with Rua when it was announced that he was coming to the UFC.

“I heard all the PRIDE guys were coming to the UFC and I figured I’ll take Dan (Henderson), I’ll take Wanderlei (Silva), I’ll take whoever,” he said. “Give me those guys. To me, it was a way to get out of the pack. It seemed like there were a bunch of us kinda at the same level, and it was a way to propel myself toward the top and that title shot. You beat the man and you get to be the man, or some such nonsense.”

And for a while, Griffin was THE man. Following the Rua bout, Griffin did a stint as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter and then fought and beat his opposing coach on the show, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, for the UFC light heavyweight crown. But five months after winning the belt in one of the greatest fights in organization history, Griffin lost it to Rashad Evans at UFC 92, and then suffered a first round knockout loss to Anderson Silva in a 2009 bout. He hasn’t lost since, defeating Tito Ortiz and Rich Franklin in back-to-back bouts, but he doesn’t see himself as being on this unbeatable run through the division.

Quite the contrary.

“It ain’t been exciting, fresh or fun since 2008,” he said. “It’s a job, it’s money, and I have a great job, I realize that. Just because it’s work doesn’t mean I’m not gonna do it. You man up and you do your job and I make a lot of money doing this, and I love money and I love the freedom and ability money gives you. I’m having a kid and my kid ain’t gonna ever want anything. My little brother wants to go to college, he’s going to college. The only thing that gives my mom pleasure in life is buying s**t off QVC, and I’m gonna pay those bills. I paid my mom’s house off. If my wife’s family needs help, I’m gonna take care of that. It’s the whole thing I write the books on – it’s being a f**king man.”

In other words, is the thrill gone?

“It quit being fun when I realized I wasn’t getting better,” he said. “I’m plateauing or almost getting worse sometimes. One of the essential elements to have in this is your perceived expectation of the future, and I’m a painful realist, so I realized that I’m not going to get better; this is it. It’s only gonna get worse from here on and you fight as much as you can, you fight until you don’t have it anymore, and then you fight a couple more times after that.”

It’s a raw (there’s that word again) assessment from one of the most no nonsense fighters in the game, either today or ever. If he’s worried about anyone’s perception of his comments, he’s not showing it, and to him it makes every bit of sense because he knows that when his name is called, he’s going to show up. And no matter what’s going on in his life, he can get away from it for 15 minutes or less. When reminded of this, he agrees, but with a disclaimer at the end.

“It’s real hard for that s**t to enter your mind when somebody’s choking your face off,” he said. “You’re in that moment of getting your face choked. You ain’t thinking about the bills, your mortgage or your boss. It’s freedom from that. Well now, the problem is that I’ve got a good life. I don’t want freedom from my good life. I love my life. I’ve got an awesome wife, my cat’s cool as s**t, he’s pretty healthy, and life’s pretty good. Now I don’t need a reprieve from life.”

Married, child on the way, bestselling author of two books, and on a two fight winning streak fighting in the co-main event of one of the biggest events of 2011. Doesn’t sound like a bad streak at all for Griffin. So what’s the motivation then?

“I’m a man, I’m a provider, and you’re genetically hard-wired to do that,” he said. “I want to be the man. Grandma needs a hearing aid, I’m gonna do that. Opportunity becomes a lot like responsibility when you sit with it. I have an opportunity to make a lot of money and do a lot of great things, and I’m gonna do that. That’s what a man does, whether he wants to do it or not. I have this opportunity, so why wouldn’t I take advantage of it. I know at some point I’m gonna be an old man walking through Target, and I’ll be like ‘man, I wish I would have done this, or given that.’ And I never want to have that regret, so I’m gonna push myself as hard as I can for another three or four years, five, maybe six fights, do as much as I can, make as much money as I can, fight as many good fights as I can, and when it’s over, I won’t have any regrets.”

“I really enjoy being the man,” he continues. “I enjoy my family counting on me and I enjoy being able to provide for my family and my extended family. That gives me a great sense of pride that I’m able to do that. My best friend in the book, Big John, he passed away and I promised him that I would make sure his son never went without, and I’m gonna have to keep that promise. But I’m not mad about it. I’m just happy that I’m in a position where I can actually keep those promises and take care of people. I thought, what can I do good? What can I do in this world to make things better and you know what I can actually do? I can win these fights, make this money, and help those around me. That’s what I can do.”

When it’s put like that, it kind of takes the shine away from asking about future fights or title shots. But Griffin is a fighter in one of the most high-profile divisions in the sport, a win over Rua makes him 3-0 in his last three fights, and if Jackson defeats Jon Jones for the 205-pound belt in September, a rematch would be one of the biggest fights you could possibly make. And Jones-Griffin wouldn’t be half bad either. So despite his doom and gloom of earlier, could he see another title run in his future?

“I’m not a coward,” he said. “If I find myself in an opportunity to make a play for it, you better believe I’m gonna go for it. I’m gonna play the mountain analogy every time someone asks me about the belt. You look up at the mountain and that mother**ker’s high. You’re gonna get disenchanted and disillusioned and you’re gonna quit climbing. You look down and say s**t, I’m pretty high up here, you’re gonna fall and lose your footing. I keep my eyes on my next foothold, on my next handhold, and on my rope. I don’t look up, I don’t look down, and that’s the way you gotta be.”

That means nothing but “Shogun” Rua. And despite the fact that the two have history and the stakes are even higher the second time around, there’s no animosity, no bad blood between the two. It’s the way Griffin likes it, because when it’s time to fight, everything that happened before really doesn’t matter.

“Business is business,” he said. “He (Rua) actually is a nice guy, I’m a nice guy, but a fight’s a fight. To me it’s the scarcity of resources. It’s like driving. I don’t care that you want to get to the same place; I want to get there first and if I’ve gotta cut you off to do it, I’m gonna cut you off. It’s not personal, it’s just business. I need what I need for me and mine more than you need what you need.”