(Chad’s the dead guy in the background.)
After getting utterly demolished by the much-larger Travis Browne during his Octagon debut at UFC 145, heavyweight prospect Chad Griggs has decided to drop to 205 pounds for his follow-up UFC appearance. Griggs was only 228 pounds when he hit the scales before his UFC debut — about as heavy as Jon Jones’s walking weight — making this a wise career choice on paper. The question is: Will Chad’s decision turn out to be good, bad, or ugly?
The Grave Digger certainly won’t be getting an easy welcome in his new division. According to MMA Weekly, Griggs will be returning at UFC on FOX 4 (August 4th, Los Angeles) against light-heavyweight contender Phil Davis, who suffered the first loss of his career in a decision against Rashad Evans in January. Before that, Davis had used his wrestling and grappling skills to dominate such tough competition as Brian Stann, Alexander Gustafsson, Tim Boetsch, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. In other words, Griggs’s takedown defense had better be airtight if he wants his puncher’s chance to be worth the fist it’s printed on.
UFC on FOX 4 is shaping up to be a real crowd-pleaser; the current lineup is after the jump…
Brian Stann vs. Hector Lombard (MW)
Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader (LHW)
Ben Rothwell vs. Travis Browne (HW)
Phil De Fries vs. Oli Thompson (HW)
Matt Mitrione vs. Rob Broughton (HW)
Joe Lauzon vs. Terry Etim (LW)
Phil Davis vs. Chad Griggs (LHW)