As part of the plan by Zuffa to consolidate all of their heavyweight fighters under one promotion, the latest fighter reportedly moving to the Octagon will be Chad ‘The Grave Digger’ Griggs (11-1).
News of Griggs signing with the UFC was announced by MMAWeekly.com on Wednesday morning.
Griggs follows close on the heals of other fighters such as Lavar Johnson, who was announced as Joey Beltran’s opponent for UFC on FOX 2 yesterday, and Fabricio Werdum, who is confirmed to meet Roy Nelson at UFC 143.
‘The Grave Digger’ is currently riding a six fight win streak and had been an alternate for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, winning both of his reserve bouts, but it appears he’ll have to worry about making his Octagon debut rather than possibly replacing one of the Grand Prix finalists.
Griggs debuted with Strikeforce in August 2010, taking a fight with former pro-wrestler Bobby Lashley at the Strikeforce: Houston event. Many felt that Griggs was being thrown in as an easy opponent for the former WWE start, but instead retired his opponent after two rounds with a flurry of strikes at the end of the second.
The Arizona fighter then went on to compete in a Reserve bout for the Grand Prix, earning a first round TKO finish of opponent Gianpiero Viliante in February. Then he’d go on to submit Valentijn Overeem this past June at the Overeem vs. Werdum event.
No news has surfaced at this time as to when, or more importantly, who Griggs will face in his Octagon debut.