Athe UFC 160 post event press conference Dana White announced that former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin was retiring from MMA. Now, less than a month later, Griffin has revealed that he’s at least open to the possibility of coming back should his body heal up well from recent injuries.
“I’ll start training again, September, August. Maybe if I’m just magically healed and like everything works great, then I’ll have to try [fighting] again. But, I’m not healthy now,” the TUF 1 winner told MMA Fight Corner.
Griffin last fought in July of 2012, when he beat long-time champion Tito Ortiz by unanimous decision. Griffin won three out of his last four fights but was forced to pull out of a scheduled bout with Phil Davis this year due to a torn MCL in his knee.
Griffin will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame July 6th at UFC 162 along with his TUF 1 co-finalist Stephan Bonnar. And, although the fighter sounds eager to get back into training and acknowledges the possibility of his return to competition, he warns not to read too much into his desire to be back in the gym.
“But, to say I’m unusual for that, most professional athletes have that,” Griffin explained.
“Most guys are like ‘Ok when can I start training again?’. I got into this because I like fighting, I like training. It’s fun, you know.”
Athe UFC 160 post event press conference Dana White announced that former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin was retiring from MMA. Now, less than a month later, Griffin has revealed that he’s at least open to the possibility of coming back should his body heal up well from recent injuries.
“I’ll start training again, September, August. Maybe if I’m just magically healed and like everything works great, then I’ll have to try [fighting] again. But, I’m not healthy now,” the TUF 1 winner told MMA Fight Corner.
Griffin last fought in July of 2012, when he beat long-time champion Tito Ortiz by unanimous decision. Griffin won three out of his last four fights but was forced to pull out of a scheduled bout with Phil Davis this year due to a torn MCL in his knee.
Griffin will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame July 6th at UFC 162 along with his TUF 1 co-finalist Stephan Bonnar. And, although the fighter sounds eager to get back into training and acknowledges the possibility of his return to competition, he warns not to read too much into his desire to be back in the gym.
“But, to say I’m unusual for that, most professional athletes have that,” Griffin explained.
“Most guys are like ‘Ok when can I start training again?’. I got into this because I like fighting, I like training. It’s fun, you know.”
The as of yet still retired champion also says that his next fight is more likely to come outside of the cage than inside it. “If we’re at the movies and some guy pours a drink on my wife, it’s going down,” he joked.
So, what do you say, taters? Do you think Forrest can really stay away from fighting or will he be back in the Octagon before his Hall of Fame plaque can even begin to collect dust on his mantle?
Athe UFC 160 post event press conference Dana White announced that former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin was retiring from MMA. Now, less than a month later, Griffin has revealed that he’s at least open to the possibility of coming back should his body heal up well from recent injuries.
“I’ll start training again, September, August. Maybe if I’m just magically healed and like everything works great, then I’ll have to try [fighting] again. But, I’m not healthy now,” the TUF 1 winner told MMA Fight Corner.
Griffin last fought in July of 2012, when he beat long-time champion Tito Ortiz by unanimous decision. Griffin won three out of his last four fights but was forced to pull out of a scheduled bout with Phil Davis this year due to a torn MCL in his knee.
Griffin will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame July 6th at UFC 162 along with his TUF 1 co-finalist Stephan Bonnar. And, although the fighter sounds eager to get back into training and acknowledges the possibility of his return to competition, he warns not to read too much into his desire to be back in the gym.
“But, to say I’m unusual for that, most professional athletes have that,” Griffin explained.
“Most guys are like ‘Ok when can I start training again?’. I got into this because I like fighting, I like training. It’s fun, you know.”
Athe UFC 160 post event press conference Dana White announced that former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin was retiring from MMA. Now, less than a month later, Griffin has revealed that he’s at least open to the possibility of coming back should his body heal up well from recent injuries.
“I’ll start training again, September, August. Maybe if I’m just magically healed and like everything works great, then I’ll have to try [fighting] again. But, I’m not healthy now,” the TUF 1 winner told MMA Fight Corner.
Griffin last fought in July of 2012, when he beat long-time champion Tito Ortiz by unanimous decision. Griffin won three out of his last four fights but was forced to pull out of a scheduled bout with Phil Davis this year due to a torn MCL in his knee.
Griffin will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame July 6th at UFC 162 along with his TUF 1 co-finalist Stephan Bonnar. And, although the fighter sounds eager to get back into training and acknowledges the possibility of his return to competition, he warns not to read too much into his desire to be back in the gym.
“But, to say I’m unusual for that, most professional athletes have that,” Griffin explained.
“Most guys are like ‘Ok when can I start training again?’. I got into this because I like fighting, I like training. It’s fun, you know.”
The as of yet still retired champion also says that his next fight is more likely to come outside of the cage than inside it. “If we’re at the movies and some guy pours a drink on my wife, it’s going down,” he joked.
So, what do you say, taters? Do you think Forrest can really stay away from fighting or will he be back in the Octagon before his Hall of Fame plaque can even begin to collect dust on his mantle?
(If this is a bad time, Mike, we can come back later | Photo via CombatLifestyle)
We just read a Q&A between the Las Vegas Sun and strength, conditioning, and diet specialist Mike Dolce — he prefers the term “performance coach” — and you should too. Dolce has worked with some of the biggest names in MMA in recent years, helping them get healthy and, notably, drop tons of weight before fights.
In the interview, Dolce discusses up-and-coming clients of his, who he thinks will become world champions next, his toughest projects ever, what his plan for Daniel Cormier is, and more. Check out some highlights below and then head over to the Sun to read the rest.
Chael was 233 pounds six weeks before the Michael Bisping fight. To go from 233 to 185 in six weeks is insane. The hardest issue — I would have to say Rampage is the hardest I’ve ever had to deal with. Not because he was the biggest or heaviest because he wasn’t. I helped Duane Ludwig lose 42 pounds in 13 days to fight Jim Miller on short notice here in Las Vegas. He went from 198 to 156 in 13 days with my coaching. It took eight weeks to do the same with Quinton.
Now it was so much easier with Duane because Duane is a professional; he’s a good guy with a big heart. He just got down to the business of working with no complaints, no objections, no obstacles. Some of these other guys, Rampage being one of them, everything was a challenge. He’s shown that not just with myself but with every business deal he’s ever been in.
On what made Jackson such a “challenging” client before his 2010 fight against Rashad Evans:
(If this is a bad time, Mike, we can come back later | Photo via CombatLifestyle)
We just read a Q&A between the Las Vegas Sun and strength, conditioning, and diet specialist Mike Dolce — he prefers the term “performance coach” — and you should too. Dolce has worked with some of the biggest names in MMA in recent years, helping them get healthy and, notably, drop tons of weight before fights.
In the interview, Dolce discusses up-and-coming clients of his, who he thinks will become world champions next, his toughest projects ever, what his plan for Daniel Cormier is, and more. Check out some highlights below and then head over to the Sun to read the rest.
Chael was 233 pounds six weeks before the Michael Bisping fight. To go from 233 to 185 in six weeks is insane. The hardest issue — I would have to say Rampage is the hardest I’ve ever had to deal with. Not because he was the biggest or heaviest because he wasn’t. I helped Duane Ludwig lose 42 pounds in 13 days to fight Jim Miller on short notice here in Las Vegas. He went from 198 to 156 in 13 days with my coaching. It took eight weeks to do the same with Quinton.
Now it was so much easier with Duane because Duane is a professional; he’s a good guy with a big heart. He just got down to the business of working with no complaints, no objections, no obstacles. Some of these other guys, Rampage being one of them, everything was a challenge. He’s shown that not just with myself but with every business deal he’s ever been in.
On what made Jackson such a “challenging” client before his 2010 fight against Rashad Evans:
He had taken 14 months off to film “The A-Team” and “The Ultimate Fighter.” He came into camp 51 pounds overweight before the fight — seven weeks and six days before the fight.
We weren’t behind schedule, but we weren’t ahead of schedule. But I worry. I wasn’t satisfied with it. I talked to Quinton and he said, “I’m not cheating. I’m not doing anything wrong.”
A day does by and we go to train. It’s a three-story house and Quinton lives on the top floor. He forgets his gym bag, so I say I’ll go up there and get his gym bag. I go up and look and I see something that doesn’t look right inside his pillow — a purple box, or a square. I say, “What the hell is that?” I walk over and see it’s a candy bar, a Cadbury fruit and nut candy bar. There were four of them. Under the bed there were more wrappers. So what he was doing was, we would go and get gas before the gym. We’d sit in the car and fill it up. He’d go in to pay for the gas and the window would be right there, right below window level was the candy rack. He’d buy a bunch of these candy bars and put them in his pocket and go home and eat them.
I caught it and he turned it into a joke. So I say, “What we’re going to do is compromise: You’ve got a chocolate thing. I get it. I understand it. Therefore, I’ve got a healthy alternative to it.” In that area in England, the healthiest thing I could find was Nutella, which is really not that bad considering the alternative. It’s a mental thing, not a physical thing, so I start making him Nutella sandwiches, telling him, “It’s the best thing in the world — toasted, warm, crunchy and with banana slices. It’s delicious. That’s what we’ll have if you train your (butt) off. You’ll get those as a reward system.” We started to do that and the weight dropped immediately.
On his approach for Daniel Cormier:
What we’re doing with Daniel is just getting him healthy. My job is to get him down to 10 percent body fat with as much muscle mass as we can pack on his body. Once he’s there, we can decide whatever weight class he wants to go to. My job is to keep him healthy, fit, teach him how to eat and take care of himself. Whether he fights at 205 or not, I mean we could do it this Friday. That’s just what I do. I’ve gotten phone calls where guys are 30 pounds overweight a few days beforehand and we can do it. So we could do 205 or we could stay at heavyweight and go out and destroy everyone at that weight, too. It’s up to Daniel. I’m just happy to be involved because he’s a stud.
Bellator’s Spike TV reality fight competition show, Fight Master, debuts tonight (10 PM / 9 PM Central). On the show, fighters compete for $100,000 and a Bellator contract as a part of a team led by one of four coaches. Looking towards tonight’s premiere, we sat down with one of those coaches — Greg Jackson — to discuss the unique challenges the show posed to him as a coach and more.
CagePotato:Why did you decide to take part in Fight Master?
Greg Jackson: I think it’s because I do MMA all the time. It was just something different. There are different rules. Not so much the rules in the cage but in terms of the whole structure of the tournament and this amount of time to prepare fighters. I look at it as a challenge — can I still do well with all these new parameters and this new structure? You give me a new challenge and I’m the type of guy who likes to figure it out, like a puzzle.
CP:There are four of you main coaches on Fight Master (Jackson, Joe Warren, Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock) but each of you brought assistants along. Who did you bring with you as assistant coaches for the show?
GJ: I brought two coaches — Joey Villasenor and Damacio Page. They are two guys with lots of experience. Not only are they excellent coaches but they come from Albuquerque like I do. They come from the same neighborhoods and they can help give it an Albuquerque feel.
(Greg poses with two of his bitter rivals, who he definitely did *not* split a basket of hot wings with later that evening. / Photo via Getty)
Bellator’s Spike TV reality fight competition show, Fight Master, debuts tonight (10 PM / 9 PM Central). On the show, fighters compete for $100,000 and a Bellator contract as a part of a team led by one of four coaches. Looking towards tonight’s premiere, we sat down with one of those coaches — Greg Jackson — to discuss the unique challenges the show posed to him as a coach and more.
CagePotato:Why did you decide to take part in Fight Master?
Greg Jackson: I think it’s because I do MMA all the time. It was just something different. There are different rules. Not so much the rules in the cage but in terms of the whole structure of the tournament and this amount of time to prepare fighters. I look at it as a challenge — can I still do well with all these new parameters and this new structure? You give me a new challenge and I’m the type of guy who likes to figure it out, like a puzzle.
CP:There are four of you main coaches on Fight Master (Jackson, Joe Warren, Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock) but each of you brought assistants along. Who did you bring with you as assistant coaches for the show?
GJ: I brought two coaches — Joey Villasenor and Damacio Page. They are two guys with lots of experience. Not only are they excellent coaches but they come from Albuquerque like I do. They come from the same neighborhoods and they can help give it an Albuquerque feel.
CP:By virtue of doing Fight Master, you are becoming a major figure for Bellator and Spike — competitors of the UFC and Fox. Obviously, you still have lots of guys fighting in the UFC. Do you worry that your involvement in Fight Master will hurt your guys under contract with the UFC or hurt prospects in your gym in terms of their chances of getting into the UFC?
GJ: No. I don’t think that just because I do Fight Master that suddenly the UFC is going to go bankrupt. I don’t work for anybody except for the fighters. That’s limiting in some ways but freeing in others. I like to do things the way I like to do them. I’ve never been under contract with the UFC and never worked for them.
I even like Dana a lot. Dana has been very vocal about things I’ve done but I consider Dana a friend. I’m not enemies with anybody, I’m just doing what I do which is train fighters. I was training in MMA long before I got to the UFC. For me, I’m just a coach. Maybe if I was a bigger deal it would be a problem, but I’m not.
CP:Was it at all intimidating coaching against all these other guys — Couture, Warren, Shamrock — who have all actually fought and won titles, or did you still feel confident?
GJ: I don’t get intimidated. And, they are my friends. I’m not really intimidated by people. It’s not that I’m a big tough guy. I’m not toughest guy I know. It just isn’t in my nature to get intimidated. I train with elite world champions every day.
CP:What was the most fun part about the process of taping Fight Master?
GJ: For me it was making new friends. I really enjoy meeting different people from different cultures. Getting to know them was an enriching experience. That was the funnest part. Watching the guys develop and get new skills, as well. And unexpected friendships forming as well as seeing people you hadn’t in a long time.
CP:What was the most surprising part of coaching on the show, and what was the most challenging part?
GJ: I’m always surprised by the potential of fighters. A lot of them have some good potential. If they continue to improve and keep their heads, some of these guys could potentially be good fighters.
I think the most challenging part was the rules. These guys have to fight every week so the way you normally peak a fighter and dispense information changes completely.
At the age of 47, BJJ legend (and retired MMA fighter) Royler Gracie is preparing to return to competition later this year at Metamoris 3 (date/venue TBA), in a grappling rematch with Eddie Bravo. In this interview following the match announcement at Metamoris 2 earlier this month, CagePotato reporter Elias Cepeda recaps the first meeting between Royler and Eddie back in 2003 — which made Eddie Bravo’s name overnight and legitimized his forward-thinking approach to jiu-jitsu — and gets Royler’s take on their second meeting ten years later. As Royler puts it, “I’m not trying to make history, I’m already part of history.”
At the age of 47, BJJ legend (and retired MMA fighter) Royler Gracie is preparing to return to competition later this year at Metamoris 3 (date/venue TBA), in a grappling rematch with Eddie Bravo. In this interview following the match announcement at Metamoris 2 earlier this month, CagePotato reporter Elias Cepeda recaps the first meeting between Royler and Eddie back in 2003 — which made Eddie Bravo’s name overnight and legitimized his forward-thinking approach to jiu-jitsu — and gets Royler’s take on their second meeting ten years later. As Royler puts it, “I’m not trying to make history, I’m already part of history.”
