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RIO DE JANEIRO — MMA Fighting spoke to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on Thursday about his UFC 134, fighting in Brazil, his loss to Jon Jones, how long it took him to get over it and getting a second crack at Forrest Griffin.
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RIO DE JANEIRO — MMA Fighting spoke to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on Thursday about his UFC 134, fighting in Brazil, his loss to Jon Jones, how long it took him to get over it and getting a second crack at Forrest Griffin.
Filed under: UFC
RIO DE JANEIRO — Forrest Griffin isn’t crazy about being in Brazil for UFC 134 this week, and he doesn’t see the point in pretending he is.
“It’d be a great place to come on vacation,” the former UFC light heavyweight champion explained on Wednesday. “Not a great place to work.”
Why? Take your pick of reasons. Griffin has plenty.
“I can’t read the labels on the food. I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t get anybody to cook my sweet potatoes. The scale tells me weird numbers, I don’t know what the f–k they are. I’ve got to do math every time I get on the scale. You guys don’t have distilled water. …Do you want me to keep bitchin’? Because I will.”
He got on the mats, at least. He stretched out, heaving his long limbs around in slow, tortured circles like a father getting ready to play a reluctant game of catch with his son after work, driven entirely by a vague sense of duty. Only for Griffin, the game of catch never came. He stretched, he contorted, he threw a punch or two at the air. He worked his way along the edge of the mat, smiling and waving just enough to please the crowd, then he made his exit.
Maybe he’s saving the rest for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on Saturday night.
When the UFC first told him it wanted him to book the rematch for UFC 134 in Brazil, Griffin’s thoughts on the matter were pretty simple.
“Oh God, please no,” he said.
Gradually, he moved through the stages of grief, he explained, arriving finally at acceptance. As in: “When I got off the plane, I accepted I was in Brazil,” he said.
The first time Griffin and Rua met was at UFC 76 in 2007. That one took place in Anaheim, and Griffin probably wasn’t eager to make even that short trip. If he had it his way, he might only travel from his home to the gym and back. Lately, even that little excursion doesn’t sound as if it’s quite so fun for Griffin, who admitted that he doesn’t have the same kind of fire for the sport that he had several years ago.
“It’s different,” he said. “Life changes, you know? I do this for a whole new set of reasons now.”
Reasons like money. The same reason most people get up and go to work every day. The difference is that, unlike most people, Griffin has to bleed for his cash. And so he does.
“My parents [have] got to retire. My wife’s parents [have] got to retire. My little brother wants to go to college. I’ve got a daughter coming. She’s probably going to want to go to college, and she’s probably not going to be a genius, either. I’ve got to make some money, got to win. Winning pays a lot more than losing.”
But going up against an opponent who’s fighting to not only even the score, but also to revitalize his career after getting dominated by Jon Jones in his first attempt at a UFC light heavyweight title defense, you’ve got to wonder whether the paper chase alone will be enough motivation for Griffin.
Rua’s fighting in front of his countrymen, and he’s fighting a guy who made him look bad in the later rounds of their first fight. The difference this time, Rua said at Wednesday’s open workouts, is that he “trained for four months for this fight. The first time I [fought] with Forrest, I [didn’t] train hard, but now I’m ready.”
The good news for Griffin is, that’s more or less exactly what he’s expecting out of Rua.
“I know one thing: when people beat me up I want to fight them again. You train hard and you take it real serious when someone beats you. I had that fear in the back of my head for the last nine weeks, so I did the best I could. I knew he was going to come out hungry and ready. I’m kind of expecting him to just close the distance and come at it and get going.”
And at that point, with Rua in classic “Shogun” attack mode and an arena full of rabid Brazilian fans screaming in his ear, will a love of money and a sense of self-preservation be enough to pull Griffin through?
Maybe it depends how much he loves money. Or how much he fears being without it.
“I don’t want to play it up or whatever,” Griffin said, “but I was poor once and I’ll never be poor again.”
It might not be what we’re used to hearing from pro fighters, but at least it’s sincere.
Filed under: UFC
RIO DE JANEIRO — Forrest Griffin isn’t crazy about being in Brazil for UFC 134 this week, and he doesn’t see the point in pretending he is.
“It’d be a great place to come on vacation,” the former UFC light heavyweight champion explained on Wednesday. “Not a great place to work.”
Why? Take your pick of reasons. Griffin has plenty.
“I can’t read the labels on the food. I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t get anybody to cook my sweet potatoes. The scale tells me weird numbers, I don’t know what the f–k they are. I’ve got to do math every time I get on the scale. You guys don’t have distilled water. …Do you want me to keep bitchin’? Because I will.”
He got on the mats, at least. He stretched out, heaving his long limbs around in slow, tortured circles like a father getting ready to play a reluctant game of catch with his son after work, driven entirely by a vague sense of duty. Only for Griffin, the game of catch never came. He stretched, he contorted, he threw a punch or two at the air. He worked his way along the edge of the mat, smiling and waving just enough to please the crowd, then he made his exit.
Maybe he’s saving the rest for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on Saturday night.
When the UFC first told him it wanted him to book the rematch for UFC 134 in Brazil, Griffin’s thoughts on the matter were pretty simple.
“Oh God, please no,” he said.
Gradually, he moved through the stages of grief, he explained, arriving finally at acceptance. As in: “When I got off the plane, I accepted I was in Brazil,” he said.
The first time Griffin and Rua met was at UFC 76 in 2007. That one took place in Anaheim, and Griffin probably wasn’t eager to make even that short trip. If he had it his way, he might only travel from his home to the gym and back. Lately, even that little excursion doesn’t sound as if it’s quite so fun for Griffin, who admitted that he doesn’t have the same kind of fire for the sport that he had several years ago.
“It’s different,” he said. “Life changes, you know? I do this for a whole new set of reasons now.”
Reasons like money. The same reason most people get up and go to work every day. The difference is that, unlike most people, Griffin has to bleed for his cash. And so he does.
“My parents [have] got to retire. My wife’s parents [have] got to retire. My little brother wants to go to college. I’ve got a daughter coming. She’s probably going to want to go to college, and she’s probably not going to be a genius, either. I’ve got to make some money, got to win. Winning pays a lot more than losing.”
But going up against an opponent who’s fighting to not only even the score, but also to revitalize his career after getting dominated by Jon Jones in his first attempt at a UFC light heavyweight title defense, you’ve got to wonder whether the paper chase alone will be enough motivation for Griffin.
Rua’s fighting in front of his countrymen, and he’s fighting a guy who made him look bad in the later rounds of their first fight. The difference this time, Rua said at Wednesday’s open workouts, is that he “trained for four months for this fight. The first time I [fought] with Forrest, I [didn’t] train hard, but now I’m ready.”
The good news for Griffin is, that’s more or less exactly what he’s expecting out of Rua.
“I know one thing: when people beat me up I want to fight them again. You train hard and you take it real serious when someone beats you. I had that fear in the back of my head for the last nine weeks, so I did the best I could. I knew he was going to come out hungry and ready. I’m kind of expecting him to just close the distance and come at it and get going.”
And at that point, with Rua in classic “Shogun” attack mode and an arena full of rabid Brazilian fans screaming in his ear, will a love of money and a sense of self-preservation be enough to pull Griffin through?
Maybe it depends how much he loves money. Or how much he fears being without it.
“I don’t want to play it up or whatever,” Griffin said, “but I was poor once and I’ll never be poor again.”
It might not be what we’re used to hearing from pro fighters, but at least it’s sincere.
Forrest Griffin spoke to MMA Junkie about his rematch against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua this Saturday at UFC 134 in Rio and holy sh*t it was depressing! It sounds like Forrest was reluctantly forced into this.
Forrest Griffin spoke to MMA Junkie about his rematch against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua this Saturday at UFC 134 in Rio and holy sh*t it was depressing! It sounds like Forrest was reluctantly forced into this match. Griffin says:
“Acceptance, just like the stages of grief… You can only stay in denial for so long… When I got off the plane, I accepted that I was in Brazil,”
Geez, you’d think he was taking his death march to the guillotine… No not the choke, I mean an actual guillotine. Griffin was a tad more enthused just about 4 years ago when he had actually asked to fight Shogun. I remember! I interviewed him here:
Watch Road to 76 I on RawVegas.tv
And no, obviously I couldn’t pronounce “Rua” correctly at the time, but forget that! Listen to how pumped Forrest was. He asked for that match when Joe Silva called him to suggest a match up with Lyoto Machida. Griffin response was:
“I said, well who’s fighting Shogun? [Joe Silva] said we’re looking for someone to fight Shogun. I said, ‘shit man, you found somebody!’ I’ve been wanting to fight that dude since forever…”
Well, gee… I guess once was enough. But boy, back then… It was a hell of fight, wasn’t it? Now, for Forrest, it sounds like it’s really just about getting the bills paid and taking care of family:
“My parents gotta retire,” he said. “My wife’s parents gotta retire. My little brother wants to go to college. I’ve got a daughter coming; she’s probably going to want to go to college, and she’s probably not going to be a genius, either. So, gotta make some money. A win. Winning pays a lot more than losing.”
So… at least, he still plans on winning and there’s a motivation there… Let’s just hope it’s motivation enough to bring out that same Forrest Griffin in the cage we saw back at UFC 76. F*cking bring it!
UFC 134 Betting Odds are back with our host, Steve Cofield from Cagewriter.com and ESPN along with our MMA expert analysts, Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.com and Larry Pepe of ProMMARadio.com. Check out who’s betting who.
UFC 134 Betting Odds are back with our host, Steve Cofield from Cagewriter.com and ESPN along with our MMA expert analysts, Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.com and Larry Pepe of ProMMARadio.com. Check out who’s betting who on the lines of the top three fights on the main card then check our Odds Side Bar to the top right of our page for a breakdown of the lines from the major online sports books and place your bets!
Anderson Silva (-500) vs. Yushin Okami (+425)
Watch UFC 134 Silva Vs. Okami Betting Odds: Anderson Silva Vs. Yushin Okami on RawVegas.tv
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (-230) vs. Forrest Griffin (+225)
Watch UFC 134 Silva Vs. Okami Betting Odds: Mauricio Rua Vs. Forrest Griffin on RawVegas.tv
Brendan Schaub (-230) vs. Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira (+195)
Watch UFC 134 Silva Vs. Okami Betting Odds: Brendan Schaub Vs. Minotauro Noguiera on RawVegas.tv
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RIO DE JANEIRO — MMA Fighting spoke to Forrest Griffin at Wednesday’s UFC 134 media workouts, held at the Copacabana beach in Rio, about Saturday night’s fight against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Griffin talked about why he wasn’t particularly happy to be fighting away from his home in Las Vegas, what he has to gain from fighting in Brazil, what he expects to see from Rua and what’s on his DVR these days.
Filed under: UFC, MMA Fighting Exclusive, News, Videos
RIO DE JANEIRO — MMA Fighting spoke to Forrest Griffin at Wednesday’s UFC 134 media workouts, held at the Copacabana beach in Rio, about Saturday night’s fight against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Griffin talked about why he wasn’t particularly happy to be fighting away from his home in Las Vegas, what he has to gain from fighting in Brazil, what he expects to see from Rua and what’s on his DVR these days.
Filed under: UFCUFC 134 in Brazil promises to be memorable for a variety of reasons. Here are just a few of them, in no particular order or importance.
I. “Yushin Okami is not only the biggest middleweight I’ve ever fought,” Mike Swick told me once, “…
Filed under: UFC
UFC 134 in Brazil promises to be memorable for a variety of reasons. Here are just a few of them, in no particular order or importance.
I. “Yushin Okami is not only the biggest middleweight I’ve ever fought,” Mike Swick told me once, “He might be the biggest middleweight I’ve ever seen.” In fact, it was a decision loss to Okami that convinced Swick he was in the wrong weight class, since he just could compete with Okami’s size and strength. It may not always come across on TV, but Okami isn’t just a good wrestler — he’s a powerhouse. He’s the kind of fighter who can, if he has to, take you down and lay on you until the judges declare him the winner. For a champion whose biggest weakness is his takedown defense, that’s a legitimate problem.
II. But how much time will Okami get to work on the ground, anyway? Let’s be honest here: if Okami tries to go all human blanket on Silva for five full rounds, the Brazilian crowd is going to let him have it. No referee is going to admit it, but a continuous stream of boos has hastened more than one ref stand-up in MMA history. It shouldn’t, of course. The third man in the cage should remain oblivious to everything outside of it. That’s easier said than done, however. Sure, Bob Dylan had the fortitude to get booed every night when he went electric, but does Mario Yamasaki have that same iron will that Dylan had? Could Herb Dean power through “Like a Rolling Stone” even as the hate poured down on him? I’m not so sure. Let Okami get a couple rounds of takedowns and ground control under his belt, and we may find out.
IV. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira hasn’t fought in a year and a half. During that time, he also had knee and hip surgery. Now he’s coming back to fight Brendan Schaub, who’s looking to continue the legend-slaying tour he began with a knockout of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in March. Anybody else seeing disaster in the works for Big Nog? He’s the kind of fighter who seems to have crammed three careers worth of action into the last decade, and now he’s not looking quite so spry or resilient anymore. Schaub is a big, young, hungry heavyweight. Unless Nogueira can pull off a hail mary submission off his back — possibly after being knocked there by a Schaub right hand — it’s hard to see how he wins this.
V. If you’ve been looking for a chance to get to know more Brazilian fighters, you’re in luck. In all, fourteen Brazilians are competing on this card, ranging from ones you might know (ever hear of this Anderson Silva guy?) to ones you might not (Erick Silva and Luis Ramos, for instance, who will be debuting in the UFC against one another). In other words, even though he’ll be there to corner his buddy Okami, this might not be the night for Chael Sonnen to regale the boys backstage with his particular brand of cultural insult comedy.
VI. Once more unto the breach for Ross Pearson. The British lightweight was on his way up the ladder until that surprising loss to Cole Miller, then he bounced back with a decision over Spencer Fisher. The time for gradual build-ups is apparently over, because now he gets the Brazilian buzzsaw, Edson Barboza, who’s been known to make audience members cry just from witnessing his brutal leg kicks in person. Okay, so that last part is just a rumor I’m trying to start, but the point is it could be true. Pearson has a seriously tough night ahead of him against Barboza. Even if he pulls off the upset, chances are he’ll be hobbling through the airport in the morning.
VII. How good is Dan Miller‘s leglock defense? We’re about to find out. Miller’s never been submitted in his MMA career, but he’s also never fought an enemy of knee ligaments everywhere quite like Rousimar Palhares. “Toquinho” has won three of his last four with submissions below the waist. As long as he can keep his head in the game and avoid another costly mental lapse like the one he suffered against Nate Marquardt, he has the potential to be a real problem for Miller, who could really use a win right about now.
VIII. Pity poor Ian Loveland and Yves Jabouin. Theirs is the only fight on the card that doesn’t feature at least one Brazilian. Will that make it a novelty for the Rio fans, or just the perfect moment to visit the concessions stand? It is on the prelims, and early on in the night, too. If the crowd is operating on Brazilian time, they may miss it entirely.
IX. There’s just no way Anderson Silva will be anything but one hundred percent serious while fighting in his home country, right? I mean, it’s one thing to screw around in Abu Dhabi, but Rio? No chance he decides to samba for five rounds here. Not in front of family and friends, not to mention his big time corporate sponsors and his reactionary boss. Not on your life, right? Right?
