11 June 2022
Forrest Griffin is a former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and retired UFC Light Heavy Weight Champion. Griffin was added as a Hall of Famer in the year 2013. Today, he’s the Vice President of the UFC Performance Institute’s Athlete Development program. He also previously served as a police man in Georgia and first burst on the scene after he won his first ever season fighting at the UFC.
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Fighter Turned MMA Ambassador
Since he retired from the MMA, Griffin has gone on to become an amazing ambassador for the sport. It’s no surprise he still has such an enthusiasm for a sport that he was so successful in, and is passionate about. It might suit him even better to be involved as a spectator of the sport than now having to ensure the pain and toil that comes with fighting opponents. He works to help fighters as they begin their fighting careers, as well as greeting fans, such as when he arrived at meet them for a night at the Buffalo Wild Wings.
Of course, Griffin is extremely busy. That goes without saying. So when he arrived late for his interview to discuss all of the BBW highlights and action, he was welcomed and excused. Even though it was suspected that he might be off somewhere taking care of errands, that wasn’t actually the case.
However, he did openly apologize with a statement to his fans, and jokingly advised that he was late because he had to rescue a cat from oncoming traffic. He revealed shortly after that was not true, but humorously went on to state that it is a good excuse.
In the interview, he was also asked if surprising fans in the back of a popular restaurant was something that he did on a regular occurrence, Griffin did say that he does enjoy surprising people. Although, it does get a little embarrassing for him when it doesn’t work out and they don’t actually know who he is; But when they do, he adds excitement by offering to help them gain entry to one of the UFC events.
Fitness and Training
When asked if he still trains, Griffin informed his interview that he does not engage in MMA training anymore. However, he does try to do some activities every day. He enjoys hot yoga and likes to take weekly classes. He even said that he hurt himself once when doing hot yoga. Again, he joked by saying that the middle-aged housewives of the class are more athletic than he is.
Reflections on his Career
Griffin responded to being asked if he think he stayed in the sport for too long, that his knee injury prevented that from happening. He believes he still would have had a few years of good quality fighting in him if it hadn’t have happened to him. Perhaps, three to four years he estimated.
While he never expected nor wanted to quit, there was no other option in the end for Griffin. One his knee gave way, it was difficult to recover from. He said that it became easy to get injured again, and he tore it once more, even just while playing soccer with some kids. At that stage, he knew that a comeback to fighting was never going to be possible. Once more, he jested about how if a five year old could beat him, he could stand no chance in the ring against his opponents.
Coaching Others
Griffin talks about how he’s involved in helping around 30 to 40 athletes as they prepare for upcoming fights. This includes helping to train them mentally, nutritionally, financially, and in dealing with the press and media. He also provides advice on how to maintain a good training regime, how to bounce back after failures, learning from mistakes, and making necessary corrections to training. He’s also involved in setting up the training programmes for the athletes to get involved in.
Personal Life
Griffin is currently still with his long-term partner, Jaime Logiudice, whom he married on 18 September 2009. They had their one and only daughter two years later, in September 2011. His wife went into labour nine days before her due date, while Griffin was fighting against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
