Forrest Griffin (Sort of) Talks Loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 101
by Luke Thomas on Sep 28, 2009 12:55 PM EDT
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He's a happy go lucky fellow, isn't he? To wit:
"I have no idea [what happened,]" Griffin said. "I was on ‘ludes. I don’t remember. What happened?"
Griffin added that he saw no need to address media after. "Anytime I lose a fight, that’s what I’m doing from now on….there’s nothing to say. It’s not about talking. I thought this was a fighting sport…it just gets old, people putting hopes and dreams on you, telling you they put money on you, ‘You’re my kid’s idol.’ I don’t want to hear that sh-t. Get Tom Brady on your kid’s wall."
Telling any fighter you put money on him and trying to road-map a guilt trip is as lame as it gets, but there’s really no stopping kids from idolizing grown men who excel in sports. Athletes can resist it as much as they like, but unless Griffin would like to personally shove each juvenile fan of his into a mud puddle, he’s better off rolling with it.
There's nothing to say unless you win? Please. If he wants to go mute whenever he loses a bout, that's his choice, of course, and we all have to respect it. But it's also Grade A curmudgeonly resistence. The reality is there is often more to talk about in a loss and the two participants in the actual contest being discussed often have the best perspectives.
I sympathize with fighters trying to find ways to cope with damaging or embarrassing losses. I further extend my sympathies to them given how probing and unthinking fans can be in the emotionally precarious moments after a defeat. But you cannot shrug off or pretend the issues that arise post-fight don't exist. They do and inquiring minds want to know. It's how clarity is achieved, how fans receive their information and what helps to keep the MMA engine churning.
We live in a world where people ask questions when they are looking for information. Some portion of that may be annoying or redundant, but it's a worthwhile effort no matter what the misanthrope inside us may say.
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The first rule of UFC losses is you do not talk about UFC losses. The second rule of UFC losses is YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT UFC LOSSES.
I guess this shouldn’t surprise anyone, most people think Forrest is this really humble, sweet guy because he says and does funny things sometimes but in reality he’s one of the bigger a-holes in the sport.
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Sep 28, 2009 12:08 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 3 recs
^^^this
i mean reporters are just doing there job and he makes is sooo hard for them to do it by giving off the wall answers like this alll the time.
That’s sort of why I don’t get why everyone is making such a big deal about this entire story.
Forrest is a bad loser and has never ever made things easier for the media. So he didn’t show up to a press conference, does anyone think he would have said anything worthwhile anyway?
if he man’ed up and stayed around for Rogan and not ran away, this would not have been an issue. Many fighters who lose do not go to the press conference, the problem here is running away right after the loss without talking to Rogan…
Well thats kind of flawed…this was the Co-main event. But for Forrest, I’m sure they would have given him an interview, regardless.
"You guys are jerking eachother off with some pseudo deep bullshit." - Kid Nate
by Kaleb Kelchner on Sep 28, 2009 1:44 PM EDT up reply actions
ORCUS
EVERYTIME? think gsp/bj penn 2. what did bj do? there have been plenty of times where the losing fighter, even in the main event a fighter doesn’t talk to rogan alot of times. sometimes it’s b/c they have to get medical attention, sometimes it’s b/c they are a sore loser (BJ). PAY ATTENTION!
I pay attention :P
Do you think everyone here is a BJ fan? the answer should be no… You should ask yourself why that is, it’s because of the antics he pulls… And Forrest is doing it too… and this is where I now have a problem with Forrest (and BJ, and Brock, and many others)…
btw
that every time is meant for Rogan coming in to the octagon and is supposed to interview both parties, not that it always happens though…
fair enough, everyone should, if they can. but sometimes fans hold grudges, say like a brazillian fan who might be taking pot shots at forrest b/c they are still bitter that he beat shogun. i see alot of new names(not you) that are coming out of the wood work to say that he has always been “this way”,being a jerk or whatever. forrest is being a jerk now and needs to knock it off, but i have always been willing to give fighters a 2nd chance. this is not the worst thing a fighter has ever done, but some are acting as if it is. he should have said “i got my ass kissed fair and square” but tried to be funny and wasn’t.
Yeah, that’s not my case really. I actually used to like Forrest’s personality a lot (he had a Jesus joke that made my day :P). Truth be told, I still do, he’s funny and the crazy stuff he does is for the cameras. I have a problem with what he did on the Silva fight and I will still have a problem with it years to come, but it’s not enough for me to dislike the guy (but on debates such as this one I will call him out on it). I do believe that a healthy Shogun would beat Forrest every time. But this does not make me not like Forrest for beating Shogun that night, he came to fight, he won the fight fair and square. My beef was with Shogun coming to fight with only one leg. I hold no grudges towards Forrest on the Shogun fight for doing what he was supposed to do, to fight and win.
right on:P
sorry if i came on to strong, i kinda realize this is not the best of times to be sticking up for forrest, but i see all these “i feel so sorry for tim sylvia and big john mccarthy” comments and other people that don’t deserve sympathy b/c they made their own bed, now they have to lay in them. plus i have a hard time feeling sorry for millionaires. forrest is making his own bed with these type of statements, but i have’nt given up on him alltogether. i know that he will never touch the belt again, but a win in his next fight will change most peoples attitudes i think. forrest isn’t THAT good of a fighter, and has pretty much accomplished what he has due to sheer will and determination. hopefully anderson hasn’t stole that will for good. :)
It’s clear this last loss really messed with Forrest’s head. I feel kind of bad for him, and I understand if he doesn’t want to do all the post presser stuff after a loss. Really, who would after being humiliated? But kids are gonna idolize their sports heroes. There’s no need to be so grumpy towards them. It’s just something Forrest is gonna have to get over. We’ve all had shitty nights that we’re embarrassed about. Deal with it.
I love me some Sexyama!
Remember when Forrest said he's no champion?
I firmly believe he doesn’t have the mindset to deal with success. He’s the type of guy that needs to be the underdog to succeed. I don’t think he’ll touch the belt again./
One of the endearing things about him has always been the way he handled losses. Humble and self-deprecating… he had a sorta “shit happens” attitude that made it seem like it wasn’t the end of the world for him, and that he could recover from it just fine. The aftermath of his post-fight marathon race was odd in that there were more people talking about how he booked outta there like his ass was on fire than the complete and utter owning that he got in the ring. You know you embarrassed yourself when the one-sided drubbing you got is just an afterthought. And this is the tack he wants to take from now on?
Run Forrest Run
Forrest is losing his ability to relate to people, which was one of his greatest assests, and helped with his everyman persona, if the guys with massive ego’s can talk about a loss straight after the event, what makes Forrest so special that he should’nt have too?
I still really like forrest but I hope Dana pulls him on this, I even thought it may have been a contractual obligation
Whoa Luke, you managed to use one of my favorite words misanthrope! Now I need to see misandry as often as I see misogyny.
There’s really not much to make of the interview except that Griffin may be trying to sabotage his image.
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I feel like an idiot for not knowing what ‘curmudgeonly’ means
by cagefightonacid on Sep 28, 2009 1:43 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I always make use of dictionary.com or the many built-in dictionaries in the windows or mac operating system. Curmudgeonly is a cool word but kind of unnecessary since it is used as an adverb. I personally prefer cantankerous.
I SUCK IN SCRABBLE.
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by VeeisAnimated on Sep 28, 2009 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions
YEAH!!!
I’m a fan of Mr. Quote Machine – Triathalon competing – pitter-pat punching submitting specialist Nick Diaz.
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by VeeisAnimated on Sep 29, 2009 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions
hahaha
and i usually pride myself on my vocab…. raddd avatar by the way
by cagefightonacid on Sep 28, 2009 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions
A lot of people I know thought Forrest threw the fight the way he handled the fight and how he ran out afterwards. Everyone was saying “he just took the fight collected his paycheck and left”. To me his loss was really bad for the sport and smacked of boxing where everyone has their hand out for a payday.
I don't think I would consider myself taking a fall by letting Anderson Silva punch me in the face.
That’s more along the lines of suicide, but even then you leave a note explaining what went wrong…
We're just a million little gods causin' rain storms, turning every good thing to rust.
by Anthony Pace on Sep 28, 2009 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions
To me his loss was really bad for the sport and smacked of boxing where everyone has their hand out for a payday
In what way? Forrest doesn’t seem like the type of fighter that would go out and get absolutely decimated for three minutes just to collect a paycheck.
he's not
he used the worst fightplan possible. would people be more happy or understanding if he ran from silva ala thales lietes, or fall on his back everytime silva got close. dana booked this fight mainly b/c all the backlash of the leites fight. forrest was brought in and was pressured(not forced or) into to standing and trading with silva, to come forward and use his size. it didn’t work. but it wasn’t a “work” as a fight. i do think he felt a certain responsibility to fight a certain way and that was his downfall, but it would have only delayed the inevitable, had he fought in a different fashion.
how could he be pressured to fight the way he always fights?
He doesn’t shoot for takedowns (and why would he shoot on a bjj blackbelt).
He tried to stand and trade with everyone’s he’s ever fought,
true
for the most part. he did take down rampage and shogun and use leg kicks, which pretty much won him those fights, and he has tried to stray away from just standing in front of a guy and slugging it out( which is good considering his lack of punching power and chin), but i do believe he felt a certain pressure to make this fight more “entertaining” if you will.
He tripped shogun in the clinch. Should he have tried to clinch with Anderson? How did kicking work out for James Irvin.
I just really think you’re grasping at straws here. There is no inclination anwywhere that Forrest was pressured to do anything more than the pressure that gets put on him every time he fights.
Fightmetric says he attempted 1 takedown against Rampage. His gameplan is always hurt you standing, then maybe go for a takedown, or get a trip if they get clinched up. He fought this fight like he fights every fight.
i get
your point in general. forrest IS a stand-up fighter and was brought into this fight to stand with anderson, but he doesn’t always fight the same way. i don’t need to go to fightmetric, to see that he fought rampage differently from say the way he fought jardine. he did just stand in front of jardine and got caught, but against rampage he circled alot more, used his length, and was in and out the whole fight. i don’t remeber him doing this against anderson, i have only seen it once, and may have to go back and watch it again. it really hapened so fast. when forrest gets hurt, his instincts are to stand and slug back. i’m not implying that there was any sort of shennanings going on, or that forrest was all of a sudden become this gnp fighter, but i for one think he might have tried something different, against the most lethal striker in mma, unless he felt like he HAD to fight the way he fought. grasping at straws? comparing james irvin using legkicks to forrest using them is a bit off to me. irvin was a small lhw who is now a mw. forrest is a huge lhw and has been very succsessfull using low leg kicks. i think you might be stuck permanantly on griffin/bonnar 1 when you imply that forrest fights the same way every time. iv’e debated with you before and repect your opinion, but i already know who will have the last word on this matter. congratulations, i don’t feel like staying up till 1 am myself. :-)
forrest griffin and his mute mouth
Nobody likes to lose. We all know that. I think it shows huge charactor for a fighter to explain his situation on his loss in detail and show some humility to allow fans to understand him and what he’s going thru. When you get a name in this sport, you have to back it up. Some fighters don’t know how to speak propoerly and it makes them sound like idiots but they still show charactor that negates thier shortcomings. Charactor is what a man is made of
by johnnypb
I don't buy it...
Think of fighters who are always in close wars and sometimes they don’t go their way like Clay Guida and W. Silva. They are heartbroken after a loss but are still man enough to hang around and talk to Rogan afterwards. I think it’s selfish for Forrest to run out of there, it’s just classless. And Forrest has been actin a little jerky since the Tito fight. Seems like he does have trouble with success and being a recognizable face. But I don’t personally know they guy, so who am I to say.
by drudog1715 on Sep 28, 2009 1:00 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
iv’e seen a ton of times where the loser of a fight, even a main event doesn’t give an interview. think bj penn after the 2nd gsp loss. he didn’t give an interview and ran off to hawaii before he decided to speak “his side” of the story. hell it’s hard to get a decent interview with him even after he wins, “go to bjpenn.com”. what forrest did was wrong and he does need to get it together, but for people to say he has acted like this always (not you in particular) is not true.
Comparing Griffin-Silva to a close war doesn’t really do the fight justice. There was nothing close about the fight. I can’t fault Forrest too much for not wanting to talk to anyone afterwards.
My issue with this is, since when do you get badgered by the media that “I put money on you”, or “You’re my kids idol”? Would addressing the media mean you’d have to address these topics? I don’t think he’s being straight.
Forrest has a unique way of communicating that sort of exudes this “I’m an everyman and I don’t really care and just whatever” but in reality, he seems to me like there’s issues that he’s masking.
Ultimately it’s his decision, but he’ll pay for it eventually. He’s a good fighter but not great. He’s gotten a bit lucky at times, as well as he trains really really hard, but the small things eventually add up, and the Forrest Griffin business will hurt as a result.
What do you want him to say?
“Uhhh… so the gameplan didn’t work too well… I tried to punch him in the face, but it turned out that he punched me in the face alot more.”
Personally, I’d rather give the athletes a little time to cool down after a devastating loss to talk about a defeat like Forrest suffered. Let clearer minds prevail. Post fight comments are generally kind of incoherent anyway (unsurprisingly so; I’d be hard press to articulate my strategies and execution in the fight after getting pummeled in the head).
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture FTMFW.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
Everyone else does it, I don’t think they really like it, but they hang out and bear with Joe Rogan’s shit. Lesnar showed more class talking shit under a tsunami of boos if you ask me.
Btw, what about the fake dislocated jaw story? Who started it? His camp or some dude in the UG?
You don't look like a Tanaka.
I’m guessing he told that to the ppl who were blocking him from living the cage (I remember when Brock tried to do that he was blocked as well). Maybe that was the only way to leave immediately? And perhaps started the rumor? Just a big guess though.
Orcus really? Pointing out mispelled words? Who cares.
by drudog1715 on Sep 28, 2009 2:40 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Ask Hendo & Nate =-P
'He built his whole reputation as a waffle house chef. They’ve been serving him up ham and eggs with a side of canned tomatoes' - Don Frye on Fedor Emelianenko
by Well Read Idiot on Sep 29, 2009 6:09 AM EDT up reply actions
Like to toss this in there—-
Part of his apparent bitterness might be the result of being pressured into standing with Silva, obviously to provide Silva with a highlight reel destruction of Forrest.
Just saying. He might be keeping his trap shut because if he told the full story it would be a bit stand-gatish.
Maybe that’s just me being paranoid, but I have a hard time believing that anybody thought Forrest should try to stand with Silva… just does not compute.
wow
I really don’t think that is the case. If I find out Forrest was pressured to stand with Silva by the UFC, that would denigrate the sport I love by 99%. As much as Dana is an asshole, he’s not “Shawn” type of asshole that would put this sport on jeopardy like that.
No, its not. But Silva isn’t his usual opponent.
His only advantage in the fight was the fact he was bigger. The ground is the only place where Silva has shown weakness. It’s a no brainer.
I mean, when Rashad & Stephan Bonnar give you trouble standing, it’s not the aspect of your game you bring to fight Silva. I didn’t see anything even hinting that he had something else in mind besides maybe prayer and harsh language.
I firmly believe that Griffin was put in there to lose. I think he knows he was put in there to lose. Silva needed to be rehabbed after two shabby title defenses. I’m not saying that any lines were crossed into fight fixing, just that Griffin was called up to be a can for this one fight. And that might be why he’s having a hard time with this loss.
Nah, that’s a ridiculous conspiracy theory. He still had a chance to fight Silva and had a chance to beat him. It’s not like he was coerced to take a dive or anything. And as Phildo said, it’s not like shooting for takedowns is Griffin’s typical gameplan. He would have wanted to stand and bang with Silva to test his mettle.
Sigh
Forrest beat ’Page in a standup fight. Took shots too. Counters the whole Bonnar/Rashad point, no?
He is a good fighter, is huge, and was fighting a middleweight. Why wouldn’t he like his chances? Obviously Anderson is a better striker, but even if taking him down was the plan, he needs to strike his way inside because he aint a wrestler….
'He built his whole reputation as a waffle house chef. They’ve been serving him up ham and eggs with a side of canned tomatoes' - Don Frye on Fedor Emelianenko
by Well Read Idiot on Sep 29, 2009 6:12 AM EDT up reply actions
I don’t think it’s a big deal he doesn’t want to talk about that fight. It’s his call. Besides, what’s there to say?
His other comments about “the people” and the “kid’s idol” just come off as asshole-ish. Which is kinda the way I see most of Forrest’s comments, self-deprecating or not.
That part about the kids really bothers me. Don’t tell kids you basically don’t give a shit if they’re your fan or not.
"Japan is half-Machida" - iiowyn
wasn’t it charles barkley who said " i am not a role model". he said parents should be, not atheletes, but later, years later, he recanted and realized that athelets are role models wether they choose to be or not. hopefully forrest will get it together, but he does seem like the type who would walk away from the sport due to the pressure’s of being in the limelight. some people are just not built the same as others, but with that said, he is accepting the big paycheck and does have to be held accountable.
wtf is there to say?
Sports are not fucking rocket science people. you train your body and mind to complete a very specific task as well as possible. These people aren’t saving the world or inventing new technologies.
There is nothing more lame than reporters talking to athletes asking them about what when wrong or what is their game plan. Its not like they have invented some new super power that will make them dominate over the other person or team.
lol
I dont remember anyone asking him to stand up & take questions
from fans after a loss? Be a man, say a few words & then go home. Whats the big deal?
Arguing on the internet is like being in the special olympics, even when you win you are still retarded.
James Irvin was great after his loss to Silva. He was very upfront about how the fight played out, the pressures of fighting a guy like Anderson, and everything really. That’s why I really like him.
Forrest should stop running out of the octagon, if for no other reason than to simply avoid all the extra attention that attracts.
by Razzel on Sep 28, 2009 3:11 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Exactly
If he didn’t want all this attention from crazy fans and the MMA media, he should man-up and not have an emotional breakdown due to an MMA loss. If he can’t take the pressure or whatever, can’t he back to his old job?
do you feel the same
about rampage and his “breakdown” after his loss to forrest? 2 totally different types of breakdowns imo. as i stated above, forrest gave interviews after his losses to jardine and to rashad. i don’t know why he chose not to for the silva fight and ran like he did, but this is a one time thing, so far. and this is just one bad interview on his part. this is not not a career habit for him.
If you like your paychecks, Forrest..
Here’s the thing: I have no problem with Forrest Griffin ducking out and pulling the Tom Brady-to-Suzy Kolber routine. He’s a human being, he has that right etc, etc.
But Forrest better remember that it’s all a means of self-promotion. He said in that interview that basically he doesn’t care what’s going on until he runs out of money, blah, blah. Well, I’m going to assume that’s true what he said. Now, if Forrest loses and runs out mad like a teenage girl who just started her period for the first time, I’m not exactly sure what everyone else thinks of it, but from the reaction (or backlash, call it what you will) that the community is having right now, it’s not exactly positive. So what happens if he loses another time, or two?
If Griffin maintained his persona of being a redneck drinker who might be humble but just loves to fight, fans are going to keep supporting him as a main card fighter a helluva lot longer than they will if he is a moping mute, when the losses come of course. I’m sure Dana White would agree with me. It’s just not very marketable, and while he can be an exciting fighter, we’ll see how long that props him up before things turn farther south if this keeps up.
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by Bryan Everson (The Royalty of Roto) on Sep 28, 2009 3:22 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
lets not forget he was scheduled to fight thaigo silva and took the anderson fight without hesitation, when i’m sure alot of fighters wouldn’t have. could he have hadled the situation better? of course, but lets not make this out to be more than what it is/was. one bad fight, one bad interview. i heard jay glazier say that forrest is one of the funniest a wittiest interviews he has ever seen (i guess when he’s in a good mood).
maintain his persona as a redneck drinker? keep up the good work of maintaining the persona of a troll.
I don’t think he’s made it any secret that he loves to drink and fight. Pretty sure he was a strip club frequenter before he got hitched too. Is it unfit to say this isn’t/wasn’t part of his persona? People (in general, it seemed) just enjoyed him because he was a young guy that was very likable and easily related to. I don’t think I’m taking anything out of context if that’s what you inferred.
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by Bryan Everson (The Royalty of Roto) on Sep 28, 2009 8:30 PM EDT up reply actions
There are definitely things Forrest could have said right after getting KTFO’d that would have helped him save face somewhat. I don’t know if I can blame him for not being terribly articulate after getting KTFO’d, or even for panicking and not wanting to talk to anyone. There are some things he could have said in the immediate post-fight interview though, in response to questions that would have made him look self-deprecating and gotten a positive response from the crowd. This would have been far better for his image and career than sprinting to the back.
“Damn, that dude punches hard. He caught me a couple times on the chin and I’m not really sure what happened after that. Got a pretty big headache here Joe. I really am not sure I can make the afterparty.
“Yeah he was the better man tonight. If I had to change my game plan, in my next fight I definitely am going to plan more around not getting knocked the F out. If Silva’s next fight was against a grizzly bear, I would pity the bear.”
“Nah, I just plan to come back fight smarter and harder next time. I got a steep hill to climb right now. Gotta train harder and smarter, obviously after this and with Machida as champ I got a steep hill to climb if I’m to get back there. I plan to start right away after the doctor checks me out by going to [insert bar here] and getting drunk off my ass. First 100 drinks are on me! Who’s with me?!”
“I swear it is not a beer gut. It is a fuel tank for an ass-whooping machine.”
Stuff like that basically.
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