I look at the last couple of guys that Forrest lost to. Rashad Evans? I thought I beat Rashad, and Forrest lost to him. Anderson Silva is another guy that Forrest lost to. I would like to get in there with Anderson. That would be pretty good. Maybe in the future. I still have to get a little bit of the ring rust off.
I don't see anything different in Forrest Griffin. I see the same weaknesses that he has, you know? He doesn't punch hard. When we fought the first time, he didn't punch hard. I've come to realize that he doesn't have much weight on his punches. He's a lot slower on his feet now. I mean, he's a LOT slower. I just realized how much slower he's gotten.
Forrest is going to come out like he always does: rough and tough for the first two minutes, but he'll dwindle after that. Before he knows it, he's going to be on his back eating punches and elbows. He'll be eating an elbow sandwich.
Talking to all the other promotions was a negotiation tactic on my part. I never wanted to fight anywhere else. You want to fight against the best guys in the world? You're fighting in the UFC. If you fight anywhere else, you're fighting against second-rate guys. And I never wanted that, I wanted to give my fans the best fights possible, and the UFC is where those fights were at.
I had to stand my ground, and I won. I raised the bar for all the other fighters. They don't know it yet, but I did. I'm very thankful for how forgiving Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta are, and I'm thankful to Dana for being a man of his word. It's nice to be back in the UFC machine.
Tito Ortiz talking to Heavy.com