This Sunday Forrest Griffin will celebrate his 33rd birthday. The following Saturday night he’ll face legendary light heavyweight Tito Ortiz in co-headlining action at UFC 148 where the two will complete a trilogy featuring a pair of opposing Split Decisions. Perhaps it’s the fact Ortiz is retiring after the bout or the annual reminder of mortality but the situation in general has Griffin thinking about his future.
The affable Ultimate Fighter OG recently reflected on what tomorrow may bring in his career, showing a stark sincerity where his limited years left in the sport were concerned and humility regarding his accomplishments in the cage.
“I don’t know what the future holds for me because I won’t look past Tito, but when this fight is over I will sit down and assess what I want to do. There are some fights out there that do get me excited,” began Griffin in an interview with Fightline. “I like what Matt Hughes is doing. He picks the fights that he thinks he can win and does it on his own terms. I want to fight on my own terms. I’m on the other side of the fence now and don’t see myself fighting these younger guys like Alexander Gustafsson.”
Griffin also acknowledged the looming discussion on retirement, admitting he’d already exceeded his own expectations but would soldier on until it stopped making sense to do so.
“I really don’t know how I want to be remembered when my fighting days are over. It’s an honor if people do remember me at all. For now I will keep fighting as long as my body holds up and I can keep doing it,” he revealed. “No one wants to stop fighting and have to get a real job, especially me! Fighters want to fight forever. When people retire they wind up dying! When I first started fighting I just wanted to make enough money so I wouldn’t have to work. I never thought I’d wind up a UFC champion, maybe in some distant dream I did, but I never imagined it would really happen.”
PHOTO CREDIT – UFC
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