Forrest Griffin reflects on loss to Anderson Silva, says it was one of the 'most embarrassing defeats' in MMA
Forrest Griffin recently reflected on his loss to Anderson Silva and noted that it was an embarrassing loss. The Brazilian moved up to 205 pounds in order to remain active and made quick work of the former TUF winner as he earned a first-round knockout.
At the time, 'The Spider' was the reigning middleweight champion and was considered by many as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world and was making all his fights look easy regardless of who he was fighting.
There was plenty of intrigue surrounding Silva's bout against Griffin. However, the Brazilian continued his dominance as he dodged the former light heavyweight champion's strikes with ease and dropped him with a stiff jab before the referee stopped the fight.
While speaking with MMA pioneer Gary Goodridge, the inaugural TUF winner reflected on his loss to 'The Spider' and disclosed that he had suffered a concussion two weeks prior to the fight. Griffin mentioned that it was an embarrassing loss and noted that it was completely one-sided:
"I had one of the most embarrassing defeats in mixed martial arts...[I lost to] Anderson [Silva]. Like, I didn't even belong there...So, I got knocked out 14 days before that fight and every time I got going, I would get nauseous. I'm sure you fought hurt every time."
Check out Forrest Griffin's comments below:
Forrest Griffin explains why fighters couldn't pull out of fights during his era
In addition to reflecting on his loss to Anderson Silva, Forrest Griffin explained how it was difficult for fighters to pull out during his era.
During the aforementioned clip, Griffin mentioned that the UFC had a lot fewer annual events than they do now, which meant that fighters could risk being sidelined and not being paid for an extended period:
"When I started fighting, if you pulled out of a fight, you went to the bottom of the 205 [pound] list. And then you wait. There's only 12 events, I mean, you were screwed. And they're only gonna have two fights at your weight."
Check out the full video featuring Forrest Griffin and Gary Goodridge's conversation below: