Forrest Griffin - what will his legacy in the sport be like?

TUF finale against Bonnar did a lot for the sport, and he's had some good wins and a few bad losses, and been in some very exciting fights. Not sure how he would have let himself down....IMO he's gotten the most if not more out of his skill set and talent.

He didn't look "great" in his wins against Franklin and Tito, but where he goes from depends on what happens in the rematch with Rua I guess.

 

I would say that he overachieved... never champion material.

I don't expect much out of Forrest from here on out, to be honest. Maybe a gatekeeper if he decides to play that role. He certainly isn't going to win the title. He trains hard, comes to fight... but just isn't good enough in any area to really compete against the best, at their best. He has had some great wins, some really embarrassing losses, but imo... a very successful career overall.

He will go down as having taken part in a great fight with Bonnar that helped bring a ton of fans to the sport and really raise the popularity of the UFC and the TUF show.

Sidenote: I can't stand the *****. He puts on that fan favorite, nice guy image... and from all accounts that I have heard and from watching video of his interactions with fans/media, ect... he seems like a complete douchebag.

 

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Apologies to Forrest Griffin. I've been a big fan and think he's done himself proud in the octagon.

 

I assume he will be remembered almost exactly how he'd like to be. An ugly fighter that had some very good wins and some losses he'd rather forget. He was always in shape and always came to fight. One of the most overrated/underrated guys in the sport, depending who you speak to.

I think the rematch with Shogun will potentially be very revealling of the direction of both guys careers.

 

hmmm nearly a legend still abit more to chomp at tho.

 

He is a big guy but not overly talented. He kept working hard, gets himself in good shape, comes to fight and continously improves his striking, wrestling and jits.

 

He reminds me of Lowell from the television series "Wings".

 

He's like the Arturo Gatti of MMA. Always comes in shape and ready to put on a good fight sometimes to his detriment.

 

Griffin won the first series of The Ultimate Fighter, his fight with Bonnar is regularly cited as the turning point for the popularity of MMA in North America, and he holds wins over Sonnen, Shogun, Rampage, Tito and Franklin. He's a former champion in the UFC's most consistently competitive division.

I suspect he'll get a lot more credit in the future than he does now.

 

Sugarngold and One Punch KO nail it

 

I was just ready to write a pretty negative comment regarding Forrest, who I don't rate very highly as a fighter, but as someone who values resume more highly than anything else when it comes to fighting, this collection of 'best wins' commands respect.

 

You can deconstruct that resume pretty easily, though. Sonnen and Franklin have both done their best work at middleweight. He's 1-1 with Tito (with the win coming very late in Tito's career, even then it was a very close fight), and the Shogun he fought was somewhat less than 100%, to put it lightly. Rampage was a good win, but there are still people who disagree with that decision.

Mandatory "I'm a fan" bit:
I'm A big fan of Forrest, and I don't necessarily agree with what I've just typed, just pointing it out as a topic of conversation.

 

Unless he fought all those guys when they were at the end of their careers and shot-to-****, the win resume commands respect.

Unequivocally, he did NOT fight them all when they were all shot.

His win over Rampage was stellar. Yes he beat a lesser version of Shogun IMO, very much so, but a lesser version of Shogun would still be enough to butcher 80% of lightheavyweight fighters. IMO, Sonnen could perform effectively as a lightheavy, he's as big or bigger than Wanderlei or Belfort ever were, two of the best lightheavys ever. Sonnen is huge, he cuts. And Franklin has shown he is a very good lightheavy in his fights there as I see it. Tito was past his best, but the draw with Rashad and the win over Bader show that even in his twilight years, he's still a solid operator.

Anyway, my point is, Forrest has won too many decent fights for his resume to be questioned. Obviously he was never a great fighter, but on his best night he was a damn good one, as some very good fighters found out.