I’ve been in the UFC for more than six years, but I ain’t got it figured out when it comes to training and training camps. In fact, I think I’m doing everything wrong and I think for my next fight I’m gonna go somewhere for five or six weeks and see what they do. Maybe to AKA or somewhere where there are a lot of guys slightly smaller than me.
You’d think me not having stuff figured out yet would keep it exciting. Not really. It ain’t been exciting, fresh or fun since 2008. It’s a job, it’s money, and I have a great job, I realize that. Just because it’s work doesn’t mean I’m not gonna do it. You man up and you do your job and I make a lot of money doing this, and I love money and I love the freedom and ability money gives you. I’m having a kid and my kid ain’t gonna ever want for anything. My little brother wants to go to college, so he’s going to college. The only thing that gives my mom pleasure in life is buying stuff off QVC, and I’m gonna pay those bills. I paid my mom’s house off. My wife’s family needs help? I’m gonna take care of that.
It quit being fun when I realized I wasn’t getting better. I’m plateauing or almost getting worse sometimes. One of the essential elements to have in this is your perceived expectation of the future, and I’m a painful realist, so I realized that I’m not going to get better; this is it. It’s only gonna get worse from here on and you fight as much as you can, you fight until you don’t have it anymore, and then you fight a couple more times after that.
Your cat’s sick, you can’t pay your rent, and for 15 or 25 minutes, however long, you’re free of that. It’s real hard for that to enter your mind when somebody’s choking your face off. You’re in that moment of getting your face choked. You ain’t thinking about the bills, your mortgage or your boss. It’s freedom from that. Well, now, the problem is that I’ve got a good life. I don’t want freedom from my good life. I love my life. I’ve got an awesome wife, my cat’s cool, he’s pretty healthy, and life’s pretty good.
Forrest Griffin fights Mauricio Rua at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro this Saturday, live on PPV.
