Mike Perry. It’s a clash of welterweight sluggers sure to produce fireworks, but Griffin insists that what we’ve seen thus far was just scratching the surface. So expect more.
“I got to this point part-time as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “It’s a testament to what I am gonna do and what I can do. I’m not even to my potential.”
A recent visit to the UFC Performance Institute had the coaches there raving about the 32-year-old. And if he has improved as much as he says he has since last October, he could be on his way to big things at 170 pounds, especially given that he’s proven to have the power and the heart to make some noise in one of the UFC’s toughest weight classes. He’s known that he’s had both for a long time, but it’s the heart that really makes him feel like he can take on the world.
“It’s good, it’s like a little security blanket,” Griffin said. “But I’ve known that from the start. Hey, I’m trying to win. (Laughs) I think a lot of these guys that get TKOed, they just give up. You go through something like that (getting rocked against Zaleski dos Santos) and you come out of that, it’s your choice. Unless you get knocked cold, then that’s different. But if you’re not knocked out, you can still fight. You have to pull it out of you.”
Griffin has proven that he’s got that extra something in his chest. Now it’s time for him to put everything else together and get the biggest win of his career this weekend. If he does that, is he ready for whatever comes next?
“I am,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for this my whole life. I know a lot of guys say that. I’m a humble guy, and I’m ready. I may not have been ready a long time ago in my younger days, but I am now. I was born to do this. I’ve been doing this since I was four years old. And I’m not just a fighter. I’ve got a brain, I’m charismatic, I’m marketable. I’m ready.”
As for Mike Perry…
“I don’t have to try and do anything special,” Griffin said. “I put all the work in, and I’m gonna put him away.”
