"I think I'm going to stick with the heavyweight division because for the most part, that's where all of the eyes are and I want to try to build my name there....I'm excited to be here. I'm hoping with this one...I got a lot of feedback from the Lashley fight that it was a fluke and all of the excuses of him being sick and this and that. I just wanted to get out there and say, 'Here I am. I'm here and I'm the real deal.' Just from reading a couple of articles, it looks like I'm getting some credit and they are establishing me as a real threat. And as Coker said, me and Del Rosario are now considered in the mix of things on the big shows and I was happy to hear him say that. I'm just hoping to get a little more credit to where people don't say I was lucky," stated Strikeforce heavyweight contender Chad Griggs as he talked about his recent win over Gian Villante, his future plans and much more. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on the win. How do you feel, man?
CG: It's a great feeling to win, of course. It's been a rush, but it's been great. I'm a little bit sore today. My ear is a little bit puffed up, but other than that, I'm healthy and strong and nothing is hurting too bad. Other than that, I will take a week off and try to get back in the game here.
PC: Your ear got messed up from a head kick that he landed. How badly were you buzzed from that shot?
CG: I wasn't in trouble, but it did stun me and it shook my bell a little bit too where I had to take a deep breath and reset. I wasn't dizzy or anything like that. He threw something right after that kick and I was able to block it and I was coming back at him when they stopped it to put his mouthpiece back in. If you watch the video, you could see me yelling at the ref because I didn't know why they were stopping it. I felt like I had buckled him prior to that, so you could see me yelling at the ref to let us go. I wanted to get back in there. I don't think I was ever in trouble, but yeah, there is no question, he got me and it blew my ear open. It just made me go, "Okay, my turn!" (Laughing)
PC: Even the commentators questioned the timing on getting him his mouthpiece back. I don't know if they thought you were hurt or he was hurt, but they definitely questioned the ref's decision to break the action when he did.
CG: Yeah, I read a couple of articles where they were saying, "Griggs was in trouble and he lucked out." I'm surprised to hear that because I never felt like I was in any type of danger or anything. Like I said, if you watch the video, you can see me yelling, "Come on," and throwing my hands up. I didn't want to break the action. He put his mouthpiece in and starts to sit down and I'm yelling to him to get up. I definitely feel that it was to his benefit. I gotta watch it again. I've only seen it a couple of times. I don't know if he spit his mouthpiece out or how he lost it, but I think it benefitted him to get a little breather. Shortly after tha, I caught him again, so.
PC: You took the Lashley fight on short notice and it was noticeable that you were in better physical shape for this fight. How much did it benefit you to have a full camp for this fight?
CG: The more time you have to prepare, I think the better off you are. You can get your guys in and train more things. To be honest with you, I probably had a smarter plan with Lashley than I did with Villante, but mainly because I felt like this guy, you know, with this being his first Strikeforce show, I felt the need to really produce. I was eager to get in there and try to make the crowd happy and if I'm going to be considered for this heavyweight tournament, I needed to really shine. I think it kinda showed that I was in there hungry because I put him out quick. I was a little bit surprised that he was game for it. There was no question that he was extremely confident and that he was a great athlete, but I really thought that once I caught him, he would try to shoot in and take me down. He did try once or twice, but for the most part, he stood and banged with me, so I gotta give him a lot of credit for that.
PC: Yeah, I don't know what your game plan was, but swinging for the fences became the product that you laid out there and it worked. Was there a point where you kind of sensed he wouldn't be able to keep up with the pace you set?
CG: I had trained...I done a lot of cardio for this fight. I knew Lashley's cardio was going to go, but this guy was supposed to be very well-conditioned. I trained and got my cardio up pretty good and with his pace and the way that he was going, we were both going really hard. In another situation, I might not have been going as hard, but with him blowing just as much as me, I felt okay with letting go some of my energy too. He put me against the fence at one point and I kept buckling him and I would see him hurt. I would rush in knowing better than to do that, but it allowed him to clinch me and take a couple of breaths and regain his composure. If I would have slowed down a little bit, caught him, and kept my distance and picked my shots and landed them rather than letting him catch a breather...there were a few times that I buckled him and I got in too fast, but I should have finished him then. But I gotta give it to him; the guy is tough. I hit him with some pretty good ones that buckled him and he was quick to regain his composure and come right back. He's tough and I think he's got a lot of potential in the sport still.
PC: We spoke before about you being able to move down to 205, but with this heavyweight tournament being the hottest thing going in MMA right now, I'm sure that move has been postponed and you're trying to find your way inside of the tourney. Am I correct with that assessment?
CG: That's something that I would have to talk to my team about and consider. Really with my weight, I probably should be at 205, but at the same time, I've been managing pretty well in the heavyweight division. You never know how things will go if I go to 205. But right now, like you said, with the heavyweight division blowing up and getting so much publicity, it would be dumb for me to bail out of it right now. I got a couple of good wins, my fan base is growing, and these young guys are starting to grow the chops (laughing). I definitely, for now, I think I'm going to stick with the heavyweight division because for the most part, that's where all of the eyes are and I want to try to build my name there.
PC: You have a lot of people believing in the power of the sideburns man (laughing). Great performance and a very entertaining fight. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
CG: I'm excited to be here. I'm hoping with this one...I got a lot of feedback from the Lashley fight that it was a fluke and all of the excuses of him being sick and this and that. I just wanted to get out there and say, "Here I am. I'm here and I'm the real deal." Just from reading a couple of articles, it looks like I'm getting some credit and they are establishing me as a real threat. And as Coker said, me and Del Rosario are now considered in the mix of things on the big shows and I was happy to hear him say that. I'm just hoping to get a little more credit to where people don't say I was lucky. I think a lot of people thought with the Lashley fight that I got lucky because he got tired, but they gotta understand that was our game plan. That was his weakness and that's what we wanted to capitalize on and it worked. So we didn't get lucky; that was our game plan. You gotta have a game plan to win and I think a lot of people didn't understand that. I want to thank my sponsors, Untamed Clothing, Rockwell watches, One Law law firm, Tia Lilly Sweet Tea and Unbreakable Mouth Guards. Also, people can get the "Grave Digger" walk out tee at Untamed Clothing's website. Those are the guys that are helping finance the game to keep me going. I also want to thank the team; all of the people that are bleeding and sacrificing their time behind the scenes and not getting the credit for it.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]