Max Griffin: ‘I Want Numbers’
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“I’ve been ready to fight since July and they were trying to get me on the Sacramento card out here locally but I didn’t get it. So I’ve been on stand by for four months but I’m ready to go,” Griffin told Sherdog.com. “I wasn’t originally thrilled about the opponent, I wanted a bigger name, but I just signed a new five-fight contract and my manager was like ‘hey just beat this guy, go out there go be spectacular and get your money.’ I think we match up well though, he’s a blitzer, he’s aggressive and I really looking forward to it.”
Griffin recently started cross-training at the rising MMA Gold Team
gym in Sacramento, but he is still working with longtime coach and
mentor Dave
Marinoble. Griffin believes shaking up his training and
maintaining a healthier weight will allow him to show the fans what
he is truly capable of inside the Octagon.
“I still train with Marinoble, but I do a little work over there with the MMA Gold Team. My main gym is Marinoble kickboxing but I work with Jim West at MMA gold. So I kind of cross-train now. I’ve been working with Anthony Hernandez a lot there, my buddy I really helped him a lot in his last fight when he went to China.
“I’ve been doing a little bit different training this time around,” Griffin said. “I’ve been training at this place called The Swimstitute with a swamp coach. It’s a lot of Navy Seals in there and its brutal water training. So that’s really helped me. I’m also doing fast-twitch training and my weight has been in the 180s for about four months now. Usually, I’m in the 190s when I fly out to the fight, so to be in the 180s going on four months now is a good testament of how hard I’ve been working and training.”
A fighter’s record can be deceiving and some wins and losses age better than others. We’ve seen plenty of undefeated combatants struggle once they enter the UFC and we have many examples of fighters with marginal records who join the UFC and succeed. Griffin has had as tough of a UFC career as anybody, but his experiences against top fighters early in his career helps him tremendously now that he is a seasoned veteran.
“I was talking to some people from the UFC the other say and they said my road has been treacherous,” Griffin said. “I mean you look at a lot of people's records like who are these guys? But I was thrown to the sharks from day one. I fought the interim champion in my first fight. So I’ve seen a lot and some of those decision losses were razor close. So I think I’m prepared for anybody now. A lot of these guys fight average Joes their whole career and then they fight someone good and get smashed. But with my experience I’ll be ready for anybody and I feel like I kind of did it in reverse now. I’ve seen the hard punches; I’ve wrestled with the best wrestlers; I’m just seasoned now, forging the fire and I’m ready to do what I have to do to succeed on Oct. 12.”
Griffin has been enjoying a peaceful lead-up to this fight after having two controversial and stressful bouts in a row. In his struggle with with Thiago Alves, Griffin did enough to win on 18 of 20 media members scorecards, but ended up losing a split decision in Alves’ home country of Brazil. But Griffin took the controversial loss in stride and still considers himself undefeated in 2019.
“I count the Alves fight as a victory and I’m not going to let two Brazilian judges over the whole world tell me I didn’t win that,” Griffin said. “Mick Maynard told me I won that fight, the whole UFC staff told me I won that fight, and everybody felt terrible but I said, ‘hey get me back in there, I got something to prove,’ and then they gave me Zalem [Imadaev] a few weeks later”
Just five weeks after the fight with Thiago Alves, Griffin took on Zalem Imadaev and won the fight via majority decision. But Zalem’s antics inside and outside of the cage made fight week miserable for the California native.
“My last fight with Zalem was so outlandish,” Griffin told Sherdog with a sigh. “He was coming at me backstage when I’m with my family, and just trying to be disruptive, trying to get in my head. It didn’t work, but it was stressful; it was so stressful to walk around the hotel and not fight him because if I fought at the hotel I wouldn’t be able to fight the next day. It was just a nightmare…Alex is a standup guy, and it’s our job so it makes it easier to go to work when it’s just business.”
True stars in MMA are worth their weight in gold, and what they do outside the cage can be just as important in terms of popularity as how they perform inside of it. The importance of marketing yourself in this fleeting sport is not lost on Griffin, as he is starting to build a brand for himself and looking towards the future and life after fighting.
“I’m doing my branding now and as far as sponsorships go, the UFC is not what it used to be. You used to be able to market a lot during the fight with the banners and the shorts but now that it’s done you have to get yourself out there more,” Griffin said. “A lot of guys just fight and don’t get themselves out there and don’t have any strategy or backup plan for when fighting is over. You kind of have to do it for yourself and know they will carry the torch. You have to hop on that ship or build your own boat before it’s too late. You want to have an empire and that’s where I’m mentally headed right now.
“I dropped my MPG, Max Pain Griffin brand yesterday and I really believe that we as fighters need to make our own way, be professional and make it happen. We had an event last night and sold like 200 shirts, in two hours at Claimstake Brewery in Sacramento. I had a bunch of sponsors and raffles for the fans; it was beautiful it was like a pre-fight send off for me. So many people came and I’m humbled by how much support I have in Sacramento.”
When asked what’s next after this bout, Griffin was humble as always, but realizes he needs to be more vocal if he wants to get bigger fights.
“I just want numbers,” Griffin proclaimed. “After I win this fight I’m going to be a little more vocal because you got these guys like Mike Perry -- who I beat -- getting co-main events from running their mouth. So I’m going to be more vocal, but I need to get on a streak before calling anyone out. But when I do, it’s numbers, not people, it's 15-10. I’m not going to fabricate beef or anything but if someone gets offended because I want to take their number then we can talk.”
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