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Tyson Griffin
American martial artist

Tyson Griffin

The basics

Quick Facts

Intro
American martial artist
A.K.A.
Tyson Lee Griffin
Work field
Gender
Male
Place of birth
Sacramento, Sacramento County, California, U.S.A.
Age
40 years
The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

Tyson Lee Griffin (born April 20, 1984) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2004, Griffin has also formerly competed for the UFC, Strikeforce, the RFA, and the World Series of Fighting.

Background

Griffin was a standout wrestler at Albany High School and moved on to wrestle at Skyline Junior College before dropping out. He began training at David Terrell's NorCal Fighting Alliance and the Cesar Gracie Academy. During his first mixed martial arts training session, Terrell cut two gashes over Griffin's left eye, requiring stitches. Griffin states that he committed himself to a career in MMA while in the hospital waiting room. His mother supported him during his first year of training, but after his professional debut he had to get side jobs to support himself through his early career.

Mixed martial arts career

Tyson Griffin began his professional career in 2004 in the Gladiator Challenge promotion. In his third bout, he dropped to featherweight to earn a TKO victory over future World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Urijah Faber, which stood as Faber's only defeat for over three years. Griffin went on to win all of his first six fights before facing Duane Ludwig at Strikeforce: Revenge. He won the bout by TKO in the first round, attracting the attention of major promotions. After considering offers from Pride Fighting Championship and the UFC, Griffin signed with the UFC so that he could continue to fight stateside. While cornering for David Terrel at UFC 59 in Las Vegas, Griffin had an opportunity to meet members of the Xtreme Couture camp for the first time.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Griffin made his UFC debut at UFC 63 against David Lee. He won the bout via rear-naked choke submission in the first round, and later used the prize money to move to Las Vegas and joined the Xtreme Couture camp. Former teammate Nick Diaz criticized Griffin as a "gym jumper", but Griffin rejected the accusation. He began 2007 with a fight against Frank Edgar at UFC 67. The back-and-forth bout ended with Edgar trapped in a tight kneebar, but the judges unanimously scored the bout in his favor, handing Griffin his first professional loss. He rebounded with two decision victories over Clay Guida and Thiago Tavares at UFC 72 and UFC 76, respectively. All three of his bouts in 2007 were judged in the top 10 best of year.

In 2008, Griffin won unanimous decisions over Gleison Tibau at UFC 81 and Marcus Aurélio at UFC 86.

He next faced Sean Sherk at UFC 90, in a fight with title contention implications. In another three-round war, Griffin lost by unanimous decision, after a hard fought fight.

Griffin defeated Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night: Condit vs Kampmann via unanimous decision.

He won against Hermes Franca via KO in the second round at UFC 103, earning his first victory via stoppage in three years.

Griffin was scheduled to face Jim Miller on January 2, 2010 at UFC 108, but was forced off the card with an injury.

Griffin fought Xtreme Couture training partner Evan Dunham on June 12, 2010 at UFC 115. He lost the fight via split decision.

Griffin faced former PRIDE Lightweight Champion, Takanori Gomi on August 1, 2010 at UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko, replacing an injured Joe Stevenson. Griffin lost via KO (punch) at 1:04 of the first round. This marked the first time Griffin had lost back to back fights, as well as the first time he had been stopped in a fight as all of his previous losses had gone to a decision. Griffin was visibly upset with the loss; pacing around the octagon and refusing to shake Gomi's hand.

Griffin was defeated by Nik Lentz on November 20, 2010 at UFC 123 by split decision. After the bout it was revealed that Griffin had failed a post-fight drug screening, testing positive for marijuana.

Griffin next faced Manvel Gamburyan in his featherweight debut on June 26, 2011 at UFC on Versus 4. He won the fight via majority decision.

Griffin lost to Bart Palaszewski on October 29, 2011 at UFC 137 via first-round KO. During weigh ins, Griffin had failed to make the featherweight limit, coming in 3 pounds over. Griffin was fined 25 percent of his earnings and the bout took place at a catchweight of 148 lb. It wasn't announced until June 2012 that he was released from the promotion shortly after the fight.

Resurrection Fighting Alliance

Griffin signed a 3-fight contract with the Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA).

Tyson faced TUF 8 winner Efrain Escudero in a lightweight bout at Resurrection Fighting Alliance 4 on November 2, 2012. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

World Series Of Fighting

In June 2013, it was announced that Griffin had signed a multi-fight deal with World Series of Fighting. On August 10, 2013, he faced Strikeforce veteran Gesias Cavalcante. He lost the fight via TKO in the third round.

Griffin faced Luiz Firmino at WSOF 10 on June 21, 2014. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Championships and achievements

  • Ultimate Fighting Championship
    • Fight of the Night (Five times) vs. Frankie Edgar, Clay Guida, Thiago Tavares, Sean Sherk, Rafael dos Anjos
    • Fight of the Year (2007) vs. Clay Guida
    • Submission of the Night (One time) vs. David Lee
  • Gladiator Challenge
    • GC Featherweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

Res.RecordOpponentMethodEventDateRoundTimeLocationNotes
Loss16–8Luiz FirminoDecision (unanimous)WSOF 10000000002014-06-21-0000June 21, 201435:00Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss16–7Gesias CavalcanteTKO (punches)WSOF 4000000002013-08-10-0000August 10, 201331:37Ontario, California, United States
Win16–6Efrain EscuderoDecision (unanimous)RFA 4: Griffin vs. Escudero000000002012-11-02-0000November 2, 201235:00Las Vegas, Nevada, United StatesReturn to Lightweight
Loss15–6Bart PalaszewskiKO (punches)UFC 137000000002011-10-29-0000October 29, 201112:45Las Vegas, Nevada, United States148lbs catchweight. Griffin failed to make weight.
Win15–5Manvel GamburyanDecision (majority)UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry000000002011-06-26-0000June 26, 201135:00Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United StatesReturn to Featherweight
Loss14–5Nik LentzDecision (split)UFC 123000000002010-11-20-0000November 20, 201035:00Auburn Hills, Michigan, United States
Loss14–4Takanori GomiKO (punch)UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko000000002010-08-01-0000August 1, 201011:04San Diego, California, United States
Loss14–3Evan DunhamDecision (split)UFC 115000000002010-06-12-0000June 12, 201035:00Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Win14–2Hermes FrançaKO (punches)UFC 103000000002009-09-19-0000September 19, 200923:26Dallas, Texas, United StatesFranca weighed in at 159 lb, fighters agreed to fight at a catch weight.
Win13–2Rafael dos AnjosDecision (unanimous)UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann000000002009-04-01-0000April 1, 200935:00Nashville, Tennessee, United StatesFight of the Night
Loss12–2Sean SherkDecision (unanimous)UFC 90000000002008-10-25-0000October 25, 200835:00Rosemont, Illinois, United StatesFight of the Night
Win12–1Marcus AurélioDecision (unanimous)UFC 86000000002008-07-05-0000July 5, 200835:00Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win11–1Gleison TibauDecision (unanimous)UFC 81000000002008-02-02-0000February 2, 200835:00Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win10–1Thiago TavaresDecision (unanimous)UFC 76000000002007-09-22-0000September 22, 200735:00Anaheim, California, United StatesFight of the Night
Win9–1Clay GuidaDecision (split)UFC 72000000002007-06-16-0000June 16, 200735:00Belfast, Northern IrelandFight of the Night, Fight of the Year
Loss8–1Frankie EdgarDecision (unanimous)UFC 67000000002007-02-03-0000February 3, 200735:00Las Vegas, Nevada, United StatesFight of the Night.
Win8–0David LeeSubmission (rear-naked choke)UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn000000002006-09-23-0000September 23, 200611:50Anaheim, California, United StatesSubmission of the Night.
Win7–0Duane LudwigTKO (punches)Strikeforce: Revenge000000002006-06-09-0000June 9, 200613:57San Jose, California, United States
Win6–0Chuck KimSubmission (rear-naked choke)GC 49: Face Off000000002006-04-08-0000April 8, 200613:34Lakeport, California, United States
Win5–0Melchor ManibusanTKO (punches)FFCF 5: Unleashed000000002006-01-27-0000January 27, 200614:05Mangilao, GuamLightweight debut
Win4–0Jorge EvangelistaKO (punches)GC 46: Avalanche000000002005-12-11-0000December 11, 200513:14Coarsegold, California, United States
Win3–0Urijah FaberTKO (punches)GC 42: Summer Slam000000002005-09-10-0000September 10, 200530:05Lakeport, California, United StatesWon Gladiator Challenge Featherweight Championship
Win2–0Cody WilliamsSubmission (rear-naked choke)GC 36: Proving Grounds000000002005-04-09-0000April 9, 200512:05Porterville, California, United States
Win1–0Ryan FrostTKO (punches)GC 32: King of the Hill000000002004-11-18-0000November 18, 200411:16Colusa, California, United States
The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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