On April 9, 2005, Forrest Griffin, along with Stephan Bonner, took part in what UFC President Dana White calls the most important fight in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) history, as the two went toe-to-toe for 15 minutes in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 1 Finale.
After the back-and-forth brawl that had fans in attendance standing in awe of what they were seeing and the millions of fans watching on television hoping the fight would never end, Griffin was awarded the unanimous decision victory. He became the first ever TUF winner, which earned him a six-figure UFC contract.
The fight has often been credited as being the launch pad for the UFC's popularity.
During his time with the promotion, Griffin has competed against some of the best light heavyweights in the world, including Mauricio Rua, Tito Ortiz, Rich Franklin, Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson, the last of whom he defeated in 2008 to claim the 205-pound title.
Forrest also stepped up and took on arguably the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, Anderson Silva, at UFC 101, but fell victim to "The Spider's" precise and powerful striking in the very first round, causing Griffin to storm out of the Octagon in embarrassment .
13 fights into his UFC career, the original Ultimate Fighter says he could very well be at the end of the road. Speaking with MMA Fight Corner, Forrest says that before he hangs up his gloves for good, he only wants tough fights. Oh, and wouldn't mind a third fight with Ortiz, who recently stated he wants his last fight to be against Griffin.
"If people will pay to see that fight, then I'll get paid to fight that fight. I care more about where I fight, if that fight happens in the United States, the continental United States, I'm down. I don't travel well. For me, now I'm realizing that I don't have much left, you know, this is the end of the road for me. I want a couple more fight fights, you know, good ones. That's all I really want. I think it would (be a good fight) but do people want to see it, you know? (I want) fights where I don't get knocked out in the first round, fights where I get hurt and bleed a little and get like a little rally, something of the nature."
Ortiz and Griffin have met twice before, with Tito winning their first encounter at UFC 59 via split decision in 2006, a fight many believed should have gone to Griffin. No worries though, Forrest would eventually get his revenge three years later at UFC 106, doing enough to outpoint "The People's Champ" to earn a split decision victory.
Now, the two former champions want one finale battle to complete the trilogy and settle the score once and for all.
Both Griffin and Ortiz are coming off losses to Mauricio Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, respectively, so matching them up together somewhat makes sense.
With both fighters willing to step up to the plate, it's now up to the powers that be at Zuffa to make the fight happen. The big question, though, is whether or not fight fans have enough interest in seeing it.
Well? Do you?