Earlier this year, UFC welterweight Max “Pain” Griffin made the walk to the octagon carrying with him the weight of a 2 fight losing skid, and all the pressure that goes along with that. He needed a win on this November night. While the end of the year usually brings joy, but as we now know, the UFC is dropping 60 fighters from the roster before the end of the year, even though it had not been made public in November,Griffin knows that losing 3 in a row could definitely end a fighter’s run in the UFC.
Griffin didn’t seem phased at all during fight week, he actually portrayed the swagger of a guy on a 5 fight winning streak! He was calm and excited all at the same time. He exuded confidence in every pre-fight media appearance, including one with us at Cage Side with Christopher James. I have had Griffin on numerous times, and this version of him was different. He always believed in himself, but he was exuding an air of confidence that I have never seen or heard from him in prior chats. He knew he was going to win, and he knew he was going to make a statement on November 7th against Ramiz Brahimaj.
Griffin owned the night and the fight. Controlling the action from the jump, and never took his foot off the gas. The man was on a mission, and nothing was going to deter him from securing a dominant victory.
The end for Brahimaj came at 2:03 of the third round. Griffin had smashed his opponent with a sharp, slicing elbow that nearly decapitated Brahimaj’s left ear from his cranium! It was flopping around on the side of his head for a bit before the referee noticed it! Once the doctor saw it the fight was over, and thank goodness because it was nasty, and had the fight continued any more damage to the ear could have seen it completely detach from Brahimaj’s head and fall in the octagon.
Fighters like to remember their wins and the crazy moments that take place over their careers. A picture says a thousand words, and a tattoo says it all! Griffin decided to memorialize that moment in time with a tattoo of Brahimaj’s left ear on the point of his right elbow.
An incredible moment, a first, and hopefully last of it’s kind injury. Griffin wanted to make a statement, and I would have to say he achieved that goal, and then some! Congratulations on the win, and the new tattoo Mr. Griffin.
Christopher James has been in the MMA industry for 15 years, Working as a ring announcer for promotions like the XFC, Island Fights, Combat Night and Fight Nights Global during his career. Chris’ love for the sport and the athletes that partake in it led him to writing and doing face to face interviews with the athletes he admired and respected. Chris isn’t conventional by any stretch of the imagination, he has his own style, and takes pride in not being a “cookie-cutter” member of the media. Unique and sometimes controversial takes are what he brings to the table, forcing folks to think a little differently about the world of MMA. He also has a love for music as he has been a dj for 25 years and his love for music gets brought to the MMA world when he gets his guests to sing on his weekly show Cage Side with Christopher James which can be seen Wednesday nights on FACEBOOK LIVE, and soon via podcast.