Name Tyson Griffin
Nickname N/A
Association Xtreme Couture
Weight Class Lightweight (155 lbs.)
Height 5′ 6″ (168 cm)
Style Wrestling, Muay Thai, Boxing
Birth Date April 20, 1984
Fighting Out Of Las Vegas, Nevada
Country USA
Tyson Griffin Pictures Official Website

”’Tyson Lee Griffin”’ is an American mixed martial artist from Albany, California. Griffin currently fights as a Lightweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He trains out of Las Vegas, Nevada with Xtreme Couture, along the likes of Randy Couture and Forrest Griffin.

== Professional Record ==

Record 16 – 6 – 0 (Win â€Â“ Loss â€Â“ Draw)
Wins 6 (T)KOs
3 Submissions
7 Decisions
Losses 2 (T)KOs
0 Submissions
4 Decisions
Result Opponent Method Event Title Date Round Time Notes
Win Efrain Escudero Decision (Unanimous) RFA 4 Griffin vs Escudero 11/2/2012 3 5:00
Loss Bart Palaszewski KO (Punches) UFC 137 Penn vs Diaz 10/29/2011 1 2:45
Win Manny Gamburyan Decision (Majority) UFC on Versus 4 Kongo vs Barry 6/26/2011 3 5:00
Loss Nik Lentz Decision (Split) UFC 123 Rampage vs Machida 11/20/2010 3 5:00
Loss Takanori Gomi KO (Punch) [[UFC Live 2 Jones vs Matyushenko‎]] 8/01/2010 1 1:04 Replaced an injured Joe Stevenson
Loss Evan Dunham Decision (Split) UFC 115 Liddell vs Franklin 6/12/2010 3 5:00 Bout featured live on SpikeTV.
Win Hermes Franca TKO (Punches) UFC 103 Franklin vs Belfort 9/19/2009 3 3:26 Catchweight bout (159 lbs.)
Win Rafael dos Anjos Decision (Unanimous) UFC Fight Night 18 Condit vs Kampmann 4/01/2009 3 5:00 Won Fight of the Night Honors
Loss Sean Sherk Decision (Unanimous) UFC 90 Silva vs Cote 10/25/2008 3 5:00 Won Fight of the Night Honors
Win Marcus Aurelio Decision (Unanimous) UFC 86 Jackson vs Griffin 7/05/2008 3 5:00
Win Gleison Tibau Decision (Unanimous) UFC 81 Breaking Point 2/02/2008 3 5:00
Win Thiago Tavares Decision (Unanimous) UFC 76 Knockout 9/22/2007 3 5:00 Won Fight of the Night Honors
Win Clay Guida Decision (Split) UFC 72 Victory 6/16/2007 3 5:00 Won Fight of the Night Honors
Loss Frankie Edgar Decision (Unanimous) UFC 67 All or Nothing 2/03/2007 3 5:00 Won Fight of the Night Honors
Win David Lee Submission (Rear Naked Choke) UFC 63 Hughes vs Penn 9/23/2006 1 1:50 Won Submission of the Night
Win Duane Ludwig TKO (Punches) Strikeforce Revenge 6/09/2006 1 3:57
Win Chuck Kim Submission (Rear Naked Choke) GC 49: Face Off 4/08/2006 1 3:34 Defended Gladiator Challenge Bantamweight Championship
Win Melchor Manibusan TKO FFCF 5: Unleashed 1/27/2006 1 4:05
Win Jorge Evangelista KO GC 46: Avalanche 12/11/2005 1 3:14 Defended Gladiator Challenge Bantamweight Championship
Win Urijah Faber TKO (Punches) GC 42: Summer Slam 9/10/2005 3 0:05 Won Gladiator Challenge Bantamweight Championship
Win Cody Williams Submission (Rear Naked Choke) GC 36: Proving Grounds 4/09/2005 1 2:05
Win Ryan Frost TKO GC 32: King of the Hill 11/18/2004 1 1:16

== Biography ==
Griffin was a standout wrestler in high school and moved on to wrestle at Santa Rosa 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, Terrel 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 afterward 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 Gladitorial Combat promotion. In his third bout, he dropped to featherweight to earn a TKO victory over future World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) 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 Terrell at UFC 59 in Las Vegas, Griffin had an opportunity to meet members of the Xtreme Couture camp for the first time.

=== UFC Career ===
Griffin made his UFC debut at UFC 63 against David Lee. He won the bout by rear naked choke in the first round, earning a Submission of the Night honors in the process. Griffin used the 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 leglock, but 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 earned Fight of the Night honors and were judged in the top 10 best of year.

In 2008, Griffin won a unanimous decision victories over Gleison Tibau at UFC 81 and Marcus Aurelio 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, but won his fourth career Fight of the Night. He was then scheduled to face Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night Condit vs Kampmann. Dos Anjos caught Griffin in a vicious leg compression in the first round, which Griffin battled through, yet he seemed shaky on his feet after escaping, but seemed to shake it off by the second round. The fight went the distance with Griffin coming out the victor with a unanimous decision victory. The fight won Fight of the Night Honors.

Griffin’s next bout took place on September 19, 2009 at UFC 103 Franklin vs Belfort. His opponent was former WEC Lightweight Champion Hermes Franca. Franca anticipated not making weight, agreeing before the weigh-ins to a Catchweight bout of 159 lbs. Franca paid a portion of his purse to Griffin for the allowance. Of Griffin’s eight previous fights in the UFC, he had only stopped his opponent once (all the others going to decision). Griffin added a second stoppage to his career in the UFC at 3:26 of the second round via TKO (Punches), handing Franca his third loss in four bouts.

On January 2, 2010, Griffin was expected to return at UFC 108 Evans vs Silva to face off against Jim Miller, but in December of 2009 Griffin was forced to pull out of the event, an event that had been plagued by injuries. Griffin was replaced by the last man to defeat him, Sean Sherk.

It was announced at the beginning of February 2010 that Griffin would next face off against Evan Dunham. This bout drew some interesting remarks, as both fighters train with one another at Xtreme Couture, and over the past few years the question of teammates facing off against one another was quite prevalent with the American Kickboxing Academy and Xtreme Couture stables. The bout took place on June 12, 2010 at UFC 115 Liddell vs Franklin. The two Lightweights went at it for a full three rounds in a closely contested, technical affair. Surprisingly, Dunham showed that he had a clear advantage in the takedown department over the stocky and experienced wrestler in Griffin. Dunham took Griffin’s back on multiple occasions during the scrap and controlled the action for the bulk of the contest on his way to Decision (Split) victory.

Griffin’s next fight took place on August 1, 2010 at [[UFC Live 2 Jones vs Matyushenko‎]], as a replacement for Joe Stevenson, who injured his knee. He faced former PRIDE Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi, who was also coming off a high-profile loss. Before the fighters even had a chance to test their range and break a sweat, Gomi whiffed on a left hand but followed with a big right cross that connected flush with his opponent’s chin. The blow sent Griffin face first into the canvas, and Gomi followed with additional punches before the referee could dive in to stop the fight. The official time was 1:04 of the first round, and was the first time Griffin has lost two fights in a row.

== Interesting Facts ==
Griffin’s entrances to UFC matches are often marked by his use of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger”.

== Ranks and Titles ==
* Gladiator Challenge Bantamweight Title