Tyson Griffin spoke with Sherdog.com about his UFC on Versus 2 fight with former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi on Sunday in San Diego, Calif.:
Of course, Griffin is coming in on shorter notice than usual, as he is replacing Joe Stevenson in this fight. He's confident he doesn't need a full camp for a fight with Gomi and thinks he will rebound from his UFC 115 loss to Evan Dunham in this fight.
"I don't really need much time to prepare," he said. "It's not like Gomi's got anything spectacular about him. He's just a hard-nosed fighter and aggressive. I've dealt with that a lot. I think that's a perfect matchup for me."
Griffin also said he was courted by PRIDE when they wanted American challengers to fight Gomi. Instead, he came to the UFC and when Gomi came to the UFC, Griffin wanted that fight.
"Even when I first heard Gomi signed with the UFC I had my manager get on the phone and tried to get that fight," said Griffin. "I tried to be the first guy to welcome him to the UFC and I didn't get it, so again, that was another reason I was easily willing to accept the fight when it was offered to me."