Las Vegas — A UFC Hall of Famer himself, Forrest Griffin also has an award named after him by the promotion – the Forrest Griffin Community Award, which recognizes the volunteer and charitable efforts of UFC fighters.
Griffin, a former UFC champ as well, was on hand to speak to the media at this year’s inauguration ceremony, with Beneil Dariush picking up the award named in his honor. Griffin had plenty to say about some of the other inductees entering the Hall in 2024, including those he shared the cage with.
“I was and am huge fans of Wanderlei and Shogun. And it was very fortunate I got to fight them, I feel like I fought them both because Wanderlei lived out here, we trained for a couple years,” Griffin told media outlets including Cageside Press, at the ceremony in Las Vegas. “They’re really great people, it’s true.”
While he didn’t officially fight Wanderlei Silva, Griffin twice tangoed with Shogun Rua, with the pair splitting those fights with one win apiece.
Then there’s lightweight legend Frankie Edgar, who entered the modern wing of the Hall. “The ultimate blue collar guy, right? If a Bruce Springsteen song came to life, it would be Frankie Edgar. Just a great human being on every level.”
Those names, and that of Joanna Jedrzejczyk, had Griffin calling the 2024 UFC Hall of Fame class “the best Hall of Fame [class]. Joanna, she made the 115lb division. What Ronda [Rousey] did for women, she did for the 115lb division. Which is pretty sick.”
Watch the full 2024 UFC Hall of Fame media scrum with Forrest Griffin above.
