Forrest: If I could do it again, I would spar less

UFC Hall of Fame member and former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin was half of the most the important fight in UFC history – The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale. He went 3-3 his last six fights, an indication that there will be no return to a title shot. He wanted to fight on, but UFC president Dana White created a ceremonial position for Griffin, as an incentive to retire.

However, Forrest Griffin is not a man hold a ceremonial position. He actually showed up. Eventually, he came to perform valuable work for the company. When the new UFC owners WME-IMG were looking to trim expenses, they let Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell go, but retained Griffin’s services.

Thus it was that Griffin spoke to the media recently about the newly constructed UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas, and reflects on how having it would have affected his career.

The fighter was asked what he would do differently, given recent research and understanding about chronic traumatic encephalopathy. According to Boston University’s CTE center, CTE is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic concussions as well as asymptomatic subconcussive hits to the head. This trauma triggers progressive degeneration of the brain tissue, including the build-up of an abnormal protein called tau. These changes in the brain can begin months, years, or even decades after the last brain trauma or end of active athletic involvement. The brain degeneration is associated with memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia.

“I would give myself the advice to spar less and drill more,” said Griffin. “I would have recorded my sparring sessions. … Every other sport does it; nobody likes doing it. It’s boring, it sucks, you just see mistakes.”

So spar less, and increase the value of the sparring by recording it and watching it. That is a stupid simple response to one of the worst problems facing the sport.