Original Ultimate Fighter Forrest Griffin Announces Retirement at UFC 160 (video)

Forrest Griffin announced his retirement from mixed martial arts, effective immediately. He made the announcement at Saturday night’s UFC 160 post-fight press conference in Las Vegas.

It won’t, however, be the last we will see of him. UFC president Dana White announced that Griffin will continue working for the company for as long as he lives.

Griffin will long be remembered for winning the inaugural The Ultimate Fighter after he defeated Stephan Bonnar in the finale, a fight which White described as the one that brought the UFC into mainstream society.

In his 11-year career, Griffin went on to become the UFC light heavyweight champion, as well as etching his name into the record books with his two historic wars against Bonnar. The first Bonnar fight has been declared the No. 1 UFC fight of all time in the UFC Ultimate 100 Greatest Fights program.

“When Dana White says retire, you should retire, otherwise you will blow your knee out for your next fight,” Griffin quipped when he took the podium at the press conference.

“Two of my last three fights I’ve pulled out due to injury. How many fights can you pull out of before you become an unsecure product?” he continued. “I wouldn’t invest in me at this point.”

“He will have some role, some title, and hopefully he will work more than Chuck Liddell,” White joked. “He will be here and will stay with this company at least for the rest of my life.”

It is likely that Griffin will take up charity work within the UFC, which ties in with the current work he does donating his time to a local school to help feed the kids who normally can’t afford to eat.

Griffin will leave 11 years of memories behind him, but the 33-year-old knows it is the right decision.

“I saw the (Brian) Stann versus Wanderlei Silva fight and I thought if I don’t have another one of those in me, then I shouldn’t be doing this anymore. If you can’t put on a product like that then don’t put that product out there at all. This has been my dream since 2000, it’s all I have wanted to do.”