After many wars, WSOF 10's Tyson Griffin ready for another against Luiz Firmino

With 23 pro fights on his resume, including some all-out wars against some of the best names in the business, Tyson Griffin knows a thing or two about bumps and bruises.

Lately, he also knows quite a bit about nutrition for the fight game, helping American Kickboxing Academy teammates like Daniel Cormier with weight cuts, as well as other clients along the way.

But with a training camp’s worth of nutrition in the books, Griffin (16-7) is focused on another potential war when he returns tonight against Luiz Firmino (17-6) at WSOF 10. The fight is part of the main card on NBC Sports Network from The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. (Prelims stream on MMAjunkie.)

As usual, Griffin won’t go into the fight 100 percent.

“The reality is, if you’re not a little banged up, you’re not training hard,” Griffin told MMAjunkie Radio. “This is a rough sport. Whether it’s an ankle sprain, whether it’s a concussion, the list goes on of things that people have fought with that nobody knows about. A lot of people want to bring it up when they lose and make excuses, but that’s not me, and I’ve never tried to brag about it when I’ve won, either.”

After a 14-fight run in the UFC, where he went 8-6 with wins over the likes of Clay Guida, Rafael dos Anjos and Manny Gamburyan, the 30-year-old Griffin has been back to work the last two and a half years outside the world’s largest promotion. After a win over “TUF 8? winner Efrain Escudero for RFA, Griffin signed with WSOF.

But in his promotional debut this past August, he was stopped in the third round by Gesias Cavalcante. Tonight, against Firmino, a Brazilian with a four-fight winning streak, he has a rebound on his mind.

To that end, Griffin believes at this stage of his career, staying healthy is perhaps just as important as drilling techniques.

“I’m not only learning more about my food and my nutrition, but learning more about my body and maintenance,” he said. “Maintenance is really important. When we’re young, our bodies bounce back so easy. But as we get older, we’ve got to learn about maintenance and strength and conditioning and learn how to keep yourself strong and healthy.”

Techniques, Griffin knows about. And he’s got plenty of cage time on his side. It may be that at 30, his body feels older than that thanks to the wars. Ten of his 14 fights in the UFC went the distance, and he logged nearly 175 total minutes in the octagon.

If things go that direction tonight, he won’t be surprised.

“I’ve been through some good wars already, and I’m ready to go and ready for another war (tonight),” he said. “We’ll see if Luiz Firmino is ready.”

For the latest on WSOF 10, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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