The Ultimate Coach (Part 2)

At first glance, Rampage's path to being named an Ultimate Coach might seem a bit odd. He struggled in PRIDE, knocked out one of the biggest stars on the planet, and then defeated the man who knocked out Wanderlei. However, the man formally known as Quinton holds no candle to Forrest Griffin.

With all of his successes in the Octagon, it's easy to forget that Forrest started his UFC journey as a TUF alum. He won the very first installment of the show with a scintillating three-round slugfest against Stephen Bonnar. The fight was so exciting that it's viewership actually increased during the fight -- people were calling their friends and telling them to watch what was happening. Many recognize this fight as one of the greatest of all time, and even more recognize it as fight that saved the UFC. If nothing else, it at least set the groundwork for the future seasons of this popular series. In other words, Forrest got himself a job that he didn't even know he was applying for.

Ever since that fight against Stephen Bonnar, Griffin's career has been up and down, but it's always been one thing -- exciting. Whether he was knocking out legendary Elvis Sinosic or losing a close but exciting decision to Tito Ortiz (called the fight of the year in 2005), Griffin has done it with a tough guy "I just want to fight" attitude. This is one of the reasons, along with his "everyman" personality, that makes him a great choice for both the show and the title shot.

However, it wasn't long ago that Griffin seemed to be out of the title picture and certainly out of sorts. At UFC 66, he was knocked out early by Keith Jardine, which handed him a second loss in three fights. It appeared that he was destined to remain in that middle class of 205 pounders. He rebounded with an expected win against Hector Ramirez. Unfortunately (or at least it seemed unfortunate at the time), he was booked against newcomer and #1 ranked LHW Mauricio "Shogun" Rua It was well known that if Rua won, he was going to be granted a title shot against Rampage Jackson. In other words, Forrest was the stepping stone. But when the bell rang, all conventions changed. Shogun looked out matched, out cardioed, and out just about anything else you could be. Forrest appeared to be cruising to a decision when, late in the third and final round, he ripped the decision out of the judges hands when he secured a deep Rear Naked Choke for the submission victory.

Forrest earned his initial TUF victory over Bonnar and there's no question that he earned the right to coach against Rampage Jackson in TUF 7. It should be an exciting season with two talented and entertaining coaches.