Chad Griggs (born May 15, 1978) is former American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who most recently competed in the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

division. A professional competitor since 2005, he has also formerly competed for the

Tucson Scorpions The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006, and closed on July 31, 2008.

of the

IFL IFL may refer to: ;American football *Intense Football League, (2004–2008) in the United States, merged into the Indoor Football League *Indoor Football League, (2008–present) in the United States *Intercontinental Football League, a European l ...

and

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *''Marvel Strike Force'', ...

Background

Griggs is from Tucson, Arizona and attended

Sahuaro High School Sahuaro High School is a public high school located in Tucson, Arizona, United States, part of the Tucson Unified School District. It is located on the far east side of the city at 545 North Camino Seco, just north of Vicksburg Street between Br ...

. He was introduced to mixed martial arts when he began training and frequently

sparring Sparring is a form of training common to many combat sports. Although the precise form varies, it is essentially relatively ' free-form' fighting, with enough rules, customs, or agreements to minimize injuries. By extension, argumentative debate ...

with legendary fighter

Don Frye Donald Frye (born November 23, 1965) is an American former mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. In MMA, he was one of the sport's earliest well-rounded fighters and won the ''UFC 8'' and ''Ultimate Ultimate 96'' tournaments ...

. Griggs attended college, where he received his EMT and

paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

certification.

Early career

Griggs won his lone amateur fight via knockout in 13 seconds, and then made his professional debut in December 2005, on the first Total Fighting Alliance card. He fought and quickly defeated Johnathan Tsosie, an 0-3 fighter at the time, only eighteen seconds into round one. In April 2006, Griggs took his second fight against

veteran

Homer Moore Homer Moore (born November 12, 1971) is an American former professional mixed martial artist who competed as a Light Heavyweight for the UFC, WEC, and Chicago Red Bears of the IFL Background Moore won the 1992 National Junior College Athletic ...

, on a Rage in the Cage card. Griggs again won via TKO. Only a month after his second fight, Griggs fought Johnathan Tsosie in a rematch from their December fight. Griggs again came out victorious, winning via submission due to punches. He won another fight before signing with upstart promotion, the

International Fight League The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006, and closed on July 31, 2008.

International Fight League

Griggs signed with the

in 2007, and was picked to be a part of the

, coached by

. He made his promotional debut at IFL: Houston that took place on February 2, 2007. His opponent was

PRIDE Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

and UFC veteran, John Marsh. Griggs won the fight by TKO in the third round. At that time undefeated, he then fought at IFL: Connecticut against Shane Ott. Ott defeated Griggs with a kimura submission early in round one. Griggs was released from the promotion, despite the loss being the first of his career.

Regional circuits

Griggs won two fights after being released from the IFL. After his second win, he took a year and a half off from competition. He returned in April 2009, winning against Jon Alexander at Ultimate Style Fighting: Rumble in Wyoming.

Strikeforce

Griggs made his debut for

at Strikeforce: Houston on August 21, 2010, against former

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

star and standout collegiate wrestler

Bobby Lashley Franklin Roberto Lashley (born July 16, 1976) is an American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and bodybuilder. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is an eight-time world champion, having been a two-t ...

. Griggs defeated Lashley by TKO when Lashley was unable to return to his corner at the end of the 2nd round after Griggs landed a flurry of strikes. Griggs next fight for Strikeforce came against promotional newcomer

Gian Villante Gianpiero Villante (born August 18, 1985) is a retired American mixed martial artist who previously fought in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional from 2009 to 2021, he also has competed for Strikeforce ...

at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva. Griggs won the fight in the first round via TKO. The fight served as a reserve bout for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. Griggs' next fight was against

Valentijn Overeem Valentijn Overeem (; born 17 August 1976) is a retired Dutch professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently signed with United Glory. A professional competitor since 1996, he has previously fought for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, ...

at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum on June 18, 2011, in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. He won the fight via

submission Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

to strikes in the first round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

With the elimination of the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

division, Griggs moved to the

in 2012 and faced

Travis Browne Travis Kuualiialoha Browne (born July 17, 1982) is an American retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who last competed as a heavyweight (MMA), Heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Browne was born in H ...

on April 21, 2012, at

UFC 145 ''UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It was the 9th UFC event of the year, and took place on April 21, 2012 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Background The headline fight ...

. He lost the bout in the first round via submission due to an arm-triangle choke. Griggs was expected to face Phil Davis in his

debut on August 4, 2012, at

UFC on FOX 4 ''UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 4'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 4, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Background Chad Griggs was expected to fa ...

. However, Griggs was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by promotional newcomer

Wagner Prado Wagner Prado (born December 30, 1987) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the light heavyweight division of Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA). A professional competitor since 2009, he has formerly competed for the UFC an ...

. After moving down to

, Griggs lost to

Cyrille Diabaté Cyrille Moktar Diabaté (born October 6, 1973) is a retired French mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He has also competed in shoot boxing and Muay Thai. He has fought at Palace Fighting Championship, Tachi Palace Fights, PRIDE, ShoXC, Deep, ...

via first round

rear-naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keikogi ...

submission on November 17, 2012, at

UFC 154 ''UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 17, 2012, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Background Parent company Zuffa, LLC produced a UFC Pri ...

. He was released from the UFC on January 18, 2013.

Personal life

Griggs and his wife Julie have two children. Griggs also works as a full-time firefighter and a paramedic with the Tucson Fire Department.

Mixed martial arts record

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Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

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, Submission (arm-triangle choke) ,

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Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 ,

, TKO (punches) , Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:49 ,

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 ,

, TKO (doctor stoppage) , Strikeforce: Houston , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , Jon Alexander , KO (elbows) , USF: Rumble in Wyoming , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:13 ,

Casper, Wyoming Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second-largest city in the state, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 census. Only Cheyenne, the state capital, is larger. Casper is nic ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Eric Garcia , TKO (punches) , All Power Combat 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:02 ,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Steve Sayegh , TKO (punches) , Rage in the Cage 101 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:28 , Fountain Hills, Arizona, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–1 , Shane Ott , Submission (kimura) , IFL: Connecticut , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:09 ,

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the New England town, town of Montville, Connecticut, Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a Administrative divisions of Connecticut#Village, neighborhood, section of town, village in southeastern Montville, at the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , John Marsh , TKO (punches) , IFL: Houston , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:32 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Tony Mendoza , TKO (punches) , WFC: Rumble in the Rockies , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:41 ,

Loveland, Colorado The City of Loveland is the home rule municipality that is the second most populous municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Loveland is situated north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver and is the 14th most populous city ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Johnathan Tsosie , TKO (submission to punches) , Rage in the Cage 82 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:43 ,

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 ,

, TKO (punches) , Rage in the Cage 81 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:30 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Johnathan Tsosie , TKO (punches) , Total Fighting Alliance 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:18 , Campo, California, United States ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Griggs, Chad 1978 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Arizona Heavyweight mixed martial artists Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters