Griggs Will Look to His Experience Against Villante

People might have thought Chad Griggs was brought into Strikeforce to be a stepping stone for rising upstart Bobbly Lashley, but Griggs had other ideas. Griggs was able to emerge victorious over Lashley and will now make his second appearance for Strikeforce when he takes on Gianpiero Villante at Strikeforce: Fedor vs Silva on Saturday as part of the nights Main Card.

Griggs, an IFL Veteran sporting a 9-1 record will look to make the most of the opportunity presented to him and try to secure himself a position as a reserve fighter for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. While Griggs had mentioned before that he would have liked to drop to Light Heavyweight, he’ll be looking to continue his winning ways within the Heavyweight division.

“I’m just going with it. It’s been working so far. No question guys are getting bigger, but whatever Strikeforce wants me to do, is what I’m going to do,” Griggs told us at the Strikeforce: Fedor vs Silva press conference on Wednesday.

While Griggs doesn’t mind fighting at Heavyweight, a weight class he’s fought all of his career until this point, a move down in weight is a goal he would like.

“Ultimately, I’d like to be at 205, but if Heavyweight works for me, I’ll keep doing it,” explained Griggs

Griggs has earned more than his fair share of attention from his win over Lashley and took a lot from the fight, even with the win in hand.

“Obviously I think you learn something in every fight. There was some holes in my game. There was a few times he got me on the ground and got the mount, which should have never happened. And when he did get in the mount, there were a few holes, some escapes that I didn’t take, I was lazy,” complained Griggs

Griggs will look to use his experience against the debuting Villante. A former stand-out at Hofstra University where he was successful in both football and wrestling, where he was  named a 2004 1st Team Defensive 1-AA All-American by The Sports Network.

“Put a little pressure on him. I think I’m going to be a little bigger this time. His conditioning is going to be good, he’s game for scraping, but I don’t think he has the experience or the battles that I’ve been in,” Griggs said of his opponent

Chard Griggs would also like to thank his sponsors, Untamed Clothing, Rockwell Watches, One Law-Law firm and his team for getting him ready, as all have had a helping hand to him in his career so far.

Tags: Bobby Lashley, Chad Griggs, Gianpiero Villante, Interview, MMA, Strikeforce, Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva

Category: Exclusive, Interview, MMA, Strikeforce