Former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin had probably the most memorable performance of his long career at UFC 101 against Anderson Silva. For 3 and a half minutes The Spider toyed with the larger and slower Griffin. After dropping Forrest several times, Silva mercifully ended the fight with a straight right hand as he was moving backwards. The fight has become a staple for almost every highlight reel the UFC makes.
Today on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Forrest spoke about the fight he’s been notoriously quiet about. Griffin revealed that he had taken anti-anxiety medication Xanax the night before his fight against the Middleweight champion. He was not able to pass his post-fight drug test either:
I failed my drug test I think for Xanax,” Griffin said. “I had a doctor’s prescription, I was just, I didn’t do it before the fight, I did it the night before, I was nervous and I couldn’t sleep.
Forrest didn’t mention any suspension period and competed only 3 months later against Tito Ortiz at UFC 106. This is a very odd situation where a high profile fighter failed a urinalysis, but the information was not released by the promotion or the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission. It’s not entirely unheard of though, as UFC veteran Tyson Griffin failed a drug test at UFC 123 in Michigan. Tyson served a three month suspension for having marijuana in his system. Neither the test nor the suspension were released until much later when he spoke about it in an interview.
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