Forrest Griffin reacts to UFC naming community service award after him

The UFC’s newest award has been named for Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin.

The Las Vegas-based promotion recently launched the Forrest Griffin Community Award in honor of the former UFC light heavyweight champion and season one winner of “The Ultimate Fighter.” The award recognizes UFC athletes who do volunteer and charity work in efforts to better their community.

For his part, Griffin was humble about the idea of having an award named in his honor.

“Well, I think the first thing when you hear something like that is you’re like ‘Me, why me? No. I haven’t done enough, man. I should’ve done more. Certainly there’s somebody out there that’s done more than me and I’m sure there is,’ Griffin told MMA Junkie. “I kind of don’t want to think about it like that. I want to think, ‘Hey, I know that the stuff I’ve done in the community has helped people. I know that people’s lives are changed for the better because of some things that I’ve done.’ And that’s what this award represents, you know?

“So it’s obviously less about me and just more about people that fight for the UFC that you would think these fighters that are really charitable, goodhearted people. And something I’ve found a long time ago, this was actually when I was coaching (on “TUF”) against Quinton (“Rampage” Jackson) is we actually had really similar backgrounds. I was like talking to him and I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s me too. Oh yeah, that’s how I grew up too.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, so we have a lot of more commonalities than differences.’

Griffin also believes that by going out and doing good in the community, fighters help raise the image of the sport.

“I think people that are attracted to a sport like fighting, I think it’s just great that you have these people that fight, that do so much for the community and there’s so many throughout the years,” he said. “People that have done so many good things, I’ve gotten to be a part of so many projects through fighters.”

Since his retirement, Griffin has worked as an ambassador with numerous UFC partnerships with local charities such as Boys Town Nevada, Boys & Girls Clubs, St. Baldrick’s Foundation, The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, and Three Square Food Bank, where he currently serves as a member of the board of directors.

The Forrest Griffin Community Award will be presented annually during International Fight Week. The inaugural winner of this award will announced soon and will be honored during the 2020 UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which will take place on July 9 at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

The winner of the award will receive a $25,000 donation in their name to the charity of their choosing.

Griffin is excited to be part of the selection process.

“Yeah, I’ll get to help select and I’ll get to hand it to somebody that’s some amazingly deserving and honorable person,” Griffin said. “And that’s really exciting to kind of get to give that to somebody. That’s pretty cool.”

Griffin hopes the Forrest Griffin Community Award not only inspires fighters to do good things for their communities, but also encourages fighters who are currently doing charity work to shine on their efforts.

“I certainly want everybody that fights on the UFC roster to hear about it and think, ‘Hey, you know what? I’m already doing some good things. Maybe I should bring some more light to them.’” Griffin said. “If you think about athletes in general, they really do a lot of great stuff because a lot of them come from different backgrounds where they’ve experienced a problem and then you have a little bit of money and a platform do something about it. That’s what good people do.