Jardine Vs. Griffin UFC 66

At the end of this clip, you can see Forrest Griffin overcome with emotion as he is seen weeping openly out loud immediately after the fight was called in Jardine's favor due to a knockout from a flurry of strikes.

Now, Forrest is a tough guy and former police officer from Macon, Georgia who just missed out on his chance to take a stab at contending for the Light Heavyweight belt this year. He looked to be the next in line to fight Chuck Liddell and that fight would have set Forrest on his way to financial health, win or lose.

You see, these fighters do not fight for hobby as I write about fighting for hobby. They don't have day jobs that distract them from their MMA training so they need to be successful in the ring, cage or octagon in order to keep a roof over their heads and food in their bellies.

MMA fighters are amongst the lowest paid professional athletes in North America. It isn't unheard of for an unknown fighter to go the distance (3-5 minute rounds in UFC), lose by way of split decision, then collect their $2000 check, never to be heard from again in the big leagues like UFC & Pride.

Poor Forrest, literally... he received $16,000 to fight with no win bonus. That's it. For some, that appears to be a good chunk of change however, you need to factor in that these fighters generally fight once every 3-4 months, they have trainers to be paid, dietary supplements to buy and of course as mentioned, rent and food along with the IRS' take from that as well.

Forrest had everything to cry for because he suffered his second loss in a row which, is the kiss of death in the UFC... just ask David "The Crow" Loiseau who's contract was cancelled and unceremoniously ousted from the spectacle that is the UFC.

This embarrassment of losing and potentially being dropped from the UFC with one more loss to his record must have been in Forrest's mind when be literally sprinted out of the building after having a good cry in the ring.

I am sure that we haven't seen the last of Forrest Griffin, and he has learned that he is not invincible to the knockout so expect a very changed and highly focused fighter when we see him next as Forrest Griffin 2.0 or will he fly away just like The Crow.