In The News: Tyson Griffin Gets A Kick Out Of MMA

Mary Griffin has seen the transformation. She has watched her mild-mannered son, Tyson Griffin enter the mixed martial arts cage and turn into a guy looking to wreak havoc upon his opponent.

"He is just the sweetest, nicest person," said Mary Griffin, whose son is a former baseball, football and wrestling star at Albany High School. "For him to become a big, mean fighter is different for me."

She gets another chance to see Tyson tonight when he faces Denver's Duane Ludwig at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. The Griffin-Ludwig lightweight bout is one of 10 on the card.

Although he isn't the top-billed fighter, the 22-year-old Griffin is headed in that direction, especially if he handles Ludwig.

To that end, Griffin must check his sweet temperament at the door.

"In high school, I never wanted to fight and I didn't consider myself a fighter," he said. "Now I consider myself a little pit bull. I literally go in there trying to kill the guy. I have to knock the guy out, choke him, take it to the extreme. This is a great sport because you can let all of your stress and frustrations go."

Griffin, who was honored as one of the Times' top 100 high school athletes just before his graduation in 2002, took his career at Albany High to the extreme.

He had his most success on the wrestling mat, placing fifth as a 142-pounder in the North Coast Section as a junior year and second in his senior season. He also was a third baseman on the Cougars' 2002 Bay Shore Athletic League champion in baseball, and a two-way player on a football team that had little success.

Despite his personal success, he wasn't recruited. Instead, he enrolled at Santa Rosa Junior College to wrestle, but he became disenchanted with the junior college scene.

He got a job working construction and figured his athletic career was over.

"I was out of shape and fat," he said. "Then I heard about this Jiu-Jitsu place."

Griffin started to visit Nor Cal Fighting Alliance in Santa Rosa. He discovered mixed martial arts, along with instructor David Terrell, a top mixed martial arts athlete and a disciple of Pleasant Hill Jiu-Jitsu master Cesar Gracie.

"Of anyone I've ever coached, Tyson has the most incredible talent," said Terrell, who himself has a 10-2 record in mixed martial arts action. "He is very strong, fast and mentally tough. He is a technically superior fighter. He hasn't been training that long, only about three years, but he is like a sponge. He has absorbed a lot of knowledge."

Terrell talked Griffin into getting serious about the sport.

"He looked at how good I was getting and how quickly I was doing it," Griffin said. "He told me the money was getting better and that I could make a living. I always had wanted to be a professional athlete and I had almost given up on sports. So I fell back into it."

His first couple of years in the sport weren't easy. He made $400 for his first fight, but the promise of big paydays in the future didn't pay his bills.

"Twice I stopped and went back to work," said Griffin, who still lives in Santa Rosa. "I worked at a flower stand and later I got a job doing construction."

He kept returning to the gym and the wins kept coming. Now it appears he is on the verge of making serious money. He said his paycheck tonight will be in the "very low" five figures.

"I'm fighting a guy who is an experienced K-1 and UFC fighter," Griffin said. "But it's fights like these that gets my name out there."

Griffin's extensive athletic background has served him well in the mixed martial arts, but one particular talent has allowed him to blossom as a potential star.

"If you are going to be in this sport, you have to like getting punched in the face," Griffin said. "You have to have that mentality. When I fought Urijah Faber (a former All-America wrestler at UC Davis), my mentality was to punch him. Wrestlers aren't used to getting punched in the face. It takes away from their game because they aren't used to it."

Faber was unbeaten at the time, so Griffin's TKO win last Sept. 10 has created more opportunities.

Tonight's fight could move him even higher in terms of profile and earning potential.

Terrell expects Griffin to reach his potential.

"Some people were born to be basketball players," Terrell said. "He was born to be a fighter."

His mom isn't sure he was born to be a fighter, but she is comfortable seeing him in the ring.

"She doesn't like the blood, though, and she doesn't like the joint manipulation," Tyson Griffin said.

Mary Griffin said she had a worse time watching Tyson play goalie in ice hockey. "You've got to be crazy to let people shoot pucks at you," she said.