Griffin prefers quick win over another UFC bonus

Tyson Griffin’s name has never been on an Ultimate Fighting Championship marquee. That hasn’t stopped the diminutive Las Vegan from stealing a few shows.

Standing only 5 feet 6 inches, the 25-year-old lightweight has earned the UFC’s “Fight of the Night” bonus five times in his last seven bouts with the organization.

Griffin attempts to take home another bonus tonight when he faces Hermes Franca of Brazil at UFC 103 in Dallas, but he’s perfectly willing to let someone else on the card have the money for putting on the best fight.

Griffin has his eyes set on a different award.

“Most ‘Fights of the Night’ mean it goes to a decision,” said Griffin, who has gone the distance in his last seven bouts. “I want to get the finish. I want to dominate guys more convincingly.

“Yeah, the dominating ‘Fights of the Night’ are great, but the ones that are razor thin aren’t so good. As a fighter, personally, I wish I could have ‘Knockout of the Night’ or ‘Submission of the Night’ sometimes as opposed to ‘Fight of the Night.’ “

In the end, he says only one thing matters to him.

“I can only ask that I get the ‘W,’ ” said Griffin, 6-2 in UFC. “That’s what I work for. I train hard to win. However I win, I really don’t care.”

A victory over Franca would be a big step in Griffin’s career, even though the Brazilian is on the downside. Franca, 35, has gone through a tumultuous stretch since losing to Sean Sherk in a bid for the lightweight title in July 2007.

Since then Franca tested positive for steroids and served a one-year suspension. He lost in his return to competition, then snapped his losing skid by beating Marcus Aurelio in October. Then he suffered another setback, tearing a ligament in his right knee.

Perhaps still feeling the effects of the injury, Franca missed weight by 4 pounds. His camp anticipated the situation and reached agreement with Griffin’s camp to fight at a 159-pound catch weight, but Franca wasn’t the only fighter with weight issues Friday.

Efrain Escudero missed by a pound before returning later to make weight for his lightweight showdown against Cole Miller. Main event fighter Vitor Belfort three times fell a quarter-pound short of hitting the 195-pound catch weight to fight Rich Franklin. Belfort finally returned and hit the mark.

Belfort, who trained in Las Vegas, is making his UFC return after more than four years away from the organization. The former light heavyweight champion was supposed to fight on the canceled Affliction card that was scheduled for Aug. 1.

“It was kind of hard because you put a lot of work into that fight,” Belfort said last week. “You try to peak yourself and then try to figure out how to peak again. But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

Also, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic takes on Junior dos Santos and Martin Kampmann meets debuting fighter Paul Daley in a welterweight bout.

Kampmann was to face Mike Swick in a No. 1 contender bout, but Swick was forced off the card because of a concussion suffered during training. Another welterweight bout has Josh Koscheck squaring off with Frank Trigg.

The card is a test for the organization as it goes head to head on pay per view against a major boxing event.

“We’re on the same night, but we’ll see what happens Monday when they tally up the pay per views” UFC president Dana White said Thursday. “I don’t think it’s a good thing, but here we are.”

“DVR it,” he joked about catching the boxing card after the UFC card is complete.

Still, White downplayed the significance of the showdown.

“People like to start this war between the UFC and boxing. Here’s the reality: No matter what happens (tonight), boxing is in trouble,” he said. “The UFC continues to grow every year. We’re up from where we were last year in this horrible economy. We’re going to kick (boxing’s) ass.”

Starting at 6 p.m., before the pay-per-view bouts, the UFC will air two preliminaries live on Spike TV (Cable 29) for the first time. The pay-per-view broadcast begins at 7.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@ reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.