UFC show excites ‘quiet jerk’ Griffin

Season seven of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s reality show, won’t begin airing until April, but filming began in Las Vegas last week.

Las Vegan Forrest Griffin and UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson will be the coaches for the two teams of middleweights.

The two will then meet each other for Jackson’s belt at the end of the season.

It will be the second season for Griffin, who shot to stardom by winning the season one title. This time, though, he doesn’t have to live in the house as one of the competitors.

“I won’t be in there, but I’ve got a little perspective as to what the guys are going though,” he said.

In addition to his exciting style, Griffin has become a fan favorite partly because of his outgoing personality and sense of humor. He doesn’t see it that way, however.

“Now that I’m a coach, people will realize that I don’t have that buoyant personality,” he said. “I’m actually more of a curmudgeon. I’m kind of a quiet jerk.”

Though Griffin will fight Jackson at season’s end, there doesn’t appear to be the same friction between them as there was throughout season six between rival coaches Matt Hughes and Matt Serra.

“Quinton seems like a real nice guy,” Griffin said. “The week of the fight, as it gets closer, I’m sure I’ll try to avoid him.”

Though he’s only been working with his team for a few days, Griffin expects this season’s cast to be strong.

“Everybody showed up and made weight and they all have a great attitude. If they can keep it up for six weeks, then it should be great,” he said.

Jackson, who established himself in Japan as part of the Pride Fighting Championships before joining the UFC last year, is looking at the show as an opportunity to further expose himself to American fans.

“It’s very important because as a fighter, you are all you’ve got. You have to market yourself,” he said.

• WEC CARD — For the first time since the UFC acquired World Extreme Cagefighting, the organization will hold an event outside of Las Vegas.

Carlos Condit will headline the card in his hometown of Albuquerque, N.M., on Feb. 13. He will defend his welterweight title against Carlo Prater in the main event of a card that features three championship bouts.

“It’s going to be an honor to fight in Albuquerque,” Condit said. “I think it’s really cool the WEC has used Las Vegas and especially the Hard Rock as its jumping-off point, but it’s great to see it continue to expand.

Rob McCullough will put up his lightweight belt against Jamie Varner and bantamweight champion Chase Beebe will take on Miguel Torres.

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