NoDQ.com > UFC > Article: Joe Riggs Grows Up Posted by Aaron Rift on 05/17/2006 at 04:58 PM
Joe Riggs Grows Up
By Thomas Gerbasi
With over 30 fights to his credit in his almost five-year mixed martial arts career, it’s sometimes hard to remember that UFC contender Joe Riggs is just 23 years old, and still trying to get his bearings in a game that can put you in the ‘also ran’ bin in the time it takes to land a left hook or sink in a triangle choke.
But Riggs is doing all right for himself in the midst of the various storms that have popped up in his career, whether it was starting his career at 300 pounds and eventually moving to the welterweight limit of 170, losing three of four bouts during a stretch in 2002-2003, or not making weight for the biggest fight of his career against Matt Hughes and subsequently getting submitted in the first round.
The Arizona native is a survivor, and that was never more evident than in his February win over Nick Diaz, a bout in which Riggs had to overcome a first round knockdown to take a hard fought decision.
“I got knocked down in the first round and came back to win the fight, and that’s always a good way to look at it – winning in the face of adversity, that’s always a positive,” said Riggs, who returns to the Octagon in a middleweight bout at UFC 60 on May 27 against Mike Swick. “A lot of people said I lacked heart and wondered if I would crumble if things were stacked against me. I knew I had what it took, but stuff like that proved it to everybody.”
The fight also proved that Riggs could go a fast-paced three rounds against a top-flight opponent and not only survive, but do enough to win. Not bad for a guy who had never went the distance in the UFC, and hadn’t done so at all since he outpointed Joe Pardo in a Rage in The Cage show in 2002.
“I never had a war like that, been three rounds like that, never been knocked down in a fight like that and came back to win – there were a lot of firsts in that fight and it really helped me grow as a man and as a fighter,” said Riggs.
It wasn’t all positive though, as the pre and post fight period was marred by trash talking by both Riggs and Diaz that in a lot of ways took away from both fighters’ gritty performances. And while Riggs has never been one to shy away from a colorful quote, being on the receiving end of Diaz’ barbs made him see that pre-fight ritual in a new light.
“Trash talking is cool sometimes, but I think I’m past that, even in my career,” he admitted. “It’s fun sometimes because it gets things stirred up, but after it was done to me with Diaz over and over, I was like, ‘God, that’s useless.’ I guess it depends on the person. If you really don’t like the guy, you’ve got to obviously speak what’s on your mind, but if there’s nothing then you’re just going out there to do your business. Swick, I think he’s a nice guy and a great fighter, so there’s no trash talking, just a friendly fight.”
At least until the bell rings, and then most observers expect it to be bombs away between the two noted strikers.
“I think Mike’s a tough guy,” admits Riggs. “He’s got good standup, he’s real quick, and I think it’s gonna be a good challenge for me, a good fight, and a good win.”
See, he may not be talking trash, but he hasn’t lost an ounce of confidence, and rightfully so, as he’s won three of five UFC bouts, with the only losses coming to UFC welterweight champ Hughes and middleweight standout Ivan Salaverry. He’s also had a strong training camp in Utah with the trio of Jeremy Horn, Billy Rush, and Edwin Dewees, and at 185, he’s not stressing about a drastic weight cut, though he does plan on testing the welterweight waters again after the Swick bout.
“It’s my first fight back at 185 and my last – I’m heading back down,” he said. “I’m walking around right now at 191. My body adjusted to the weight for the Diaz fight, and I said, ‘well, I’ll lift weights and get big,’ but I want to fight Swick and go back down to 170.”
But if he wins on the 27th, wouldn’t he be enticed at making a run at the middleweight crown?
“I’ve got too many buddies at 185,” said Riggs. “Plus, they all get heavy and I don’t. I’m just better suited for 170.”
And while 185 is stacked with talent under division boss Rich Franklin, 170 may be even deeper. Riggs likes that type of challenge and he sees himself right in the mix at the top once he goes back down in weight.
“You’ve got the three studs in Matt (Hughes), BJ (Penn), and Georges St. Pierre, and then I stand right at the top of the heap under those guys – it’s me and Karo Parisyan, and Karo is a tough guy I’d like to test myself against to put myself back in title contention and see what’s happening,” said Riggs.
Sounds like a busy schedule to say the least; not a problem for ‘Diesel’, who finally got a three and a half month break after fighting in three consecutive pay-per-view shows (UFC 55, 56, 57).
“After I fought (Chris) Lytle (at UFC 55 – TKO2), I wanted to fight on the Hughes card (UFC 56), and then after that I was gonna take some time off, but I couldn’t sit on a loss,” said Riggs. “I would just sit home and stew on it, so I told them to put me right back in. They offered me Nick Thompson but I wanted to fight someone that was gonna do something for me, so I fought Diaz, who’s a tough guy.”
And with the win over Diaz, Joe Riggs got his career back on the upward swing and is finally able to breathe a bit, knowing that he can hang with the big boys in the UFC and be successful. It’s these little steps that will one day add up for the Arizonan and make him one of the most dangerous fighters in the game.
“I’m seasoned at a young age and I thank God for that,” said Riggs. “I’ve had a lot of fights, but Lord knows I could always use more experience; you can’t get enough of that, and all this is gonna help me mentally when I hit my physical prime. With each fight I get, that puts me more in my mental prime, and it’s all gonna come together when I hit my physical prime.”
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