THE CANADIAN PRESS
LAS VEGAS — Josh (The Fluke) Grispi has trained for three opponents in advance of UFC 125, seeing a title fight drop off the board due to an injury to featherweight champion Jose Aldo.
The 22-year-old from Plympton, just outside Boston, started preparing for a bout against Erik Koch at WEC 52 on Nov. 11. He was then pulled from the card for a high-profile matchup with Aldo on UFC 125. And when Aldo dropped out with a back problem, he was finally paired with Dustin (The Diamond) Poirier on Saturday’s card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena (available on pay-per-view).
"Definitely a mental roller-coaster," said Grispi.
The young featherweight typically finds the positive in the situation.
"I was training so hard, I was getting really ready," he said. "I trained for five five-minute rounds (for the championship bout) so now that I’m back to three five-minute rounds, it’s kind of relieving, it’s cool."
And Grispi, who started training in MMA at 13 and made his pro debut at age 17, still gets to fight in the UFC.
"It’s awesome. I mean it’s what I’ve dreamed about since I was a little kid."
A win won’t get Grispi the immediate title shot, however. UFC president Dana White said Wednesday another fight was in the works for Aldo.
In Poirier, Grispi has a first — a younger opponent. Grispi turned 22 on Oct. 14 while Poirier will celebrate his 22nd birthday Jan. 9.
Despite their tender years, both fighters have enjoyed rapid success.
Grispi (14-1) has won 10 straight, finishing nine of them in the first round, and went 4-0 in the WEC with victories over Canadian Mark Hominick, Micah Miller, Jens Pulver and L.C. Davis.
Poirier (8-1) has six first-round finishes. He lost his WEC debut to Danny Castillo by decision before bouncing back to stop Zachary Micklewright by TKO in 53 seconds Nov. 11.
Poirier, who made his pro debut in May 2009, fights for the first time as a featherweight (145 pounds) after moving down from lightweight (155).
In Grispi, he faces a tall, resilient opponent whose family has taught him the value of a hard day’s work.
Grispi’s father and grandfather own a roofing company and Josh regularly works alongside them, when not finishing off fight camps.
So does fighting beat roofing?
"Oh my gosh, yes," Grispi says quickly. "I’d rather get punched in the face than roof. It’s that much better.
"Roofing’s tough man. You’re always out there in the elements and you’ve got to get it done. That’s where I think I get a lot of my work ethic from. My dad, he gets up early, always working, a hard worker his whole life. Roofing with him and working with him and seeing how hard he works, it makes me want to work hard when I’m fighting, make him proud."
Grispi’s dad was instrumental in getting Josh started in the sport. He was taking Josh’s little brother to play paintball when he noticed a nearby MMA gym. He checked it out and soon Josh was training there in a bid to funnel some of his aggression.
"As soon as I learned my first moves it was like ‘Oh my God, I love this.’ It was awesome," Grispi recalled.
He entered some grappling tournaments then had his first pro fight at 17 in September 2006, after his parents signed a waiver form. Grispi won in 18 seconds.
Two more first-round stoppages followed before Grispi was signed to meet Eddie Felix, who suggested Grispi might be in for a reality check following some "fluke" victories.
A nickname was born.
Grispi’s coaches billed him as The Fluke "just to kind of mess with him and I ended up beating him in 30 seconds (49, actually) and it just kind of stuck with me since then."
Asked about his talent for quick finishes, Grispi says things just click in the cage for him.
"I feel like I’m blessed in this aspect. I think I just can see things differently or quicker. Everything slows down for me when I’m in there," he explained, adding he has worked on perfecting certain moves since he was 13.
Despite his success at a young age, Grispi has had to overcome adversity.
After defeating Miller in August 2008, he suffered a serious injury when he landed on his neck in training.
He saw a white flash and knew instantly something was wrong. "I couldn’t pick up my arm, I couldn’t breathe good."
"It was scary. … It was so quick and sudden, it freaked me out," he added.
He went from the gym to the doctor to learn he had torn his pectoral muscle and cartilage in his ribs, had two bulging discs in his neck and one in his back, not to mention fluid in his lungs because he had hit the ground so hard.
"I couldn’t cough, I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t pick up anything," he said of his rehab.
"It was basically like getting in a car accident," he added.
Rest and rehab finally restored Grispi, who needed just 33 seconds to stop Pulver 10 months later.
But that June 2009 win shed light on another problem — a nagging ankle injury that Grispi could not longer ignore.
"I couldn’t go down the stairs without turning my foot a certain way. I would go down sideways." Grispi recalled of the days leading up to the Pulver fight. "I was like ‘Oh my God I’m going to fight the elite of the 145-pounders and I’m walking around limping. I’ve got to get this fixed.’ "
Post-fight surgery showed a torn tendon and ligaments, inflammation, bone chip and calcium deposits.
Grispi was out for a year, returning in June to defeat Davis in two minutes 33 seconds.
Pre-fight nerves at the layoff disappeared when Grispi finally set foot in the cage.
"Usually I just go in there guns blazing and try to kill the guy but I felt more relaxed," he said.
The five-foot-11 Grispi, who normally walks around at 173-175 pounds, sees the 5-9 Poirier as a good test.
"He’s a tough kid really durable. He’s not afraid to get in there, obviously he has no fear yet," he said. "He’s good all-round. He talks a lot I hear, from the videos and stuff I heard. But I’m not really much on talking crap. I usually do more of my talking in the ring, so I just let that go. But he’s a good opponent, he’s a tough kid. He’s never really been finished, so I want to look to finish him."
Grispi’s one loss was by submission to Henrique Bilcalho in December 2006.
Grispi was 4-0 at the time and thought he was "unstoppable."
He took the bout on three days notice, cutting weight to 145 pounds and having to fight same day as the weigh-in "which is horrible and I just had no energy. And after I lost it was like the worst feeling in the word. I was like ‘I will never lose again.’ And I started training super-hard."
In the past, he might tap out in training in the gym. "Now I don’t," he said.
"You put the time in, good things will happen," he added.
