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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The end of 2010 pulled featherweight Josh Grispi in a number of directions. Initially slated to meet Erik Koch at WEC 52, Grispi was pulled from that fight to get a shot at Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo at UFC 125 when the UFC announced the merger between the two organizations.
Then, when Aldo was forced out due to injury, Grispi took a fight with replacement opponent Dustin Poirier, dropping him from the co-main event to the night's unaired preliminary card. Grispi detailed some of his thoughts on the shake-ups in an interview this week with The Boston Herald.
"It's been crazy. It's been an emotional roller coaster," Grispi said. "I was excited for the title fight, but everything was going way too good to actually happen. And then it did. He got hurt. That stuff happens and you have to be ready for it."
Grispi faced some criticism for the decision to take a replacement fight instead of waiting for Aldo to recover, but Grispi said he didn't even consider waiting for that fight initially.
"I never really asked [to wait for Aldo]," Grispi said. "[The UFC] just said, 'Hey, do you want to fight this guy?' I said, 'I don't care, I'll fight anyone.' We thought about it afterward, but you can't pull out of a fight now and say, 'I only want to fight Aldo.' I think it will be good to get a fight in there and then fight Aldo with some momentum. I'm going to be here for a while. No matter what happens, I'm going to keep fighting and get a shot at the title eventually."
"I'm going in there to fight, not to put on a show or anything. I'm really just trying to try to hurt the guy on the other side of the cage. People see that and they like that."
Penick's Analysis: It's a shame this fight is on the unaired preliminary card right now, and I hope the UFC finds a way to get it on the broadcast. Grispi is a very deserving featherweight challenger, but another win under his belt wouldn't hurt. Poirier is extremely dangerous, and very much could win this fight, but I'd expect to see Grispi continue on the path he's been forging for himself in the WEC and now the UFC. The kid is very talented and one of the most dangerous challenges for anyone at 145 lbs.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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