UFC 202’s Griffin was considering retirement before ‘UFC swooped in at the nick of time’

Max Griffin has had a long road to the UFC. The Sacramento, Calif., native has had to have more fights on the local scene than other UFC hopefuls to earn a contract with the leading mixed martial arts organization. But that’s because he has had a couple setbacks along the way, including a loss in the opening round of The Ultimate Fighter 16 in 2012.

He’s finally made it now though. He’s racked up a large amount of wins, enough to gain enough interest from the UFC brass to be signed. His goal has been accomplished.

Griffin makes his promotional debut against Colby Covington at UFC 202, which goes down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas next week, and is headlined by Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor II.

Griffin may look back at his fighting career one day and view his UFC signing as a career-saver, because the welterweight fighter was on the verge of retiring after his latest win — a quick stoppage over UFC veteran David Mitchell at West Coast FC 16 in January.

“I’ve dedicated 18 years of my life to martial arts in general,” Griffin told BloodyElbow.com’s The MMA Circus. “I actually almost thought about hanging it up. I took over the West Coast, got the King of Sacramento win; I have all the titles, number one in the region for years. I just need an avenue to show my skills. It would’ve been a hard thing to do. I felt like I had nothing more to prove.

“I know my talent level, I know how good I am and what I can do. I just need the chance to …

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