Franklin said Joe beat him up in training.
Hazelett (remember Mclovin?!) said rolling with him was like grappling a silverback.
Paulo Filho refused to fight him back when he was Paulo Fihlo.
Any guy who WORKS their way from 300lbs to Riggs' shape is due some respect.
I think guys on sherdog or the underground often forget that one of the reasons fighters don't have more illustrious careers is due to the constraints that fighting puts on one's personal life.
The guy has over 55 fights on his "official" mma record.
Remember the NHB days? Riggs does.
There were a ton of mma bouts back in AZ, NM, and CA back in the "dark days" of MMA.
Don't forget he was fighting way back when he was 17 in the Southwest and has uncredited fights like when he fought Faverus (in that weird K-1 hybrid match) and when he armlocked Jardine.
All the MMA bouts and the boxing bouts from when he was a kid are probably (of course i mean definitely) catching up to him.
Damarques Johnson used to joke around and say "it ain't the age of the vehicle that's in question, its the mileage."
Apply that to Riggs: guy is 31 and is a physical beast, but he's had a lot of wars as a young man.
We often read about injuries that fighters sustain in training.
Think about all the injuries you never hear about.
Sometimes fighters take long Periods of time off to lie low because injuries need to recuperate. During tlong time off it is not uncommon for an athlete to be secretive about the nature of an injury. Perhaps Joe had an injury of some kind, eh?
Personally I'd like to see Riggs grapple in Metamoris.
Perhaps there's a hash-smoking opponent lurking the streets of Stockton as we speak?
Sidenote-
Riggs is one of the kindest fighters you'll meet.
Humble as hell, too. Great with up and coming fighters.
He's at every UFC with Bendo and if you say hi to him he's a very cool guy.