Back 
![<p><b>FORREST GRIFFIN </b></p> <p><b>BEST KNOWN AS: </b> The winner on the first season of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter, which aired in 2006</p> <p><b>WHAT HE'S DONE SINCE: </b> </p> <p>Mr. Griffin has become one of the more popular and successful fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) stable. In July 2008 he beat Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to become UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and lost the belt in December 2008 to Rashad Evans. Mr. Griffin's most recent bout, held in late November, led to a split-decision victory over Tito Ortiz. He is also the author of Got Fight: 50 Zen Principles of Hand-to-Face Combat, and appeared on the cover of the UFC Undisputed video game.</p> Michael Holahan/Staff](http://chronicle.augusta.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/editorial/images/spotted/83/832947.jpg "<p><b>FORREST GRIFFIN </b></p> <p><b>BEST KNOWN AS: </b> The winner on the first season of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter, which aired in 2006</p> <p><b>WHAT HE'S DONE SINCE: </b> </p> <p>Mr. Griffin has become one of the more popular and successful fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) stable. In July 2008 he beat Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to become UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and lost the belt in December 2008 to Rashad Evans. Mr. Griffin's most recent bout, held in late November, led to a split-decision victory over Tito Ortiz. He is also the author of Got Fight: 50 Zen Principles of Hand-to-Face Combat, and appeared on the cover of the UFC Undisputed video game.</p> Michael Holahan/Staff")
![<p><b>FORREST GRIFFIN </b></p> <p><b>BEST KNOWN AS: </b> The winner on the first season of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter, which aired in 2006</p> <p><b>WHAT HE'S DONE SINCE: </b> </p> <p>Mr. Griffin has become one of the more popular and successful fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) stable. In July 2008 he beat Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to become UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and lost the belt in December 2008 to Rashad Evans. Mr. Griffin's most recent bout, held in late November, led to a split-decision victory over Tito Ortiz. He is also the author of Got Fight: 50 Zen Principles of Hand-to-Face Combat, and appeared on the cover of the UFC Undisputed video game.</p> Michael Holahan/Staff](http://chronicle.augusta.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/editorial/images/spotted/83/832910.jpg "<p><b>FORREST GRIFFIN </b></p> <p><b>BEST KNOWN AS: </b> The winner on the first season of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter, which aired in 2006</p> <p><b>WHAT HE'S DONE SINCE: </b> </p> <p>Mr. Griffin has become one of the more popular and successful fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) stable. In July 2008 he beat Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to become UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and lost the belt in December 2008 to Rashad Evans. Mr. Griffin's most recent bout, held in late November, led to a split-decision victory over Tito Ortiz. He is also the author of Got Fight: 50 Zen Principles of Hand-to-Face Combat, and appeared on the cover of the UFC Undisputed video game.</p> Michael Holahan/Staff")
Congrats to another Augustan who has done well! He sounds like a wonderful person, too. I'm certain his mother and grandmother would be very proud of his success. Look forward to seeing the movie!
Former Augusta resident Quinton Aaron is 6-foot-8, and tips the scales at around 300 pounds. For most of his acting career, his size has limited his choice of roles. With The Blind Side , the football-and-family film that topped the box office charts last week, Mr. Aaron felt like he was the only choice.
Fortunately, the producers agreed.
Mr. Aaron was the first actor cast, chosen to play Michael Oher, an Ole Miss football standout and rookie tackle with the Baltimore Ravens. Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw were cast later and play Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, the Memphis couple who took Mr. Oher in.
Quiet and careful with his words, Mr. Aaron acknowledged that Mr. Oher's personality, history and imposing physical presence were similar to his own.
"I'm a lot like that guy," he said in a recent telephone interview. "Really, I was just being myself. This was a role where I didn't really want to show people that I was an amazing actor. What I wanted to do was tell this story. I felt like it was made for me."
Like Mr. Oher, Mr. Aaron has a high school football background, although he admits his single semester career at the Academy of Richmond County was far less spectacular than the person he portrays.
"It really wasn't something I was interested in," he said. "I did it because I was one of the biggest kids in the school, but what I really wanted to do was sing and act. I mean, I hated running. Hated it. I was the least athletic person on the team. I'm more athletic now. Now, I could tear that football field up."
Although justifiably proud of The Blind Side's success, Mr. Aaron said he didn't approach the film with the idea that it was destined to become a box office hit. He felt like his connection to the character was more than enough to warrant his participation.
"To be honest, during the process, the last thing on my mind was the success of this movie," he said. "What I thought was that it was a privilege to do it. It was an amazing chance for me."
The frosting, Mr. Aaron said, was being able to shoot in Atlanta, a short drive from home and family in Augusta.
"The hard part was the two most important women in my life, my mother and my grandmother, had passed," he said. "But I still had that sense of home and family. That was nice because I did get homesick sometimes."
Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.
RECOGNIZE THESE AUGUSTA CELEBRITIES?
LADY ANTEBELLUM
BEST KNOW FOR: Its chart-topping debut album
WHAT IT'S DONE SINCE: In the past 18 months the trio, which features Augusta talents Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, has seen its eponymous first release go platinum, snagged Grammy nominations for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best Country Song; and made history as the first country group to crack Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart since the Dixie Chicks in 2007. The band will release its second album, Need You Now, on Jan. 26.
DEAD CONFEDERATE
BEST KNOWN AS: The brooding noise rock band once known as Redbelly
WHAT IT'S DONE SINCE: Dead Confederate released its debut album, Wrecking Ball, in 2008, and was named a Rolling Stone magazine Artist to Watch the same year. Since then, Dead Confederate have become the band most likely to be found on the road, touring consistently, including high-profile stints with Dinosaur Jr., Drive-By Truckers and the Meat Puppets. In November the band announced plans to release a live EP, entitled Dirty Ammo.
KATHRYN MCCORMICK
BEST KNOWN AS: A contestant on the current season of So You Think You Can Dance?
WHAT SHE'S DONE SINCE: Tuesday night Miss McCormick cha-chaed her way into the series finals. She'll dance for the $250,000 grand prize next Tuesday.
JOSH KELLEY
BEST KNOWN FOR: His breakout 2003 album, For The Ride Home
WHAT HE'S DONE SINCE: Mr. Kelley has built a dedicated fan base by steadily releasing well-produced pop-rock records liberally dosed with big love ballads. After the release of his second album, 2005's Almost Honest, Mr. Kelley left major label Hollywood Records and eventually started his own imprint, DNK Records. He is married to actress Katherine Heigl.
KEITH ROBINSON
BEST KNOWN AS: The Green Power Ranger and C.C. White in the Oscar-nominated movie Dreamgirls
WHAT HE'S DONE SINCE: Mr. Robinson has appeared on television in episodes of Comanche Moon, Canterbury's Law and Monk. In the next year he has three films -- Dear John, Caught on Tape and Hopelessly In June, scheduled for release. He's also been working on an R&B album.
DANA ANDREWS
BEST KNOW AS: A contestant on the 2006 reality show Rock Star: Supernova
WHAT SHE'S DONE SINCE: After being eliminated in the fifth week of the competition, Ms. Andrews returned home and reconnected with her band Everything After, based out of Columbia. The band spent a few years as a regional touring act and released The Lamp Store Sessions EP in 2007. Last word on Ms. Andrews was that she had, in true rock star fashion, headed for the coast and is now in Los Angeles shopping a new version of Everything After.
FORREST GRIFFIN
BEST KNOWN AS: The winner on the first season of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter, which aired in 2006
WHAT HE'S DONE SINCE:
Mr. Griffin has become one of the more popular and successful fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) stable. In July 2008 he beat Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to become UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and lost the belt in December 2008 to Rashad Evans. Mr. Griffin's most recent bout, held in late November, led to a split-decision victory over Tito Ortiz. He is also the author of Got Fight: 50 Zen Principles of Hand-to-Face Combat, and appeared on the cover of the UFC Undisputed video game.
Comments
Congrats to another Augustan who has done well! He sounds like a wonderful person, too. I'm certain his mother and grandmother would be very proud of his success. Look forward to seeing the movie!
What you haven't seen the movie, OMG I went on Opening day, this is a must see movie, so is Precious staring Monique. He played his part pretty good, so did Sandra, but I don't like her as a blonde LOL.
not really, do you want to explain this to justus4?
i believe the movie was based on a true story, justus4?
justus4, you are such a racist little pig. They went with a true story. I'm sure Mr. Aaron had no problem with having a white family. He was going with the real story. You are racist and ignorant. The movie is a heart warming true story to show that whites and blacks can love and get along with each other. As for you, I see that won;t happen.
Quinton's performance was just wonderful. What a great movie!!
justas what a maroon you are.....an ignorant one at that... true story dummy. Which by the way just disputed everything you spewed out at 8:03...lol... yes indeed it is a Great Country !!!!
Justus it is a true story. Michael Oher was for all intensive purposes was homeless. He jumped from home to home, until the Tuohys asked him to stay. Please don't jump to conclusions, no one is trying to make any minority population feel bad. The movie is about his incredible story and how he overcame adversity to become successful and educated man. He was helped my a myriad of KIND people some of which happened to be white. Individuals who focus on trivial details such as race or religion only cheapen stories of human compassion.
I saw the movie and it was one of the best movies I have seen in a while. Mr. Aaron I wish you the best and hope to see you on the screen again. Best wishes on your continued success.
What about terri Gibbs also????????????????????????
Sheeple, while this is a "feel good movie" and Lord knows we need something to feel good about, the truth of this story is far more intriguing. It has multi-millionaire trust fund babies, star athlete and cheerleader romance, an all white private school in need of a giant football player, NCAA investigation at OLE Miss for "alumni infractions", "good ole Memphis politics", tutoring that suddenly brings a 0.4 GPA to 3.4 GPA, magnanimous rich southern white folk with the most divine of motives.
In the sequel, the Deekster will replace Tim McGraw and Mrs. Mayor Boob Young will replace Sandra Bullock. Champ Walker will replace Michael Oher.
lol it is a true story but i do agree with justus on this one. a lot of movies cast minorities in some downtrodden, sob, pathetic situation but alas! here comes some fast-talking, sassy home style white woman/man to save the day. quick -- if you're under the age of 30, i bet you can think of about 10 movies like this off the top of your head. there have been many articles on this subject especially since Precious has been released. not yelling racism here but you have to wonder. or maybe some of you dont and would rather not... but i do. just saying that he's not alone in his feelings regarding these type of movies.
lol@deekster
Justus, your an idiot , this is a true story.
justus and waugusta....it's because your "minorities" wouldn't take a "non-minority" person in and help them better themselves. they would want to keep him down. let's be honest here. would either one of you take in a non-minority? i think not. so before you start ranting about something, dig down deep and ask yourself if your feelings are just as racist as what you feel you are protesting.
"Why couldn't the boy have a Black family that nurtured his growth and produce the same results? " I don't know, Justnuts, why don't you fill us in on that, since it's based on a true story? Maybe the reason why this country is crumbling is because of people like you- that think that torturing a child is minor and that 17 felony charges for torturing that child is "excessive"
Good for him.
Justus does this just to get us going. This is a true story, so his comments don't even really make any sense if you think about it. People, just ignore everything Justus says and maybe "it" will go away. I haven't seen the movie yet but I saw a background thing on it and it showed the real Tuohy's and I can't wait to see it.
This young man is only attended ARC for one semester. He attended Glenn Hills High School and graduated in 2003. He came to visit some of his former teachers last week. Why wasn't this mentioned in the article? Justus did you want them to change the story to be about a black family? How about change Malcolm X to Mickey Blue Eyes?!? Makes about the same amount of sense.
Do you suppose Justnuts will offer the same post when the movie of Barack Obama's life is made? Oops, forgot. That'll be a work of fiction, just like his administration. My congrats to Mr. Aaron, and Mr Oher, who is truly an inspiration to all.
What Just Nuts4 really meant was:"another example of the non minority media trying to put you know who in a bad light. I will not rest untill I fill this world with paranoia, dislexia and chaos. I will chain myself to a tree and go on a hunger strike until this article is removed"
Justus is justus as ignorant and abrasive as anyone I've ever known. Why do we even bother to respond to his comments??
CORRECTION: Justus is justus ignorant...etc
minority groups of people that love each other survive well in this world. Those who don't; struggle. Love is the key. There are plenty of minority groups and some of those used to be slaves also. The question becomes why some make and some dont; the difference is love and caring for each other.
what does Terri Gibbs have to do with these young people of today? We are not talking grandparents here, Ooookay ??
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
