Tyson Griffin to featherweight

Although currently sidelined by a knee injury, former UFC lightweight contender Tyson Griffin has some big plans for his return to the cage: a drop in weight class.

The move to featherweight likely will come later this year.

Griffin (14-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) recently announced the plans via his official website, www.tysongriffin.com.

The Xtreme Couture fighter splashed onto the UFC scene in 2006 and won seven of his first nine fights, and the lone losses came to current champ Frankie Edgar and former titleholder Sean Sherk. He also picked up a staggering five "Fight of the Night" bonuses and a "Submission of the Night" award in the process.

But a November split-decision defeat to Nik Lentz resulted in his third consecutive loss, and he's been on the shelf ever since.

"It's going to be a little bit longer before I can commit to a fight," Griffin said in his video update. "I had been having some problems with my knee. I decided to get an MRI and found some tears in my meniscus. I decided to get those cleaned out.

"It's going to be a few weeks weeks before I can put my knee to the test to make sure things are good to go and commit to a fight."

But when he does return, it'll be in a new weight class, which the UFC adopted following its recent merger with the WEC. Featherweight champion Jose Aldo currently rules the division and has an upcoming UFC 130 title fight with Mark Hominick.

The field is thin after Hominick, and if Griffin can find his previous form, the seemingly undersized lightweight could be a factor.

"I've got some big plans for 2011, and unfortunately, they're put on hold for now," Griffin said. "But those plans are to move to 145 and make a run for that belt. So you can see me in that new weight class hopefully looking stronger and better than ever."