Ortiz, Griffin Official for UFC 106
Brian Knapp Nov 20, 2009
A rematch more than three years in the making moved one step closer
to being realized, as former UFC light heavyweight champions
Tito
Ortiz and Forrest
Griffin tipped the scales.
Sporting a black right eye, Ortiz checked in at 204 pounds for his showdown with Griffin (205) in the UFC 106 “Ortiz vs. Griffin 2” featured bout this Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. None of the 18 other men on the card -- including co-headliners Josh Koscheck (171) and Anthony Johnson (170) -- had issues meeting their contracted weights at Friday’s official weigh-in.
Ortiz, who turns 35 in January, took a controversial split decision
from Griffin the first time the two met at UFC 59 in April
2006.
Now 13 months removed from back surgery, Ortiz has not competed since he dropped a unanimous decision to reigning light heavyweight king Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 in May 2008. Though he was dominated for much of the match, he nearly submitted the unbeaten Brazilian with a third-round triangle choke, reminding his detractors that he remains a viable threat at 205 pounds.
Once front and center in the UFC, Ortiz has not won a fight since he stopped UFC hall of famer Ken Shamrock on strikes nearly three years ago. Still, the flamboyant Californian counts victories against Brazilian legend Wanderlei Silva, one-time International Fight League champion Vladimir Matyushenko and former UFC titleholders Vitor Belfort and Evan Tanner among his 15 career wins. Five of Ortiz’s six career defeats have come to current or former UFC champions.
After back-to-back wins over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Griffin stalled. He relinquished the UFC light heavyweight crown to Rashad Evans in December and suffered an embarrassing knockout loss to middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva at UFC 101 three months ago. Based out of Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts in Las Vegas, the 30-year-old Griffin had never before lost consecutive fights.
Koscheck, one of the world’s top five welterweights, last appeared in September when he smashed through former Icon Sport champion Frank Trigg at UFC 103. One of the most physically gifted athletes on the UFC roster, Johnson needed just 41 seconds to dispatch Yoshiyuki Yoshida last month. However, the win was overshadowed by the fact that he entered the bout six pounds overweight.
UFC 106 “Ortiz vs. Griffin 2
Saturday, Nov. 21
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas
Tito Ortiz (204) vs. Forrest Griffin (205)
Josh Koscheck (171) vs. Anthony Johnson (170)
Paulo Thiago (169) vs. Jacob Volkmann (170)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (205) vs. Luis Arthur Cane (205)
Amir Sadollah (170) vs. Phil Baroni (170)
Marcus Davis (170) vs. Ben Saunders (170)
Kendall Grove (186) vs. Jake Rosholt (185.5)
Brock Larson (171) vs. Brian Foster (171)
Caol Uno (155.5) vs. Fabricio Camoes (155.5)
George Sotiropoulos (155) vs. Jason Dent (155)
Sporting a black right eye, Ortiz checked in at 204 pounds for his showdown with Griffin (205) in the UFC 106 “Ortiz vs. Griffin 2” featured bout this Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. None of the 18 other men on the card -- including co-headliners Josh Koscheck (171) and Anthony Johnson (170) -- had issues meeting their contracted weights at Friday’s official weigh-in.
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Now 13 months removed from back surgery, Ortiz has not competed since he dropped a unanimous decision to reigning light heavyweight king Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 in May 2008. Though he was dominated for much of the match, he nearly submitted the unbeaten Brazilian with a third-round triangle choke, reminding his detractors that he remains a viable threat at 205 pounds.
Once front and center in the UFC, Ortiz has not won a fight since he stopped UFC hall of famer Ken Shamrock on strikes nearly three years ago. Still, the flamboyant Californian counts victories against Brazilian legend Wanderlei Silva, one-time International Fight League champion Vladimir Matyushenko and former UFC titleholders Vitor Belfort and Evan Tanner among his 15 career wins. Five of Ortiz’s six career defeats have come to current or former UFC champions.
After back-to-back wins over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Griffin stalled. He relinquished the UFC light heavyweight crown to Rashad Evans in December and suffered an embarrassing knockout loss to middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva at UFC 101 three months ago. Based out of Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts in Las Vegas, the 30-year-old Griffin had never before lost consecutive fights.
Koscheck, one of the world’s top five welterweights, last appeared in September when he smashed through former Icon Sport champion Frank Trigg at UFC 103. One of the most physically gifted athletes on the UFC roster, Johnson needed just 41 seconds to dispatch Yoshiyuki Yoshida last month. However, the win was overshadowed by the fact that he entered the bout six pounds overweight.
UFC 106 “Ortiz vs. Griffin 2
Saturday, Nov. 21
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas
Tito Ortiz (204) vs. Forrest Griffin (205)
Josh Koscheck (171) vs. Anthony Johnson (170)
Paulo Thiago (169) vs. Jacob Volkmann (170)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (205) vs. Luis Arthur Cane (205)
Amir Sadollah (170) vs. Phil Baroni (170)
Marcus Davis (170) vs. Ben Saunders (170)
Kendall Grove (186) vs. Jake Rosholt (185.5)
Brock Larson (171) vs. Brian Foster (171)
Caol Uno (155.5) vs. Fabricio Camoes (155.5)
George Sotiropoulos (155) vs. Jason Dent (155)
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