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.
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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