In a year during which the featherweight division has played a pivotal role, perhaps it is fitting that the division's hottest prospect will close out 2009 as its top-ranked competitor.
At WEC 44, Jose Aldo took his game to yet another level in his fourth fight of the year. The native of Manaus ... Read More
They may have disagreed on the split decision, but Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin walked away with equal purses at UFC 106 last Saturday in Las Vegas, according to documents released Monday by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. ... Read More
If you believe Tito Ortiz’s post-fight confessional Saturday, it has become virtually impossible to defeat him without Ortiz starting the job himself. Cracked orbital, dislodged vertebrae, a washout training camp: one half-expected to see him wheeled out to the post-fight press conference in an iron lung.
In addition to obliterating his credibility, Ortiz’s admissions may have left some fans feeling downright defrauded: his main event with Forrest Griffin hinged on his claim that his back -- surgically repaired after years of problems -- was no longer an issue and he was in fine fighting form. (It was, it still is, and he was not.) ... Read More
Sherdog.com reports from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas with UFC 106 results and live play-by-play. In the main event, Former UFC light heavyweight champions Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin will do battle for a second time.
Ortiz’s recent performances displayed a fighter far removed from the kind of dominating, aggressive cage-wrestling he used to great success early on; he blamed back issues, corrected by a new and less invasive surgery. But even if Ortiz reverts to old form, he’ll be a 2002 fighter in 2009: up against athletes who can stuff his takedown, shut him down on the ground, and pester him standing. Aggressive wrestlers will always have a chance -- even fresh off the college mat -- but it’s not as good a guarantee as it used to be.