Forrest Griffin defeated Tito Ortiz at UFC 106 in Las Vegas on Saturday.
-
Josh Koscheck forces Anthony Johnson to tap
-
Paulo Thiago grinds down Jacob Volkmann
-
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira pummels Luiz Cane
-
Amir Sadollah dominates Phil Baroni
-
Brian Foster pounds Brock Larson
-
Ben Saunders KOs Marcus Davis
-
Georege Sotiropoulos submits Jason Dent
-
Kendall Grove triangles Jake Rosholt
Here is how it happened:
This was Ortiz’s 22nd UFC appearance, tying Chuck Liddell’s record. Griffin, who lost a split decision in his first meeting with Ortiz, made his 12th Octagon showing.
Griffin was the early aggressor, landing punches and getting in a few kicks. Ortiz powered in for a takedown just inside the second minute. Ortiz was in Griffin’s guard, going for ground and pound, but Griffin eventually spun and escaped to his feet. Ortiz got Griffin against the cage, then they traded the position as the fight reached the third minute.
They squared off in the middle of the Octagon, with Griffin getting the better of the exchanges, using feet and fists. Ortiz shot with 68 seconds left, but Griffin defended by backing out. Ortiz was pushed back to the fence and Griffin had double underhooks. Griffin was more active and was better in a tight first round.
The second round starts in the middle with 20 seconds of standup before Ortiz shot straight in for a takedown. Ortiz stayed in Griffin’s guard, trying to establish his trademark elbows by posturing up. Griffin is doing his best to nullify Ortiz by keeping him locked. Ortiz tried to pass, but allowed Griffin to escape all the way to his feet.
With just under three minutes left, Griffin landed a push kick to the mouth, knocking out Ortiz’s mouthpiece, which referee Josh Rosenthal allowed him to put back in right away.
After the restart, Ortiz took down Griffin, who protected into butterfly guard. Ortiz tried to keep Ortiz’s elbows at bay with plenty of movement on the bottom and is looked for offense from his back. But one of the elbows got through and opened a heavily bloody gash on Griffin’s face.
Griffin managed to sweep and put Ortiz in some trouble. Griffin was active at the end and might have stolen the round, but more likely the winner of the third would win the fight.
Ortiz was fired up and tried to come out of the corner early. Griffin came out more aggressive, however, landing his punch and kick combinations while Ortiz appeared to be slowed. Griffin through two minutes was picking apart Ortiz in the battle of former UFC light-heavyweight champions. Griffin continued the onslaught and added kicks that scored points but did not put Ortiz in real danger. Ortiz attempted a late flurry but not enough to overcome Griffin’s performance.
The fighters met after the bell to embrace and talk for significantly longer than an average fight.
Griffin via split decision, 30-27, 29-28, 28-29
Griffin avenged the split-decision defeat. Ortiz is the master of the rematch, and it appears we will see these two make it into a trilogy at some point.
Both fighters admitted to being battered coming in. Griffin said he had a broken foot, while Ortiz claimed his black eye was due to a cracked skull.
Comments