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Former light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, left, and Forrest Griffin face off Thursday at a Las Vegas news conference.
There are plenty of reasons to tune in to Saturday’s UFC 106 main event but the fight itself, a rematch between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin, is almost an afterthought.
It’s not as though fans have been clamouring for the two former light-heavyweight champs to settle some UFC-fabricated grudge that’s lingered since
Ortiz won a split decision three years ago. In fact, Griffin is a pinch-hitter for an injured Mark Coleman and the original main event was actually a heavyweight title fight between champ Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, which was cancelled when Lesnar became ill.
That doesn’t mean the fight isn’t without drama. It’s as much about a clash of personalities as it is fighting styles.
Ortiz is a cocky loudmouth who hasn’t fought in 18 months, in part due to back surgery but mostly because he and one-time close friend UFC president Dana White hated each other’s guts.
While Ortiz is one of MMA’s most disliked fighters, Griffin is one of its most popular, in large part because he won the first season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series. But the last time we saw Griffin he was sprinting from the octagon in embarrassment after getting knocked out by Anderson Silva at UFC 101.
Hopefully, the fight between Ortiz the wrestler and Griffin the striker lives up to the buildup.
It’s not as though fans have been clamouring for the two former light-heavyweight champs to settle some UFC-fabricated grudge that’s lingered since
Ortiz won a split decision three years ago. In fact, Griffin is a pinch-hitter for an injured Mark Coleman and the original main event was actually a heavyweight title fight between champ Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, which was cancelled when Lesnar became ill.
That doesn’t mean the fight isn’t without drama. It’s as much about a clash of personalities as it is fighting styles.
Ortiz is a cocky loudmouth who hasn’t fought in 18 months, in part due to back surgery but mostly because he and one-time close friend UFC president Dana White hated each other’s guts.
While Ortiz is one of MMA’s most disliked fighters, Griffin is one of its most popular, in large part because he won the first season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series. But the last time we saw Griffin he was sprinting from the octagon in embarrassment after getting knocked out by Anderson Silva at UFC 101.
Hopefully, the fight between Ortiz the wrestler and Griffin the striker lives up to the buildup.
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