By Joe Ferraro
It will be two former UFC light heavy weight champions squaring off in the co-main event at UFC 106, as “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy”, Tito Ortiz is set to square off against Forrest Griffin, in a rematch from their bout at UFC 59, which Ortiz won via split decision.
Ortiz broke the news via his twitter on Thursday night, stating “So the match has been set!!!! Forrest vs Ortiz 2 live Nov 21st Las Vegas PPV. Let the Punishment begin!!!!”
This latter part of Ortiz’s statement will be likely be the first of many, as the former champion is a master and playing mind games, using various forms of trash talking in an attempt to get into his opponent’s head.
This will be Ortiz’s first fight in the octagon since May 24th, 2008, where he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida at UFC 84: ill Will.
Since that bout Machida went on to become the (current) UFC Light heavyweight champion, while Ortiz was engulfed in a bitter contract dispute with the UFC and forced to go under the knife, electing to have back surgery, a procedure he says has brought a renewed sense of life to his MMA game, as he is pain free for the first time in years.
Griffin, who is currently on his honeymoon, will be stepping in for Mark “The Hammer” Coleman, who was forced to withdraw from the bout with Ortiz after suffering a knee injury during training.
The former champion will be looking to rebound from a devastating loss at UFC 101 in August, suffered at the hands (and fists) of Anderson “The Spider” Silva, which saw Griffin immediately run from the octagon, even before the official decision was announced.
UFC 106 will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between champion Brock Lesnar and challenger Shane Carwin, and is scheduled for Novenber 21st, at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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