UFC 148 – Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz III preview
‘UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II’ is just around the corner and MMABay’s focus switches to the light-heavyweight trilogy fight that sees former champions, Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz, renew their rivalry for the final time as this weekend’s co-main event attraction. The fight is already confirmed as being Ortiz’s last ever appearance inside the cage he made his own and the same could be said for the increasingly jaded Griffin. Which legend will go out on a high? Find out after the jump…
Forrest Griffin (18-7, 9-5 UFC)
The original ‘Ultimate Fighter’, Georgia’s Forrest Griffin’s show-stopping clash with Stephan Bonnar now seems an awesome, distant memory and the former light-heavyweight champion is seemingly becoming bored with the fight game if several nonchalant comments are anything to go by, in recent months.
The affable Griffin has not been the same since brutal back-to-back stoppages against Rashad Evans and Anderson Silva robbed him not only of his 205lb strap, but in the case of the latter, his dignity. But the former lawman seemed to have turned the corner, levelling the scores with Tito Ortiz at UFC 106 by eking out a split decision and setting up this weekend’s rubber-match.
Griffin was absent from cage duties for over a year before returning at UFC 126 last February, meeting fellow legend, Rich Franklin in a subdued affair that nonetheless saw Griffin use his size and wrestling to take another decision.
While another title run didn’t seem impossible for the 6ft 3in powerhouse, Griffin’s plans took another hit at UFC 134 when a man he’d previously beaten, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, needed less than two minutes to knock out the veteran with punches in Rio de Janeiro.
Tito Ortiz (16-10-1, 15-10-1 UFC)
Griffin once again locks horns with the old enemy, Tito Ortiz, a man he originally faced way back in 2006 and lost to via split decision. ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’s retirement has been on the horizon for years but the brash Californian is finally ready to admit that the sport has passed him by as he prepares to hang ‘em up for good following the co-main event feature at UFC 148.
A lengthy losing streak, stretching back to UFC 66, was not enough for Zuffa to kick Ortiz to the kerb, due in part I’m sure to the veteran’s efforts to keep the promotion, and in North America, the sport, alive single-handedly through the darker days. His larger-than-life personality and ability to divide crowds, not to mention his dominant displays inside the Octagon, kept ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ away from the chopping block time and again.
But despite surprising us all at UFC 132, when he dropped and submitted top prospect Ryan Bader in round one, Ortiz was unable to build upon what was deemed a potential comeback and has since dropped a further two losses. Both Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the latter at UFC 140, finished the veteran with blows to the body.
The Verdict: The light-heavyweight division will be one or two bodies light after UFC 148 and while a rubber-match makes sense for two legends riding off into the sunset, there can be few fans out there salivating at the prospect of a third fight between Ortiz and Griffin. The first two fights were okay, but there is little reason to believe the third will eclipse those before and given the mindset of both fighters, this could prove to be a real stalemate.
Neither man will want to go out with a loss, so we should expect a cagey three rounds this weekend. Griffin’s in the better shape physically, less wear and tear, but he’s hardly a killer and lacks the ferocity in his strikes to finish Ortiz in the same manner as Evans or Nogueira. Likewise, Ortiz often seems to be going through the motions and has lost a lot of the zip that made him a feared and dominant champion many moons ago.
If you’ve got love for either guy, sit back and savour this one as it could be the last time you see your boy enter the Octagon, or any other cage for that matter. For the rest of us, expect three middling rounds followed by an emotionally charged retirement speech from ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’. Griffin, decision.
By Steve Davies.
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