Saturday November 21, Tito Ortiz returns to the octagon after an 18 month layoff to face Forrest Griffin, currently ranked no. 5 in the LHW division. Ortiz was originally scheduled to fight Mark Coleman, who had to pull out due to a MCL tear in training. Forrest only had 6 weeks to prepare for this fight and had to cut his honeymoon short to get back in training.

I am really looking forward to see what the new and injury free Ortiz can do in the LHW division. Griffin is a really tough guy and I think Tito has to bring his best to have any chance. There has been a lot of speculation about Griffins mental strength after he suffered a somewhat humiliating defeat at the hands of Anderson Silva. Personally I don't think there is anything wrong with Griffin mentally, Silva was just better at the striking game and it made Griffin look bad. I think Titos style and skillset in the Octagon will be a much better match for Forrest, and I expect to see a war.

The two fighters share an almost identical record coming into this fight, and since we don't really know what Tito is bringing anymore, it is hard to make a solid prediction. If I had to though, I predict a unanimous decision to Forrest Griffin.



All fights on the UFC 106 card:


Main Event
Forrest Griffin (205) VS Tito Ortiz (204)

Anthony Johnson (170) VS Josh Koscheck (171)
Paulo Thiago (169) VS Jacob Volkmann (170)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (205) VS Luiz "Banha" Cane (205)
Phil Baroni (170) VS Amir Sadollah (170)

Ben Saunders (170) VS Marcus Davis (170)
Jake Rosholt (185.5) VS Kendall Grove (186)

Brian Foster (171) VS Brock Larson (171)
Fabricio Camoes (155.5) VS Caol Uno (155.5)
Jason Dent (155) VS George Sotiropoulos (155)