Tito Ortiz is one of the big reasons why the UFC and the sport of mixed martial arts have ascended to its current level today.
He is one of the most successful and recognizable fighters in the world.
To date he has accumulated a 15 – 6 – 1 career record, including a roughly three and a half year tenure as a UFC champion in the vaunted light heavyweight division, which is a record that still stands today.
He’s fought a who’s who list of great fighters in high profile matchups including Frank Shamrock, Wanderlei Silva, Ken Shamrock. Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Vitor Belfort, and on and on.
His public feuds with Ken Shamrock and UFC President Dana White have also ensured that he’s both talked the talk and walked the walk.
Outside the octagon he’s managed to become a star as well. He’s appeared on the cover of countless magazines, on NBC television’s “The Apprentice,” authored a book entitled This is Gonna Hurt: The Life of a Mixed Martial Artist, and became CEO of the Punishment Athletics clothing company.
Now, at the age of 34, Ortiz is on the comeback trail in search of capturing some old magic in order to try to become a champion again one day. It is evident that his burning desire to be great still remains.
Last time we saw him he lost a unanimous decision to the undefeated and current UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida back in May 2008 at UFC 84, which was his final fight on his UFC contract.
He made the decision to take some time off in order to explore all of his options. He also made a choice to go ahead and have major back surgery in October 2008 to correct an old injury that had been bothering him for a very long time.
Once he was both recovered and rehabbed he slowly began to train again. Miraculously, he also found a way to reconcile with Dana White and they were able to come to terms on a new UFC fight contract.
For his first fight back UFC matchmaker Joe Silva proposed a bout with Hall-of-Famer and former heavyweight champion Mark Coleman that would take place at UFC 106 on November 21, however, Coleman eventually had to pull out due to a knee injury.
The UFC wasted no time in finding his replacement and pegged Forrest Griffin to fill Coleman’s shoes.
With Brock Lesnar pulling out of his headlining fight with Shane Carwin the need for a new headlining fight was essential to the event. Ortiz vs. Griffin 2 will now attempt to fill the void.
This is a rematch of their UFC 59 fight that saw Ortiz squeak out a controversial split decision victory way back in April 2006.
At the time Ortiz was in his prime as a fighter, having already fought in eight championship fights up to that point. Griffin was fighting in just his fourth UFC fight altogether and it was also the first upper echelon opponent he had ever faced.
Griffin was nothing more than a glorified slugger at that juncture in his young career. It would be roughly another 1 ½ – 2 years before he would peak as a fighter in late 2007 and in early 2008 when he won the light heavyweight championship after defeating Quinton Jackson at UFC 86.
Most recently, Griffin was thoroughly outclassed and dismantled by Anderson Silva at UFC 101. He will no doubt be hungry to get his career back on track.
In other words, the circumstances have drastically changed since his first meeting with Ortiz. Now Griffin is in his prime and Ortiz is past his prime.
When the bell sounds at UFC 106, both men will likely try to put on a show for the sake of the fans, which means a heavy dose of strikes on their feet for the majority of the time.
This is a recipe which ultimately favors Griffin due to his superior overall striking game. Expect him to win a decision victory as a result.
Moving forward, to consider Ortiz a serious title threat would be a bit careless. He simply has too many obstacles to overcome.
As previously mentioned he’s 34 years old and coming off a major back surgery. He’s also predominantly an old school martial artist who never developed into a well-rounded mixed martial artist like the new breed of fighters. He could get away with it in the past and be successful, but the sport has changed drastically, and that is no longer the case.
Most importantly, however, is the fact that the UFC light heavyweight division is quite possibly the deepest division in any MMA organization in the world.
It includes the likes of the aforementioned Lyoto Machida, Mauricio Rua, Rashad Evans, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Jon Jones, and even Anderson Silva from time to time.
Expect Ortiz to continue to have good cardio, his trademark wrestling, and some decent ground and pound, but do not fool yourself into thinking there will be any kind of revelation at this stage of the game. After all, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
His magic, although plentiful at one time, has been lost forever. It is the cruel nature of the sport and a byproduct of its physical and mental demands.
Unfortunately, this is the time for a new era of light heavyweights to reign supreme.
