UFC 106: Forrest Griffin Downs Tito Ortiz With Split-Decision Win

Fight Metric has released their standard report of Griffin/Ortiz 2. Mike Fagan of BloodyElbow.com tries to put the report in context:

As usual, FightMetric released their report for the UFC 106 main event. FightMetric isn’t a be-all, end-all on its own, but it does provide a solid resource for discussion. Under the ten-point must system, FightMetric scores the bout 29-27. For the entire fight, the FightMetric Effective Score gave Griffin the advantage 294-137.

In a rematch of a classic bout Forrest Griffin was able to do enough to defeat Tito Ortiz on two of the judges scorecards and take a split decision win. SBNation.com’s scorecard was 30-26 for Forrest Griffin.

In both the first and second rounds Griffin busted Ortiz up on the feet but Ortiz was able to get a takedown in and get a small amount of ground and pound in. The work by Ortiz from the top was able to open a big cut over Forrest’s eye and clearly was enough to win the fight on the scorecard of one judge.

In the third round Griffin spent the entire round punching Ortiz who did nothing in return but try for two half speed double legs which Griffin was able to shrug aside with ease.

It was a good comeback fight for Griffin who was embarrassed by Anderson Silva his last time out. Ortiz lacked his legendary gastank and his shot did not appear to have any zip that was lacking before his back surgery.

We’ll see what is next for both men but they did express interest in a rubber match. It will be interesting to see if the UFC is willing to do that or if they will seek to try and get Forrest back into title contention.

In a very odd fight Josh Koscheck managed to submit Anthony Johnson. In the first round Johnson threw a knee to a downed Koscheck. It would have been illegal but instead it landed to Josh’s arm. Josh then complained about his eye hurting, then appeared to switch which eye was bothering him.

 

Still, the fight continued and in the second round Koscheck poked Johnson in the eye twice. Despite all the fouls the contest continued and Johnson began to wear down. After the two exchanged punches Josh shot in for the takedown, passed to half guard and then took Johnson’s back. With roughly thirty seconds left in the round Koscheck sunk in a rear naked choke and forced Johnson to tap out.

Despite all the talk of a new star emerging it never really looked like Johnson belonged in the cage with "Kos."  Even in the stand-up game Josh was finding a home for the looping right hand while all Johnson was able to pull off reliably was leg kicks.

Following the fight Josh called out Dan Hardy saying that he hasn't fought anyone and claiming that he deserved a shot at Georges St. Pierre's welterweight title more than the man from the U.K.

Paulo Thiago is used to being the guy giving the favorite all he can handle in a fight, but tonight the tables were turned. Jacob Volkmann showed a lot of heart, surviving being dropped twice, and a decent ground game but in the end it wasn’t enough for the judges.

In both the first and third round Volkmann found himself on his back following hooks from UFC veteran, Thiago. He was able to repeatedly survive bad positions and in the second round was the one on top landing heavy blows. However, the judges felt that Thiago controlled the majority of the fight and won all three judges scorecards (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

It will never be considered a technical classic but no one can question that Amir Sadollah and Phil Baroni came to fight in the pay-per-view opener for UFC 106.

In predictable style, Baroni launched a flurry of power punches to open the fight, even repeatedly clipping Amir with several good shots. However, the former TUF winner proved that his chin is solid as he survived before taking over the second half of the first round with knees from the clinch.

The second and third rounds featured a very gassed Baroni being picked apart by Sadollah who worked leg kicks outside and elbows and knees inside. Phil was game, never giving up on looking for the knockout. But in the end there was no denying that Amir had earned a lopsided decision after cutting up the “New York Bad Ass.”

The official scorecards were 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 all for Amir Sadollah.

In his UFC debut the twin brother of heavyweight star Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira defeated the very tough Luiz cane in under two minutes with a barrage of left hooks.

Coming into the fight Cane had only lost once and it was by DQ after landing an illegal strike. That meant nothing to the PRIDE veteran, Nogueira, who came out landing jabs and a few left hooks. Each time one of the hooks landed it wobbled Cane. Soon being wobbled turned to being knocked down and the referee jumped in to save him from any further punishment.

This was a star making performance and the UFC should have no problem playing up the twin angle to make both “little” and “big” Nog big stars going forward.