Griffin vs. Ortiz III

This is the official discussion thread for Griffin vs. Ortiz III. Let's see what you've got.

This fight goes the distance. It will be the same as the last fight. Griffin in Decision!!!

Opened at:
Forrest Griffin -295 vs. Tito Ortiz +225

Current Mean:
Forrest Griffin -322 vs. Tito Ortiz +256

rootin for the underdogg again.

Picked Griffin, betting Ortiz. :D

Tito Ortiz.... one of the best we've ever been blessed enough to watch fight. It's gonna be sad watching one of the all-time greatest fighters ever compete for the last time, but all good things must come to an end eventually. I want to pick him to win his final fight, so **** it. I will. Both of these guys's fights have been hugely competitive and it should be so yet again. I think Ortiz will surprise us all and pull it out in the end. Will Forrest actually retire if he loses this fight? Maybe.... and if he does, it'll be one of the saddest moments ever to watch two of the most popular and iconic men in MMA history to leave the cage for the last time.....

i'm a huge tito fan and I feel sad thinking about this being his last fight. 

I've been watching UFC since the very first 1, and I remember when Tito first came out in the UFC. I remember that I didn't even see his first fight because it was on the preliminary card. Tito was an alternate, in case one of the other fighters in the tournament couldn't continue. The fight I watched him in was his loss to Guy Mezger. Though Tito lost, it was a very gutsy and impressive performance. I wasn't a huge fan of Tito then, but I knew that one day he would be a force to be reckoned with in the UFC.

Tito put together back to back wins in his next two outings, which earned him a shot at the then UFC MW Champion Frank Shamrock. I could remember, then I was a huge Frank Shamrock fan, and the whole fight, I kept on wondering if Shamrock was going to lose. Tito was gassed by the 4th round, and Frank came from behind to win by submission due to strikes. Even though at that I still wasn't a huge Tito fan, I was impressed with how Tito fought. In fact, the Tito/Frank fight was one of my all-time favorite and greatest fights.

After the loss to Frank Shamrock, Tito put together 6 straight victories, won himself the UFC MW Championship vacated by Frank Shamrock, became the first ever UFC LHW Champion, and defended his belt 5 times. The 6-fight win streak included wins over highly reputable fighters like Wanderlei Silva, Evan Tanner, Vladimir, Matyushenko, and Ken Shamrock. Through all of that, I respected Tito for his ability, appreciated what he was doing for the sport, and the UFC, but I still was not a big fan of Tito.

Where I started to become a big fan of Tito was after his loss to Randy Couture. Tito said that he trained very hard for that fight, and gave it everything he had. He made no excuses for his loss, and that Randy was just the better fighter that night. After the loss to Randy Couture, he lost to Chuck Liddell, and though Tito lost by a dominate TKO from Chuck, Tito said in his post-fighter interview that he wanted to fight again. I had to give a lot of kudos to Tito for that.

Through battles with Dana White, losing the LHW Championship, losing to Chuck Liddell, and even having contractural disputes with the UFC, and being out of the UFC for over a year, Tito still managed to go on a 5-fight win streak, coach the 3rd season of TUF, and earn himself another shot at the UFC LHW Championship. It was in that time period where I really became a huge Tito Ortiz fan. Not because of his fights, not becaue he told Dana White to go **** himself, but because of his stint on the 3rd season of TUF.

As a coach on TUF, he coached MWs and LHWs in which he prepared them to fight for the UFC. Some of these fighters that Tito was coaching were potential opponents, but none-the-less Tito poured all of his knowledge about MMA, training properly, eating properly, and boosting your cardio to be the best possible fighter, and the best possibly prepared fighter when it came fight time. This showed me that Tito was more than just a trash-talking, dyed hair, wrestler from Huntington Beach who dubbed himself "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy", but that he was a genuine, good-hearted, unselfish man who wanted to bring out the best in some top young prospects for the UFC, despite the fact that some of them could be potential opponents.

Though Tito has went 1-6-1 since December of 2006, he hasn't fought a fighter that is not at least a top 10 LHW (with the exception of Matt Hamill) or Champion (future, current, or present). Yes Tito has a fight record of 16-10-1, but all of his fights have been against top level opposition in one way, shape, and form or another. Tito still has the most consecutive title defenses of any fighter in the UFC LHW division. Love him or hate him, there is no doubt that, this being his last fight in the UFC, and quite possibly of his illustrious and colorful career, Tito Ortiz has definitely left his mark not only in the UFC, but in all of MMA.

I know that I am saddened that this is his last fight, but like Tito said himself, it's time, and I have more respect for him because like Clint Eastwood said, "Every man has got to know his limitations." No matter what, I will miss seeing Tito fight in the UFC. I will be watching UFC 148 mainly because of Silva/Sonnne II, but you couldn't ask for a better co-main event than Tito Ortiz/Forrest Griffin III.

 

To add to that.....Tito's record is far from cut-n-dry. Regardless of what the record says, he won the 1st fight with Rashad, even with the point deduction he got robbed. He won the fight with Machida, especially by Maynard/Guida standards, plus he almost finished him. Forrest and Hamill were legit losses, but then fought Rashad again on a 1 month turnaround after subbing Bader.
In my head, he's actually 3-5 in his last 8.

Tito seems really dedicated to this fight...and Forrest is always so inconsistent. Tito won, then Forrest won...I think the pendulum swings back and Tito wins the rubber match and goes out with a SD win.

1. Mental Edge/Confidence/Gameplan - Coming into this fight both fighters have been hot and cold to say the least. Tito made a huge comback winning his first fight in almost 5 years when he beat Ryan Bader by submission. Tito was a huge underdog coming into this fight, and many counted him out, but he did lose in his last two outings by TKO against Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueria. Forrest Griffin has been just as hot and cold in his last few outings. His last fight was a devastating knockout at the hands of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Prior to that he had two decision wins, one over Rich "Ace" Franklin, and the other was against Tito Ortiz. Prior to that, Forrest dropped 2 in row, one a devastating KO at the hands of current UFC MW Champion Anderson Silva, and the other was 3rd round TKO stoppage at the hands of Rashad Evans. With all that in mind, I don't think that Confidence is running too high in either fighter's mind. I have that area pretty much about dead even. Also because both fighters hold a win over the other from there first two fights. The big question there is...............who really has the upper-hand, or who thinks that they have the upper-hand coming into the fight? Forrest won the last fight against Tito, but Tito feels that he did enough to win the last fight, so I don't think that either fighter really has a mental edge over the other coming into the fight. When it comes to gameplan, this is Tito's last fight, and he says that he is extremely focused for this fight, and he's training at high altitude in Big Bear, and Forrest trains with Randy Couture, so you know both fighters are going to come in with well-prepared gameplans for one another, prepared to execute. It's pretty safe to say that Tito's gameplan is going to be the usual. Utilize his boxing and stand-up to get the takedown, and ground and pound Forrest for 3 rounds, or until he gives up. Forrest's gameplan is more than likely going to utilize his reach to keep the distance, avoid the takedowns, and use movement and versatile striking to keep Tito guessing. The big question is............who will execute their gameplan better on that night? With all this in mind, I have to give a very slight edge to Forrest Griffin, but it could easily fall into Tito's hands as well. Forrest - 8/10, Tito - 7/10

2. Experience/Level Of Opposition - This one is deadly close as well. Tito has 27 fights overall, and Forrest has 25. Both fighters have faced and beaten some very tough opposition. They've both faced Rashad Evans and Elvis Sinosic. The rest of the fighters that they have both faced while many different fighters, but the level of opposition relatively remains the same. With this in mind, I have to call this area a draw. Forrest - 10/10, Tito - 10/10

3. Heart/Determination To Win - This one is all Forrest here. There is no fighter on the face of the planet that has a bigger heart, and has the ability to find a way to win than Forrest Griffin. Tito has a strong determination to win, but many times in the past we have seen his spirit break when losing a fight. We saw this against Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell twice, and Frank Shamrock. We have seen Tito come back in a couple of fights like his fight with Vitor Belfort, and he did show no quit in his loss to Lyoto Machida. Forrest on the other hand just excels in this department. Aside from his losses to Shogun and Anderson, Forrest showed great resiliance in both of his fights with Tito, his win over Rampage, and he came back to win a fight with a broken arm prior to coming into the UFC. If that's not true heart, I don't know what is. Forrest - 10/10, Tito - 8/10

4. Endurance/Toughness - I said before, I know, but Forrest Griffin suffered a broken arm in one of his fights prior to fighting in the UFC, and he came back to win the fight. His first fight with Stefan Bonnar showed just how truly tough Forrest really is. Tito has a very hard head, and can be very tough to put away, but he has folded from gut shots in his losses to Lil Nog, Rashad Evans, and Lyoto Machida. I have to give this area to Forrest. Forrest - 10/10, Tito - 8/10

5. Stamina/Cardio - Neither fighter has a problem going a 3 or 5 round distance. After his loss to Frank Shamrock, Tito has worked very hard on his overall cardio. Forrest's work ethic is 2nd to none, so it's safe to say that neither fighter will gas in this fight. Forrest - 10/10, Tito - 10/10

6. Overall Striking - Forrest has the slight speed advantage, the reach, and very good kickboxing skills, but Tito has improved his stand-up by leaps and bounds throughout his career. Tito has the power, and knows how to utilize a very good clinch game. Forrest doesn't have one-punch KO power, but he has put some opponents away. In the last two fights where Forrest was winning the fight was in the stand-up. Advantage Forrest. Forrest - 8/10, Tito - 7/10

7. Overall Wrestling/Grappling - This is Tito's world right here. Get the takedown, and ground and pound with elbows and fists. Forrest has improved his takedown defense, and showed a very improved overall wrestling game in his win over Rich Franklin, but Forrest doesn't have the mat experience that Tito has. Forrest - 8/10, Tito - 10/10

8. Overall Submissions/BJJ - Forrest has a very underrated submission game. This was very previlant in his win over Shogun, but Tito has shown that he can be very dangerous with submissions in his fights with Rashad Evans (the first fight), Lyoto Machida, and Ryan Bader. This is one of those areas that could go either way, but I think that Tito comes in the slight advantage here. Forrest - 8/10, Tito - 9/10

9. Speed/Athleticism - You have to give the speed and movement advantage to Forrest here, but when it comes to overall athleticism, I give that part to Tito. I give a very slight egde to Forrest only because of the speed and mobility factor. Forrest - 9/10, Tito - 8/10

10. Strength/Size - Both fighters are very large LHWs, but Tito is a much stronger fighter. Forrest has usable strength, but Tito has shear brute strength. Advantage Tito. Forrest - 9/10, Tito - 10/10

Overall Score = Forrest Griffin - 90/100, Tito "The People's Champion" "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz - 87/100 

Won't this be one of the highest paid bouts ever in the UFC? Tito is going to get what, like 500k win or lose, and Forrest 150k-200k? They better both bring it. I think Forrest drops Tito with body shots in the 1st, they shake hands and count their money.

Ortiz by decision is a horrible pick, maybe I will change it to KO round 2 before tomorrow night.

Tito goes out with a win over a guy who is basically semi-retired himself.

No way in hell. I would love to see Tito win but he doesnt have great cardio. Forrest is a bigger fighter has the reach and has good kicks. Forrest wins by decision. But i do agree he should retire after this one cause it will b his last win

Tito looked fantastic at the weigh ins tonight...

Ortiz looked pretty motivated I may be temped to switch this pick

No way Tito wins. Forrest knows it would b so embarrasing to lose to Tito

I was actually seeing the same... I picked Forrest initially... i guess I accidently hid my picks on this event.  Still thinking about it.

Tito all the way!! got my signed framed tito shirt right on the wall for tomorrow!

* Edited at 07.06.2012, 8:31 PM ET *