MMA Universe

The UFC returns this weekend with the second of back-to-back even weekends with UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2. The original UFC 106 fight card looks very different from the list of fights we will get to see this weekend.

Tito Ortiz was scheduled to make his (second) return to the UFC against Mark Coleman, but will instead rematch Forrest Griffin due to an Coleman knee injury.

Top welterweight Jon Fitch was the victim of a double-whammy as his first opponent, Ricardo Almeida, suffered a new injury and his replacement opponent, Thiago Alves, also suffered an injury during training.

Finally, the scheduled main event heavyweight title fight between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin has now been postponed indefinitely due to Lesnar’s illness.

The UFC will once again treat fans to a minimum of two undercard bouts on SpikeTV leading up to the Pay-Per-View event.

Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin – Tito Ortiz is known for running his mouth and talking himself up in grand fashion. This fight with Forrest Griffin really is a clutch fight for Ortiz though, as it truly is now time for him to put up or shut up.

Ortiz has already cleared any potential excuses from his collection and has told us all on numerous times that he is finally healthy again and back to 100% after having his spinal fusion surgery.

Can we believe Tito? Is he truly back to the Tito of old?

My guess is yes and no. In Tito’s mind, I’m sure he feels great and feels like he’s back to the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy.” However, in reality, father time has caught up with Tito to a certain extent, and the landscape of MMA has changed greatly since his glory days in the early part of the decade.

The problem for Tito is this – the Tito Ortiz that dominated the UFC light heavyweight division from 2000-2003 wouldn’t enjoy the same success in today’s MMA landscape. The whole MMA game has changed and the athletes that fight today are just much better mixed martial artists than the guys who where at the top of the heap just eight or nine years ago.

So for Tito to simply be back to “the Tito of old” is not enough; Tito needs to be “the Tito of old” with some serious improvements in his standup game.

Luckily (or unluckily) for Tito, he is catching Forrest Griffin at what is a very tenuous time for the TUF superstar. After winning the light heavyweight title in a razor close decision against Quinton Jackson, Griffin proceeded to cough the belt up to Rashad Evans and then get completely humiliated against Anderson Silva.

The embarrassing loss to Silva really seemed to bring out a different side of Griffin that many of his fans had never seen before. Forrest has always been glib and tough to really pin down on his true thoughts and feelings regarding fighting, but Forrest simply ran out of the ring and went AWOL.

Sure, Forrest got married and spent some time on his honeymoon, but when he returned he still didn’t provide any kind of insight or answers into what is going on in his head. Will Forrest have the confidence needed to continue to compete with the top of the light heavyweight division? Fighting Tito Ortiz for a second time will definitely help us to find out.

Forrest standup game should definitely be better than Tito’s. While not a technical striker, Griffin has good power and manages to land a lot of strikes on his opponents. Griffin’s leg kicks have also become well known in recent fights and it will be interesting to see how he uses that skill-set against Ortiz.

Will Griffin attempt to chop down the legs of Tito as he did against Quinton Jackson or will the fear of being taken down make him hesitant?

This fight has me more intrigued than any other fight has in a long time. Hopefully it doesn’t disappoint.

Winner: Tito Ortiz

Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson – Will Anthony Johnson make weight? That is the only question we will undoubtedly hear over the remainder of this week. It’s really too bad because Johnson has only missed weight once and we all really should be talking about what a good matchup this is.

We all know Johnson’s excellent speed and explosiveness. We all know Koscheck’s excellent wrestling and competitiveness. Which fighter walks away victorious is a tough call.

I think Josh Koscheck can win this fight easily if he simply falls back on his strength and uses his superior wrestling to keep the fight on the mat. However, I’m not convinced that Koscheck is that interested in being just a wrestler after his loss to Georges St. Pierre. Koscheck seems to favor striking more and more with each of his recent fights and that could be a problem in this matchup with Johnson.

If the fight remains standing, I think its only a matter of time before Johnson gets the better of Koscheck with his striking and kick game. I’m not sure that Johnson can score another quick knockout like he is prone to do, but he should able to batter Koscheck on the feet and in the clinch.

The real deciding factor, in my mind, is whether or not Johnson can use his size advantage to keep from being dominated on the ground. Johnson can’t stop Koscheck from taking him to the ground, it’s just a matter of whether or not he can get back up or tie up Koscheck once the fight hits the mat.

I’d love to pick Johnson in this fight, and I really think he stands the better shot at victory, but I’ve gotta go with my gut in this fight and take the safe bet in Koscheck.

Winner: Josh Koscheck

Amir Sadollah vs. Phil Baroni – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again now. I just do not understand the infatuation Zuffa seems to have with Amir Sadollah. The way Sadollah is promoted and used for marketing and promotion within the UFC baffles me.

Sadollah has two professional fights to his credit, a victory over C-Level fighter CB Dollaway and a loss via TKO against Johnny Hendricks at UFC 101.

We are all familiar with Phil Baroni and know what to expect from him. Baroni has been an up-and-down fighter throughout his career, never putting together more than a three-fight win streak. To his credit, Baroni has fought a lot of top-level talent and has definitely improved over time.

In this matchup, I think this is one of the few times that I can legitimately say Phil Baroni outclasses his opponent. Baroni holds a huge advantage on the feet, and Sadollah must prey and hope that he can get the fight to the ground and keep the much stronger Baroni down if he doesn’t want to get his head caved in.

Winner: Phil Baroni

Luiz Cane vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira – “Lil’ Nog” joins his brother and former UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the UFC and his first matchup isn’t going to be an easy one.

Nogueira has bounced around as of late fighting in Affliction, Sengoku and Jungle Fights in his native Brazil since the fall of PrideFC. Nogueira has a solid striking game and top submission came and will be a fun addition to the UFC’s light heavyweight ranks.

In my book, Luiz Cane is one of those fighters who truly has a shot at being the next big star in the light heavyweight division. Cane would be undefeated had he not been disqualified for an illegal knee to a downed opponent in his fight against James Irvin at UFC 79.

After the DQ loss, Cane easily rolled through Jason Lambert and Rameau Sokoudjou before grinding out a somewhat unimpressive victory against Steve Cantwell at UFC 97.

I see both fighters looking to stand and trade strikes in this fight and I don’t expect much work on the ground. At this point in both fighters careers, I think Cane has the quicker hands, better footwork and more power and wins this fight.

Winner: Luiz Cane

Karo Parisyan vs. Dustin Hazelett – I think it’s impossible to know what kind of state Karo Parisyan will show up for a fight these days. Is he physically in shape? Is he mentally in shape? Are his panic attacks under control?

In my mind, none of that will really matter in this case however as I think Dustin Hazelett will pull of some kind of submission and send Parisyan further down into the depths of his mental abyss.

Winner: Dustin Hazelett

Ben Saunders vs. Marcus Davis – Winner: Marcus Davis
Kendall Grove vs. Jake Rosholt – Winner: Jake Rosholt
Paulo Thiago vs. Jacob Volkmann – Winner: Paulo Thiago
Brock Larson vs. Brian Foster – Winner: Brock Larson
Caol Uno vs. Fabricio Camoes – Winner: Caol Uno
George Sotiropolous vs. Jason Dent – Winner: George Sotiropolous

After a lingering illness forced Brock Lesnar to withdraw from his UFC 106 heavyweight title fight against Shane Carwin on Nov. 21, UFC officials began scrambling to find a marquee match-up to supplement the card’s new main event of Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz II.

And since the mantra of Josh Koscheck has always been “I don’t care who I fight or where … just get me someone who wants to fight,” it should be no surprise that his phone was the first to ring.

Sherdog.com has confirmed the TUF star’s Twitter message that he will indeed be taken off his previously scheduled bout against Mike Pierce at UFC Fight Night 20 on Jan. 11 in Fairfax to face Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in Las Vegas on Nov. 21

Koscheck is fresh off a first round technical knockout finish of former two-time 170-pound number one contender, Frank Trigg, at UFC 103 just last month. The American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) standout has expressed numerous times his desire to fight whenever, wherever and against whoever the promotion sees fit.

They didn’t have to look very far.

Whether it should be seen as reward — or punishment — Johnson will have less than a month to exorcise his weight cutting demons that cost him more than 60 grand at UFC 104: “Machida vs. Shogun,” where he missed weight and his chance to earn “Knockout of the Night” when UFC President Dana White ruled his obliteration of Yoshiyuki Yoshida ineligible for the bonus based on the weight cutting infraction.

Both fighters are approaching the precipice of title contention. This fight has an interesting contrast in styles, and it will be interesting to see how Johnson deals with the stingy ground game of the AKA wrestler.

Likewise, the power in Johnson’s hands will be Koscheck’s primary concern. It would not come as a surprise to see “Rumble” challenging Georges St. Pierre in 2010 if he can manage to stop “Kos” — and avoid any more weight cutting problems.

Or perhaps a number one contender bout opposite Mike Swick? First things first; however, as Johnson has to prove he can hang in the upper echelon of 170-pound fighters. Koscheck on the other hand has already been there — and it’s up to him to prove that he still belongs there.

UFC 106 will feature “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz making his return to the Octagon in a rematch with former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin, after spending nearly a year and a half on the sidelines.

For more on the developing UFC 106 fight card and rumors click here.

With the removal of the UFC heavyweight title fight between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, UFC 106 was (and still is) in desperate need of some “star power” on the fight card.

The light heavyweight fight between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin was bumped to “main event” status, and now a welterweight contenders clash between Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson has been added as a co-main event.

Johnson is fresh of a quick KO victory against Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 104 and will be looking for some personal redemption after failing to make weight for the fight. The weigh-in failure cost Johnson some personal pride and a $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus by the UFC.

Much discussion was made about Johnson moving up to the middleweight division as he normally cuts down to 170 lbs. from as much as 220 pounds before a fight. While this was the first time Johnson has missed weight, it was widely assumed he would pursue a career at 185 lbs.

The UFC is giving Johnson another chance to prove himself at welterweight and he is finally getting a top contender to test his skills against.

Josh Koscheck was scheduled to take on Mike Pierce at UFC Fight Night 20 this January, but will now get a much more high profile fight against Johnson.

Koscheck last fought at UFC 103 where he easily defeated Frank Trigg, spoiling the MMA veteran’s return to the Octagon.

Props: UFC.com

“I had a knee injury getting ready for Matt Brown. I got heavy. I wasn’t fat, but I was 220 [pounds]. I did all I could to lose it. I think if I maybe had an extra hour or two I would have been able to lose the extra five pounds — it was coming off. It’s just my fault. I should have started preparing faster and I shouldn’t have let myself get that heavy…. I’m not happy with my performance at all. I’ve got a lot of stuff inside me all balled up. I was hoping I could have release some of it against Yoshida, but I couldn’t. A lot of personal [bullshit] makes it hard to be yourself. I’m trying to overlook that, but it is what it is. I have no choice but to keep moving forward. I can’t let it slow me down even though it keeps trying to slow me down. I won’t let it break me. I ain’t no punk. Nobody can break me but me. I can’t wait for my next fight. I promise you it will be better than this one — an even more brutal.”

Five pounds cost hard-hitting welterweight Anthony Johnson a $60,000 “Knockout of the Night” bonus for his 41-second destruction of Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 104: “Machida vs. Shogun” last night, as well as 20 percent of his total salary. UFC President Dana White revealed that “Rumble” rendered himself ineligible with the transgression. Johnson claims that poor time management and letting himself go a little too far after an injury are the reasons he tipped the scales at 176 pounds a day prior to the fight. Heavyweight Pat Barry, who collected Johnson’s bonus check with a stoppage of Antoni Hardonk (he also received an additional $60,000 for “Fight of the Night), may want to send him a thank you note. Or some cake. Or both.

He wasn’t worried about his weight:

Check out part two with “Rumble” after the jump.

Props: Yahoo Sports

Quoteworthy:

“The only pressure I feel, honestly, is the pressure to make the weight,” Johnson said. “Once I’m on weight, I know everything else will take care of itself. I’m hard on myself and I get upset when I make a mistake, but the good thing is that I can see the progress I’ve made and I truly believe I’m nowhere near my potential. My granddad used to tell me never to settle for second best and never stop pushing to get better. Every day in the gym, I think of what he used to say and I’m determined to make myself better. It’s a way to honor him, to take what he taught me and put it into practice. And that’s what I try to do. It’s why I work so hard. It’s my way of thanking him for all he did for me.”

– Anthony Johnson — winner of four of six inside the Octagon — has his sights set on Japanese import Yoshiyuki Yoshida for their 170-pound “Rumble” at UFC 104 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 24. Johnson is coming off a technical knockout of Luigi Fioravanti at UFC Fight Night 17: “Lauzon vs. Stephens” in Tampa, Fla., last February. The 24-year-old Atlanta, Ga., native has a ton of buzz because of his size, power and fight-finishing ability. He appears to get better each time out, training with Strikeforce champions Cung Le and Josh Thompson, among others, between fights. His potential — and future — are vast. There’s a long and exciting road to the top … and he knows it. It will be fun to watch him work his way through a very crowded division in the meantime.