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Since the UFC’s inception in 1993, there has been a constant struggle to legitimize the sport with the general public. Whether it is John McCain’s comments referring to it as a “bloodsport” or more recent homosexual remarks from legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum the sport has faced much criticism.

The mixed martial arts faithful have challenged these accusations and insults for years, but the stigma around the sport is still alive. The national television deals that Elite XC and Strikeforce signed and the UFC’s video game deal prove that the sport has began to reach the mainstream audience however there is still a long way to go.

There is still a common misconception among members of society that mixed martial artists are trying to “kill” or “mame” eachother inside of a cage and this is something that the sport has tried to get away from throughout the years.

Over the past two weeks however, unintelligent comments by a few high level UFC fighters have done little to help the sport escape the poor image so many people have.

In an interview with Mark Madden on WXDX Frank Mir Stated “I hate who he is as a person. I want to break his neck in the ring. I want him to be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries. That’s what’s going through my mind.”

Only a few days later, Marcus Davis states that he hopes Dan Hardy “dies of aids.” These are not the first death wishes that have came up in the UFC and likely will not be the last. Before their UFC 94 bout, B.J Penn stated during the primetime series that he wanted to kill Georges St. Pierre.

To be fair both fighters did apologize for their comments afterwards however this does not excuse the fact that it was said in public. Idiotic comments such as these do not only hurt the reputations of the fighters who say them, but it looks bad on the sport as well.

I completely understand that trash talking is part of the fight game. Like in professional wrestling, building up a fight is important because the sports success is so dependant on pay-per-view buys. Fights such as Ortiz vs. Liddell and Penn vs. St. Pierre are among the best sellers because of the animosity built up between the fighters.

When we look at other sports, idiotic remarks resulted in punishment either through suspension of severe fine. National Hockey League player Sean Avery was suspended six games in late 2008 because of a comment about other players falling in love with his “sloppy seconds.” Last year when Serena Williams threatened to shove a tennis ball down a judge’s throat she was fined $82,500 and another comment would have raised this to nearly $200,000.

Perhaps the most serious situation was with MLB pitcher John Rocker in 2000. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, he said he would not play for either of the New York teams because he would not want to take a train “through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids.” For these inexcusable comments, Rocker was suspended for the entire spring training and the first 14 games of the regular season.

Obviously there are many differences between mixed martial arts and any other professional sport. Not only does it take a completely different mindset to fight, but the amount of times a fighter competes per year in comparison with other sports is much less.

Perhaps suspensions are not an option due to fighters only getting paid for when they fight. When a football or hockey player gets injured or suspended during the season, they often still recieve compensation due to their contracts. Fighters are paid on a fight by fight basis. Simply put, if you are not fighting, you are not making money.

This is not acceptable behavior by world class athletes and perhaps its time that Dana White put his foot down. These fighters who come out and make public death threats or wishes need to be reprimanded for their actions or such activity will continue to happen and make the sport look bad. White needs to do something to curve this activity and set an example that death threats should be left out of the sport.

MMA HQ Commentary, Frank Mir, MMA HQ, Marcus Davis, UFC

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

MMA HQ Amir Sadollah, Anthony Johnson, Antonio Nogueira, Ben Saunders, Brian Foster, Brock Larson, Caol Uno, Dustin Hazelett, Events, Fabricio Camoes, Forrest Griffin, George Sotiropoulous, Jacob Volkmann, Jake Rosholt, Jason Dent, Josh Koscheck, Karo Parisyan, Kendall Grove, Luiz Cane, MMA HQ, Marcus Davis, Paulo Thiago, Phil Baroni, Tito Ortiz, UFC 106