Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz

So it looks as though the Tito Ortiz vs. Mark Coleman fight that was originally booked for UFC 106 isn’t happening. Mark Coleman sustained a knee injury and had to pull out. When he did, Ortiz sent the following “tweet” to his twitter followers..

“Coleman, Coleman, Coleman .. Too bad he sissies out!!! Who’s next??? I’m kicking someone’s ass on November 21st”

When Mark Coleman’s manager got word of Tito’s message, he issued a rather harsh, extremely personal statement of his own – which he later apologized for. Here’s what he had to say about Tito (and his girlfriend Jenna)..

“The only thing Coleman is afraid of when it comes to Tito is contracting swine flu from that dirty ass d-bag. We all know where he lays his head down at night. Tito wants to get personal with a legend? OK, let’s get personal – we can all go to our porn collections and watch what Tito sleeps with night after night.”

I wasn’t originally excited about watching Tito Ortiz fight Mark Coleman but now that it’s gotten so personal, I wouldn’t mind seeing it in the near future. In the meantime, it looks as though we’ll get to see a rematch between champions since Forrest Griffin has been named as Coleman’s replacement.

As you most likely recall, Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin fought to a split decision back at UFC 59 with Tito Ortiz narrowly out-pointing Griffin for the victory. In that first battle, Tito Ortiz came out gunning and was absolutely dominating Griffin with his ground and pound techniques from within the guard that he’s known for. I remember watching that and I actually felt sorry for Griffin at the time, I thought that he was in way over his head.

However, in the second and third round, Forrest Griffin turned it on while Tito Ortiz had slowed down. He just didn’t look the same after that first round so I imagine that something was bothering him – either his back or his knee.

And speaking of injuries, this will be Tito’s first fight back in the octagon since he underwent surgery on his lower back – which is something that he claims has negatively effected his performance for years. Now, with Tito Ortiz functioning at his full potential, and with the overall improvements that Griffin has made, it should make for an interesting rematch.

Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans

Who would have thought the ultimate fighter reality series would produce so much talent. As a matter of fact, up until only recently, being a contestant on the show was almost looked down upon by the non-reality series UFC roster.

Well, thanks to guys like Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans, fighters coming off the show and into the UFC are now getting a lot more respect. Having both recently taken out former top ranked fighters – Forrest over “Shogun” and Rashad over Liddell – this showdown will certainly be interesting.

I’m calling this this as the fight of the night right now – and that’s saying a lot considering just how stacked UFC 92 is. As we all already know, Forrest Griffin is a workaholic warrior who just keeps pressing forward. It’s that never-say-die mentality that has got him where he is today.

Forrest Griffin isn’t the greatest wrestler, he isn’t the greatest striker, nor is he the best submission artist – yet he’s the champion in arguably the most competitive division in the UFC. How does that happen? Well, it happens as a result of work ethic and “heart”.

Rashad Evans – who up until this point has yet to be defeated in his 13 fight MMA career – embodies similar characteristics. Having gone to decision in nearly half of his fights, he’s no stranger to going into “deep waters” with a game opponent – which will likely happen against a guy like Forrest Griffin.

So How Do Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans Match Up?

Neither of these guys is a “master” in a specific fighting style. They’re both just well rounded, really tough guys with a lot of heart. If there’s any standout advantage, it would be Rashad with his wrestling ability. Rashad is a much better wrestler than Forrest – and most of the light heavyweight division for that matter.

As for whether or not it will make a big difference in the fight, I’m not so sure. While Rashad Evans is the better wrestler, Forrest Griffin will likely be the bigger of the two as he walks around and cuts weight from around 240lbs while Rashad looked pretty small compared to Chuck Liddell in his last fight.

Of course, you could throw a wrench in that theory by pointing out that Rashad used to fight (and toss guys around) at heavyweight. Just look how Rashad was able repeatedly slam Stephan Bonnar when they fought back in 2006.

Both Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans are fighting out of great camps so you can rest assured that they’ll both be entering the octagon with very detailed game plans. And speaking of strategy, one thing worth pointing out is the fact that the last man to defeat Forrest Griffin was Keith Jardine – who just so happens to be one of Rashad’s team-mates.

This is one of those fights where it’s extremely hard to predict a winner. The only sure thing in this fight is that both fighters will give it their all and of course, Rashad’s wife will be sitting somewhere within the first few rows screaming at the top of her lungs.