CHUCK LIDDELL AND TITO ORTIZ TO COACH SEASON 11 OF THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER®

These 2 will duke it out at UFC 114 in Vegas in May. These are things to consider. What do you think?

STRIKING
Both fighters have shown some flashes of brilliance in their standup, but I will give a slight edge to Nogueira in this area because his last display of power and technique against the very dangerous striker in Luis Cane, showed that Nogueira has worked hard to refine his standup game. Cane was expected to be the better striker in that matchup, but not only was Nog able to hang with his Cane, but he got the better of the exchanges and put his opponent away with a vicious KO in under 2 minutes. Griffin has worked hard to go from a brawler with tons of heart, to a technical striker who still has that same fighting spirit in inside. His leg kicks have been well noted as very tough to endure and definitely take a toll on his opponents as the fight wears on. Rampage Jackson is a tremendously tough competitor, and a leg kick from Griffin proved to be the fight changing strike in their battle, and completely swung the momentum in Griffin’s favor which led him to winning the close decision.
I can really see this fight going back and forth in the striking. Perhaps with Nog having an edge with power strikes with his hands. It may problematic to invest too much stock in one fight, but Nog’s current form and momentum in the standup I feel gives him a slight edge.
EDGE: SLIGHT ONE TO NOGUEIRA

BJJ
Forrest Griffin has some excellent Jiu Jitsu geared towards MMA. It’s not an easy task to choke out a standout fighter such as Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, but Griffin was able to sink in the rear naked choke on Shogun to pull off the tremendous victory against the Brazilian. Griffin has a good ground game, but the edge will go to Nog in this area. Nogueira has a solid BJJ background and is a qualified blackbelt. He has a solid ground game, but I think Griffin will be savvy enough not to get caught in any crafty submissions coming form Nog.
EDGE: NOGUEIRA

WRESTLING
Both fighters can take things to the mat when need be, and will likely trade takedowns, but neither is a bona-fide top wrestler that ensures a guaranteed takedown when he shoots in. A fighter like GSP will likely be able to drag his opponent to the mat whenever he wishes, but there isn’t the same absolutely confidence you will get from both Nog and Griffin. Takedowns from the clinch are tools that both fighters are pretty good at using, as they are scrappy and will fight hard and long to get position and take their opponent to the mat. But one fighter doesn’t have a clear advantage over the other in this realm.
EDGE: EVEN

OUTCOME
Not an easy fight to call, both fighters could take this fight and there’s not a huge advantage going to either fighter. All that being said, if forced to pick a fighter I’d go with Nogueira, who has the skills to handle whatever Griffin will throw at him, and has shown considerable improvement in his striking technique and power. The momentum from his big KO over Luis Cane will propel to a decision win in this one.
Nog by decision, 29-28 on all 3 scorecards.

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5)
August 26, 2006
UFC 62: Liddell vs. Sobral

Defeating Stephan Bonnar for a second time.
In the second battle between these light-heavyweight competitors, Griffin showed vast improvement in his striking game and really highlighted the fact that he was taking the sport much more seriously and had put in considerable effort to become a top level mixed martial artist.

4)
November 21, 2009
UFC 106: Ortiz vs Griffin 2

Defeating Tito Ortiz.
In their rematch, Forrest Griffin was motivated to avenge his close defeat at the hands of Ortiz 3 years prior, but also to rub out the leftover mental demons which terrorized Griffin after the devastating knockout the Georgia native suffered at the hands of Anderson Silva. Griffin looked great in the fight, showing superior standup, good takedown defense, solid defense off his back, nice sweeps as well as excellent scrambling ability. He won a hard earned unanimous decision in a great comeback fight from a tough defeat.

3)
April 9, 2005
The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale

Winning the Ultimate Fighter reality series.
In a fight which has been dubbed as the fight which saved mixed martial arts, Forrest Griffin edged out Stephan Bonnar in a barb-burner of a brawl where both men stood toe to toe and duked it out to the maximum their bodies would allow them to. In a very close and action packed bout which headlined the first MMA event on free television, Spike TV viewers treated to an incredible bout which left everyone on their feet and in awe of the spectacular heart displayed in the cage.

2)
September 22, 2007
UFC 76: Knockout

Tapping out Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
In what many MMA pundits thought might be a complete thrashing, turned out to be a tremendous upset. The highly touted and accomplished Shogun was expected by many to defeat Griffin handily in his UFC debut, but Griffin not only pulled off the incredible upset win but tapped out the Brazilian sensation with a rear naked choke.

1)
July 5, 2008
UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin

Winning the UFC title by defeating Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Griffin was once again an underdog in this bout and was expected by many to be manhandled and outstruck by the light-heavyweight champion at the time–Rampage. But Griffin fought hard, put Jackson in some major trouble in round 2, and pulled off the upset in a very close, but unanimous, decision after 5 rounds of entertaining fighting. Griffin was awarded the UFC 205 pound title with the victory.

Forrest Griffin defeated Tito Ortiz via split decision, and Josh Koscheck stopped Anthony Johnson in round 2 via rear naked choke at UFC 106. Griffin was impressive in outstriking Ortiz, stuffing takedowns, and when taken down by the Californian light-heavyweight, Griffin did a good job in avoiding major damage like in their first fight and scrambling back to his feet. In the striking it was clear Griffin had the edge, most notably in round 3, where he mounted an attack on Ortiz which was answered with no retaliation from the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy.” It was a great win for Griffin to help the erase the catastrophic defeat to Anderson Silva, which left Griffin mentally broken. Ortiz’s plans to regain the light-heavyweight crown and make a run for the title are temporarily derailed. Congrats to both for fighting hard and showing heart.

Josh Koscheck showed some good standup, good wrestling shots of course, and a nice finishing ability with BJJ as he rear naked choked Anthony Johnson in their bout. Johnson showed a lot of promise in round 1 and had some good attack on Koscheck on the feet, but in round 2 Koscheck was able to do a good job in attacking hard on the ground with elbows after taking “Rumble” down, and from there being able to find a way to get Johnson’s back and make the most of it.

Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin will duke it out this Saturday in a rematch to see who moves back up the ladder at 205, and who is forced to step down another rung at light-heavyweight. Here are some factors to consider:

WRESTLING
Tito Ortiz has always depended on solid wrestling to score some of his biggest wins during his heyday as UFC light-heavyweight champ. When things get tough on the feet, Ortiz can always fire back with punches or decide to shoot in for a single and double to turn things around. In fact it was probably a late takedown in his first fight with Forrest Griffin which ended up helping the Mexican-American light-heavyweight get the nod in a close fight. Having this strong wrestling pedigree under his belt will allow Ortiz to dictate where the fight will take place. Griffin has takedown defense, but Ortiz’s skill and relentlessness in shooting in for doubles and singles should allow him to plant Griffin on his back. From there Ortiz will most likely look to score some vintage “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” ground and pound, as opposed to looking for submissions from the top position.

JIU JITSU
Speaking of submissions, Griffin has a pretty solid and often underrated BJJ game. But the same could be said for Tito Ortiz. Griffin tapped out the man many feel should be wearing the UFC light-heavyweight gold right now, and Ortiz came close to catching the man currently holding said gold belt, Lyoto Machida, when Ortiz exploded with a well-executed triangle choke. Both fighters have a good ground game in terms of BJJ, but I see them cancelling each other out on the ground in that respect. The big edge on the ground will not be submissions but the ground and pound striking from up top that Ortiz will rain down.

STRIKING
Both fighters showed in the first fight that they can get the better of one another when it comes to striking. Griffin would have the advantage in leg kicks and perhaps gives him an edge in the overall striking game. He also has a lot more confidence this time out against Ortiz–the first time they fought it was his first time competing against a big name competitor like Ortiz. Griffin could possibly have the slight edge and has good leg kicks, but that kicking advantage could prove to be a detriment to the Las Vegas resident for when he attacks with the leg Ortiz could be ready to pounce by grabbing the leg and rushing in for the takedown. That threat of being taking down could nullify the effectiveness of the Griffin’s kicking game. Ortiz has already thrown out that threat verbally in the pre-fight promotional banter.

MINDSET
Both fighters really need a win right now. Griffin is coming off the most difficult defeat of his career. He appeared to be very shook up about the whole situation and has had to pick up the pieces and get back to the drawing board. I thought that loss might still be impacting him but Griffin appears to have successfully erased and suppressed the negativity surrounding his last performance and has a renewed intensity for Ortiz. This rematch gives him a chance to avenge a loss he felt he didn’t suffer in the first place. He’s really motivated to win this fight. Ortiz is looking to start a new chapter in his career and go for one final run at the 205 pound title. He’s injury free, in a good place with president Dana White and the UFC brass, and looking to be in tip top shape for this upcoming intense battle.

THE RESULT
I’ve flip flopped on this one a lot, but I’ll stick with Ortiz in this one. He has solid wrestling in his back pocket and that can allow him to get Griffin on his back. From there he can land some really brutal ground and pound. I think the advantage Ortiz has the the ground in terms of doing damage with strikes is greater than any advantage Griffin may have over Ortiz in terms of striking on the feet. I think we might end up with a similar finish to this fight, a close decision, perhaps controversial, going the way of Tito Ortiz. With many fans and people in the MMA industry discouraged with judging in MMA these days, a judges decision could be a very unpredictable event. Nonetheless I’ll predict 29-28 for Ortiz on all 3 judges’ scorecards.

“He wasn’t injured. He’s an emotional guy and he just didn’t feel like sticking around. He’s done that before. After the Jardine fight, they kind of surrounded him a little bit, but he said a couple of things into the mic and left the cage pretty quickly. Just the emotions of…here is a guy who is very confident that he could win this fight and he just never had a chance to get off. He’s an emotional creature, so he left the cage. It wasn’t really a big deal. I think people are making a bigger deal about it then it really is. It wasn’t anything left to see anyway. Anderson had beaten him and it wasn’t like it was going to a decision. We already knew what happened, so he decided to go into the back and get his tape off and get changed and everything else. I think he was kind of comforting us more than anything else because we were all down and bothered and you know, that’s that.”

– Xtreme Couture boxing coach Ron Frazier talking to FightHype.com

I’m in Hollywood minding my own business & I look over.. & I see Forrest… he’s still running!
–Rampage Jackson

“His guard was loose as far as where his hands were and he was letting me hit him. He was not defending, so I thought he might still be hurt. But because he was smiling the whole time, I didn’t know if he was hurt or if he was just pretending. So I was like, ‘Well, I’ll just keep hitting him in the smiling face’ and then he stopped smiling.”

-Rashad Evans on defeating Forrest Griffin at UFC 92