Ortiz vs. Griffin: Tito Ortiz Retirement Comes a Year Too Late

Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin will fight each other for the third time in their careers on Saturday. Ortiz stated the rubber match with Griffin will be his last, but it is likely a year too late to allow him to leave the sport on a positive note.

Ortiz secured a Round 1 submission win against Ryan Bader last July and has posted two consecutive losses since.

Ortiz was a better fighter than Griffin earlier in his career, but "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" will have a difficult time submitting the younger and better-conditioned Griffin. 

Ortiz will need to find more success getting Griffin to the mat, a feat he struggled with in their 2009 fight, and he needs to do so early.

It is difficult to picture Ortiz being able to win a full-length fight.

Perhaps the best shot Ortiz has at a win is to counter a Griffin punch and get an early takedown. Ortiz can win if the bout turns into a wrestling match.

Very little can detract from the success Ortiz had over his career. His first fight came in UFC 13, a first-round TKO. It eventually led him to the light heavyweight championship.

However, 15 years of fighting has taken a toll and Ortiz has stated he wants to move on in other areas of his life...most notably being a father, something he missed growing up.

Tito Ortiz speaking to MMAWeekly Radio, via Yahoo Sports:

"

I'm settled in it. Training's not as fun as it used to be. The training is tough. Tough on my body, tough on my mind and I've been doing it for 15 years. I've been doing this over and over and over again and I miss a normal life. Where I put my time in, 15 years, almost two decades and I put my time in. I did everything I wanted to do in the UFC and mixed martial arts, and I think I made a difference.

Being a father to my children is something I've always wanted, to be there for them. I always wanted to make sure I had their futures taken care of. Now their future's taken care of, they can pick whichever college they want to go to, now it's time to be a loving father and be there for them and do what my father never did.

"

This will be a record-setting 27th fight for Ortiz. He lost the last two in convincing fashion and was on a five-fight winless streak prior to beating Bader a year ago. One of those fights was a split-decision loss to Griffin in 2009.

While he was once a feared champion, that fighter has been absent for the last several years. He's attempted to improve his striking efforts in his last two fights, but a Round 1 and a Round 2 TKO reflect that might not have been the best strategy.

Ortiz looks at his departure from the Octagon a bit differently than retiring. “It's not that I'm retiring, I'm graduating,” Ortiz stated.

"I'm graduating with a Masters in promotion and a Masters in marketing. That's what it comes down to pretty much, with everything I've done over the last 15 years. I'm 37 years old and I've still got a bright future, I'm going to do some big things.”

With the very real potential to go out on a three-fight losing streak, perhaps Ortiz should have attempted to graduate early...or at least earlier. 

Even if he isn't able to go out with a win, Ortiz's fans aren't likely to mind. They will be happy to watch him fight one final time—win, lose or draw.