The Impact of Ortiz vs. Griffin 2

On April 15, 2006 at UFC 59, Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz clashed in an amazing fight. Tito Ortiz dominated Forrest the whole first round before Forrest actually came back in the second and third rounds to give "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" a serious run for his money.

When the third round ended, fans were on their feet wondering who would actually pull off the win.

Judge number one scored the contest 30-27 for Ortiz, judge number two scored it 29-28 for Griffin and judge number three scored it 29-27 Ortiz. Tito had pulled off the split-decision win over Griffin and a lot of fans were left wondering if the right choice had been made.

Both men had agreed after the fight, that a rematch should take place somewhere down the line. That line has led both men to UFC 106 in Las Vegas. Initially slated to fight Mark Coleman, the returning Tito Ortiz will now fight Forrest Griffin in a rematch that fans have been waiting for for the last three years.

The idea of having Tito fight Coleman was a good one since Tito would of most likely dominated Coleman in all aspects of the fight. Ortiz would have been back with a pretty big win and looking for top challengers for his next fight.

Forrest Griffin, as we all know, is coming off two crushing losses to Rashad Evans and Anderson Silva. Is a fight against Tito in his best interest?

Both men have potentially not much to gain with a win, and way too much to lose. Tito hasn't fought in over a year and despite him saying he's in the best shape of his life, is it really true. The initial fight against Coleman was a good one for Tito. A potential loss to Griffin in his return fight to the UFC could set him back quite a bit.

A loss for Griffin at this point would be devastating, who knows in what state of mind he is right now after his last two fights. If Forrest is broken down it could be Ortiz's chance to pull off the win and send Forrest in a downward spiral he could possibly never recover from.

With that said, both men are really different from the last time they fought.

Forrest had only fought twice since winning The Ultimate Fighter's first season. Up to date, he's fought Shogun Rua, Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans and he's a former UFC light-heavyweight champion. On the other hand, if Tito really is in the best shape of his life, it could be a long night for Forrest.

Either way you put it, the loser of this fight will suffer a crushing loss that could potentially affect the rest of his career. So looking back at it right now, was it a wise choice to meet Tito Ortiz Forrest Griffin in the ring for the second time?