UFC 106: The Five Bullet Point Preview

Good lord, there's a lot of mixed martial arts going on right now. The fourth and arguably biggest show of the week is set for Las Vegas Saturday night with UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin II, headlined by a main event that features the return of a former champion most thought would never come back against a former champion that needs a big win in the worst way possible.

Originally scheduled to be headlined by Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, there could be worse main events for UFC 106 than Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin II and as both men are being introduced, suddenly no one will care about what could have been and will focus on what's in front of them.

With a win, Ortiz can erase his period of inactivity and stake a claim for a future shot at the Light-Heavyweight title. With a loss, he can simply say that it was his first fight back from a major injury and that he'll be better next time—the ultimate no-lose situation.

Griffin, however, needs a win, badly, coming off two straight losses to Rashad Evans (where he lost his L.H. title) and Anderson Silva (an embarrassing and overwhelming KO defeat). He wouldn't be in danger of getting cut like most fighters with three losses, but it would become that much harder to justify putting him among the top 205'ers in the division—fanfare or not.

However, a victory gets him back on track for another high-profile fight in the late-spring.

Let's jump into the UFC 106 Five Bullet Point Preview, shall we?

Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin (205)

• After fighting four times along in 2006, Ortiz (15-6-1) has stepped into the Octagon just twice in the last three years and hasn't won since KO'ing Ken Shamrock in October of 2006.
  
  
• After a unanimous decision over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 25 gave him the Light-Heavyweight title, Ortiz defended the title a record five times over almost three years before dropping it to Randy Couture at UFC 44.
  
  
• The 30-year-old Griffin has never lost by submission, but Ortiz has only two submission victories to his credit.
  
  
• When Griffin (16-6) wins fights, it's either by submission (7) or decision (6).
  
  
• This fight ultimately will come down to the big unknown of Ortiz. While he's touting that the back surgery he had last year has made him a new man, there's a lot of ring rust to be scraped off—even for a veteran. Griffin last fought in August and is ready for redemption. This should be a very good fight that will go the distance.
  
  

Anthony Johnson vs. Josh Koscheck (170)

• Necessity is the mother of fight-making, as this one literally was put together about three weeks ago. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.
  
  
• Johnson's last fight was a :41 knockout of Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 104 last month, the same fight he completely missed weight for by a good six pounds. It was his third straight win.
  
  
• Koscheck (13-4) has had a little more time to rest, having last decimated Frank Trigg via first round TKO at UFC 104 in late-September.
  
  
• The 31-year-old Koscheck can beat people in a variety of ways (4 T/KOs, 4 submissions, 5 decisions) but has two straight first round T/KOs.
  
  
• The 8-2 Johnson likes to win via one method: T/KO. His first loss was via submission, so it will be really interesting to see what happens when Koscheck attempts to ground the fight and how Johnson counteracts.
  
  

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Luiz Cane (205)

• Rogerio is the younger brother of Rodrigo Nogueira, aka Minotauro. His nickname is Minotouro which isn't confusing or anything.
  
  
• Rogerio (17-3) will be making his UFC debut after a long run in PRIDE and some scattered shows including two Affliction events. He comes into Saturday on a five-fight win streak.
  
  
• The 28-year-old Cane will be making his fourth UFC appearance and has won three fights in a row, last decisioning Steve Cantwell at April's UFC 97.
  
  
• Even with a black belt in BJJ, Cane prefers T/KO to finish off opponents with eight of his 10 wins coming via strikes.
  
  
• Nogueira has a slew of decision wins (seven) and submission victories (six), but three of his last five wins have been via T/KO.
  
  

Amir Sadollah vs. Phil Baroni (170)

• This will be the third fight for Sadollah (1-1), who last lost via controversial first round TKO to Johnny Hendricks at August's UFC 101.
  
  
• The 29-year-old Sadollah is still a bit of an unknown with just two pro fights and four amateur fights. Since winning TUF 7, he's been plagued by injuries and the Hendricks fight was his first since winning the competition.
  
  
• This will mark Baroni's return to the UFC—his first tilt in the Octagon since February 2005 when he left the organization after a four-fight losing streak.
  
  
• The 33-year old Baroni has been known more for his mouth and slugfests than any type of win streaks as he brings a 13-11 mark to the cage Saturday night. He has won three of his last four, last losing by decision to Joe Riggs at a Strikeforce event this summer.
  
  
• When Baroni wins, it's by TKO and when he loses, it's either by TKO or decision. He doesn't give up, which will make this an interesting clash of style. Sadollah is a black belt in sambo and a white belt in BJJ, so I would assume he'd look to take this down to the ground.
  
  

Paulo Thiago vs. Jacob Volkmann (170)

• After starting his career at 11-0, Thiago finally tasted defeat in his last fight—a decision loss to Jon Fitch at UFC 100 (a fight that was actually after Lesnar/Mir due to scheduling).
  
  
• Volkmann makes his UFC debut after compiling a 9-0 record in the regionals, last winning via 1st round submission in May for Bellator Fighting Championships.
  
  
• Thiago made his UFC debut by TKO'ing Josh Koscheck in the first round at UFC 95, fighting solely in Brazil before that.
  
  
• This fight will likely be two guys battling for submissions as they have a combined 12 tapout wins out of 20 victories.
  
  
• Watch for a fast start from Volkmann, who has six first-round wins to his credit.
  

Josh Nason has published MMA, wrestling and boxing blog Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007. He is a contributor to Fight Magazine and Bleacher Report and appears regularly on Fight Network Radio . Follow him on Twitter .