UFC 106 - Ortiz vs Griffin 2
UFC 106 definitely turned out to be a much more action packed filled card than UFC 105. There were numerous illegal blows, eye pokes, fighters running away, the whining of “I was robbed”, and none the less, the unequivocal idiotic scoring done by the usual suspects, “The Judges”. It seems this fight card had something for everybody watching.
Kendall Grove vs. Jake Rosholt was the first fight on the prelim card to be shown on Spike TV that night. Rosholt was controlling the action in the first round and going for takedowns but found it difficult to hold Grove down. Grove used his BJJ skills and long legs to submit Rosholt with a triangle leg choke in the first round.
Marcus Davis vs. Ben Saunders was an explosive fight which did not disappoint the fight fans. Davis tried his best to get inside of Saunders long reach, but I knew it would be difficult for him deal with that height difference. In the clinch, Saunders proved to be lethal with his muay-thai skills. Saunders landed some vicious knees to Davis’ head and it resulted in him being KO in the first round. Great showing for Saunders against a dangerous puncher like Davis.
Amir Sadollah vs. Phil “NYBA” Baroni proved that Sadollah could actually take on an opponent with a made name in MMA. Once again, anybody who has ever watched a Baroni fight knows it is a matter of time before he gases out, and normally it always happens after round one. After Sadollah survived the barrage of punches from Baroni in the first round, he was able to score in the clinch with his muay-thai knees and elbows in the later rounds. Sadollah went on to win the fight by unanimous decision using leg strikes to brutalize Baroni’s legs. I have to give Baroni credit for having the heart to go the distance even though he was finished in the first round.
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Luis Cane featured a fighter chasing another fighter literally around the cage. Nogueria came out in round one using his boxing skills to exploit Cane’s standup skills. As soon as Cane tasted the power from Nogueria’s punches, he felt it was time to get on his bike and go. Nogueira chased Cane around the cage like it was an episode of Cops. Once Nogueria caught up to Cane to deliver some more punishment, Cane went down from punches and the fight was stopped in the first round by TKO. Not sure if Cane was doing a commercial for Nike running shoes, but it looked pretty silly for a big man to be running in the cage. It was a dominating performance for Nogueria’s first fight in the UFC. Watch out LHW division, Lil’ Nog is the real deal.
Paulo Thiago vs. Jacob Volkmann was a back and forth fight all the way through three rounds and the fans began to boo for what they felt was not enough action. In the third round, both fighters attempted submission holds, but it seemed like neither fighter wanted to or could finish their opponent. It was a unanimous decision for Thiago by the judges. I am still scratching my head on a unanimous decision call by the judges, but they are known for sheer nonsense calls.
Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson received Fight of the Night honors. Both fighters came out throwing punches at each other in round one trying to take heads off. Koscheck started going for takedowns and was on his knees at one point when Johnson threw an illegal knee to his face. From the replay, it looked as if the knee did not do that much damage, but Koscheck was lying on the ground in pain. Koscheck got up and recovered to finish the round out. Second round, the fighters come out swinging again and Koscheck throws a finger to the eye of Johnson. Johnson recovers and again Koscheck throws another finger to his eye. Koscheck is warned by the referee and the fight begins again. Koscheck takes Johnson down and begins to deliver some serious ground and pound. Johnson is bleeding badly and trying his best to escape from the bottom. Then Koscheck takes Johnson’s back and begins to slip in the rear-naked choke leaving the battered Johnson no choice but to tap or take a nap. Koscheck wins fight by rear-naked choke submission in round 2. To make the night more memorable, Koscheck calls out Dan Hardy and lets him and Dana White know that he is taking the spot to fight GSP for his title. Koscheck continues to walk through fighters placed in front of him. Maybe he gets the winner of Hardy vs. GSP.
UFC 106
The main event featuring Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin proved to be another great fight between the two. Both fighters came out pushing the action in round one, but I gave that round to Ortiz for getting the takedown on Griffin. In the second round, Forrest seemed to push the action from the beginning using leg kicks and jabs. Then Ortiz gets a takedown and begins to punish Griffin with some ground and pound opening up a cut on Griffin. Ortiz may have won that round if he didn’t let Griffin get a takedown on him towards the end of the round. The third round begins and you can see that Ortiz is gassed. Griffin turns it on even more and dominates this round from beginning to end. Ortiz seemed content to take punishment and not do a damn bit of fighting. Around the three minute mark, you see Ortiz look up at the clock to see how much longer he needed to hang on. I understand he is gassed, but this is supposed to be the fight of your life, suck it up and attempt to get another takedown on Griffin to make this fight a close decision in your favor. Griffin wins the fight by split decision and deservedly so because he did what was needed to win. Forrest Griffin, definitely “Got Fight” in my book.
In my opinion, this was a great night of action fights for the UFC. I do believe UFC 107 may step up to be even better, at least on paper. The only black eye on the night was the whining and crying of Tito Ortiz talking about he got robbed. I am a fan of Ortiz and I can honestly say, pull up your skirt and tighten your panties Tito. You quit in round three and you know it. Watch the fight again and wake up and smell the coffee!!
Payouts
Courtesy of MMA Junkie:
Forrest Griffin: $250,000 ($100k + $150k win bonus)
Tito Ortiz: $250,000
Josh Koscheck: $106,000 ($53k + $53k)
Anthony Johnson: $17,000
Paulo Thiago: $16,000 ($8k + $8k)
Jacob Volkmann: $6,000
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: $100,000 ($70k + $30k)
Luiz Cane: $19,000
Amir Sadollah: $30,000 ($15k + $15k)
Phil Baroni: $25,000
Ben Saunders: $20,000 ($10k + $10k)
Marcus Davis: $27,000
Kendall Grove: $44,000 ($22k + $22k)
Jake Rosholt: $15,000
Brian Foster: $12,000 ($6k + $6k)
Brock Larson: $26,000
Caol Uno: $20,000 (draw, no win bonus)
Fabricio Camoes: $10,000
George Sotiropoulos: $20,000 ($10k + $10k)
Jason Dent: $8,000
Bonuses
$70,000 bonus to each fighter.
Knockout of the Night – Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Submission of the Night – Josh Koscheck
Fight of the Night – Josh Koscheck & Anthony Johnson
Total Payout
A disclosed total of $1,301,000, including all bonuses, was paid out to the fighters.
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