Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin meet in the Octagon on Saturday to rematch their epic battle from UFC 59, where Tito won a split decision. Monday night on Spike TV go behind the scenes on the lead-up to the rematch with "Countdown to UFC 106."
The battle continues as Ortiz returns the Octagon to face Griffin once again in a light heavyweight battle for the history books. Don't miss the action Saturday November 21st in Las Vegas.
"If the worst thing that happens to Gina (Carano) or Forrest (Griffin) is they lose a fight, they're doing pretty damn good."
Such are the words of the namesake of Carano and Griffin's training gym, Xtreme Couture, former UFC champion Randy Couture.
"It's all part of the process. I don't think there's anything negative there," said Couture during a media call on Tuesday to promotion his upcoming fight at UFC 102 with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
"Obviously, Forrest was very emotional in the cage when he lost to Anderson (Silva), but I think that's because he works so damn hard, and like everybody, we all hate to lose. He's been back in the gym already. I saw him (Monday) here and he's back to training."
With a professional record of 16-9, Couture has been through the ups and downs of mixed martial arts many times. It all comes with the territory if you want to be a professional athlete, he says.
"I don't necessarily see that as a negative. It's all part of the learning and growing process," Couture pontificated.
"The same thing for Gina. Obviously she was a little embarrassed by the outcome (in losing to Cris Cyborg), but overall she did a great job in that fight. She had some opportunities to win and she did some good things. She did some things we trained to do.
"I think the adversity of losing that fight is going to be very, very important for her development as a fighter.
"I know from my own experience, the fights that I've lost were very important to me, and if I could go back and change them, I don't think I would. I think I learned more and became a better person and a better athlete for having experienced those things.
"And I know Gina and Forrest are both in that same boat."
The Countdown to UFC 101 airs Tuesday night at 11 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV. UFC 101 features lightweight champion B.J. Penn defending against No. 1 contender Kenny Florian, and middelweight champ Anderson Silva once again moving up to light heavyweight to take on Forrest Griffin.
So you're in a fight, slumped over your opponent's back, firing punches at the side of his/her head to no avail. You want your opponent to move so you can get into a more dominant position. What technique should you master?
The technique, spun into comedic gold by Griffin and grappling coach Neil Melanson, gets your opponent to move by placing your hand where the sun doesn't shine.
Griffin says they'll move real quick after that. Yes, there are pictures.
Who taught the former champion this method?
"Randy taught me several things similar to that, and he tries to make it seem all innocent like you're not grabbing another man's (expletive), but Neil's just like, 'nah, you gotta do the Asian Dart,'" Griffin told MMAInsider. "You hit that sensitive area, and dude is gonna pop up and move."
The "Dart" is just one of the many funny passages inside the book, which Griffin says he has enough material for a sequel. Check it out... it's worth the read.
UFC president Dana White, former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin, and No. 1 lightweight contender Kenny Florian, were guests for a brief spot on Friday's episode of Dr. Phil.
The major theme of the show was the dangerous things that teenagers are involved in these days. The segment with the UFC centered around kids who think they're going to get into the fight game by participating in their own backyard fight clubs, video recording them, and loading them up on YouTube.
The trio of White, Griffin, and Florian quickly shot down any ideas that the youngsters may have had about getting into the cage via the backyard. Even Dr. Phil pointed out that the fighters that compete at the level of the UFC are "highly trained athletes."
It was all of about a five-minute segment on the 1-hour show, but as the sport grows in popularity, it's a good, if not small, step in clearing up the misgivings of just what type of fighter is able to compete at the professional level of mixed martial arts.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin has plunged headlong into main event with Anderson Silva at UFC 101. The affable fighter was originally booked to face Thiago Silva, but jumped at the idea of fighting "The Spider."
"This is going to be one ridiculous match," Griffin wrote on his official blog for sports nutrition company BSN. "I need to be mentally prepared to fight this guy. The past few fights, it looks like nobody has really lived up to their potential when going up against Spider. I want to at least come in and fight up to my ability. I'm just focused on dealing with him, showing up prepared and getting an actual fight going."
To get the fight going, he'll need to have his mind and heart right, and that's where Dr. Phil comes in.
The Texan talk show host had Griffin as a guest Wednesday in an episode to air on May 14. The show's theme is unknown, but if history is any indication, don't count on Griffin getting too touchy-feely.
Griffin will also embark on a book tour next month for the soon to be released "Got Fight?" featuring his quirky ideas on life and the fight game.
The latest edition of ESPN.com's MMA Live features Kyle Maynard following his unsanctioned MMA debut, the Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin match-up for UFC 101, an update to Strikeforce's June 6 fight card, Bellator, and more.
Every time you see a Greg Jackson trained fighter enter the Octagon, you can expect to see them tweak their nipples before entering combat. It's become a tradition, and since it's inception, it has yielded strong results for Jackson's fighters in the UFC.
Heading into UFC 92, Rashad Evans prepared for the biggest fight of his career taking on Forrest Griffin for the UFC light heavyweight title. But as Bruce Buffer introduced the fighters, Evans forgot to perform the ritual.
According to a superstitious teammate, that's why Evans lost the first two rounds against Griffin. "I didn't do the nipple tweak," said the UFC light heavyweight titleholder. "Jardine pointed it out. He said, 'Know what? I think that's maybe why you started off slow, man. You didn't get the nipple tweak in.'
"That's exactly what I get," added Evans. "I realized after the fight started that I didn't do the nipple tweak. I was like, man, what's going on? I lost my mojo."
MMAWeekly.com was on the scene at UFC 92 and following the light heavyweight title fight on Saturday night, now former champion Forrest Griffin left the arena to head to the hospital and get treated for a broken hand.
It is unknown at this time at what point in the fight Griffin suffered the broken hand, but he had mentioned in his post fight comments that he was heading to the hospital.
It was assumed at the time the trip was for a possible concussion with the TKO suffered to end the fight.
Griffin looked very good in his first title defense, but fell victim to a vicious ground and pound attack from new champion, Rashad Evans, who won his first UFC title while keeping his record perfect in the process.
Everyone knows Rashad Evans for his obvious strength in wrestling, as displayed in most of his fights, but most prominently against Tito Ortiz. Coming off of his stunning knockout of Chuck Liddell, will the winner of The Ultimate Fighter season 2 chance slugging it out with UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin at UFC 92 on Saturday night?
He sure might.
"When you have a major wrestling background, you learn to use it as a defense. So you know you're not going to get taken down by somebody and you can take a little bit more chances on your feet and slug it out," said Evans.
"The hard part is just getting yourself to be comfortable enough to stand up and throw the blows. Sometimes you throw a couple of shots and someone catches you with one and the next thing you know is you want to wrap them up. You've just got to ignore that instinct and you've just got to just fight through it."
So in the first championship battle between Ultimate Fighter winners, will we see an epic battle similar to the Stephan Bonnar vs. Forrest Griffin fight that launched The Ultimate Fighter franchise?
Who knows? But we'll find out Saturday night at UFC 92.
For the first time in UFC history, two winners of The Ultimate Fighter reality series on Spike TV will square off for a UFC championship. Forrest Griffin won the inaugural season of the show and defeated Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to capture the UFC light heavyweight title, while Rashad Evans won season two of the show. Now they will face each other on Dec. 27 at UFC 92 in Las Vegas.
Ryan Bader won the light heavyweight division of the most recent edition of The Ultimate Fighter, the show's eighth season. On a recent episode of MMAWeekly Radio, The Ultimate Fighter gave his thoughts on the UFC 92 title bout, the first ever "All Ultimate Fighter" championship if you will.
"It's hard to say. I think if Rashad uses his wrestling, he could definitely, probably win a decision," said Bader. "If he tries to stand the whole time, I think Forrest is just going to stay on the outside and pick him apart a little bit and also win a decision.
"Rashad is coming off his knockout of Chuck (Liddell) and he's pretty confident in his hands. I think Forrest is going to nitpick at him the whole time, but if Rashad goes back and takes him down at least once a round, I think he can definitely win," Bader continued. "So it's going to be hard, but I'm going to say, I'm actually going to say Rashad is going to take the belt.
"It's a scary thing when a wrestler has boxing."
Now there's an overly committed pick that makes you want to go out and bet the house.
At UFC 86 back in July, Forrest Griffin took the first step in solidifying the worth of The Ultimate Fighter reality series as a fight factory for the UFC. He beat Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in a five-round war, and in the process, took his UFC light heavyweight belt, making Griffin the first Ultimate Fighter alum to win a UFC championship.
On Saturday night at UFC 92 in Las Vegas, another Ultimate Fighter milestone will be reached when Ultimate Fighter Season 1 winner Forrest Griffin and Ultimate Fighter Season 2 winner Rashad Evans fight for the title. The bout marks the first time two veterans of the reality series have battled for a belt.
"I think it's a great compliment to Forrest and myself," Evans noted of the distinction of the fight and The Ultimate Fighter ties. "Since I came off the show, I've been trying to keep up with Forrest because he set the tone coming off the show. He did excellent. But I have to show everyone that I can do my thing as well and it just wasn't a reality show."
Evans went on to comment about how he believes that The Ultimate Fighter is producing top tier talent, the superstars of the future for the UFC. "We're in a position right now, to really show that the show works to get the best talent out there and these fighters are going to be the fighters of the future. We're going to be the Chuck Liddells and the Randy Coutures because we have a following because the fans were watching us from the ground up."
With each passing day, the third fight between "The Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson draws nearer and nearer. As Silva prepares for the fight, he has branched out his training to extend to his own gym which will open in January after his bout at UFC 92.
Silva spoke to MMAWeekly Radio recently about his training and especially dealing with someone like Randy Couture to help prepare him.
"I'm training at (Xtreme) Couture for this fight. Cause (Randy) Couture is an amazing guy, I like him a lot," Silva said. "He opened his gym for me, he helped me a lot after I move here to Vegas, he's an amazing guy."
Working with a wide variety of training partners, Silva gets specialized help in every area and this week his gym will open up to old friend and current UFC heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
"I'm training at (Xtreme) Couture and training at my gym. Because this week, (Antonio Rodrigo) Nogueira coming to train at my gym with his team," Silva stated. "He has a lot of strong guys, good jiu-jitsu, good guys for takedowns, and I'm training in my gym with him. I'm training my boxing with Skip Kelps, he's from Vegas and he's very good at boxing. I train my wrestling with Mike Whitehead, he has amazing jiu-jitsu and he's so much stronger."
Wanderlei also says that he expects to invite another champion into his gym to work with Nogueira over the next few days.
"Tomorrow I invited Forrest (Griffin) to train with me and (Nogueira). Maybe Forrest is going to train with Nogueira and with me tomorrow. Tomorrow is a hot day in my gym!"
Silva says he'll slow down on a couple of days out from the actual fight, but until then he will be at full force getting ready for his match-up against Jackson next Saturday night.
Tickets for UFC 92 "The Ultimate 2008" go on sale to the general public beginning Saturday, Oct. 25 at 10 a.m. PT. There are presale options to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public.
Starting Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 10 a.m. PT, tickets for UFC 92 go on sale to UFC Fight Club members. And on Friday, Oct. 24 at 10 a.m. PT, tickets go on sale to newsletter subscribers.
UFC 92 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Dec. 27 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It features three of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's highest profile fights of the year. Forrest Griffin puts his newly won light heavyweight championship on the line against Rashad Evans, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defends his heavyweight interim belt against fellow Ultimate Fighter 8 coach Frank Mir, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson returns to the Octagon to try and avenge two brutal losses to Wanderlei Silva.
Typically, most people automatically say whoever holds the title in the UFC is the No. 1 guy in that division, at least in the UFC, right?
Well, Keith Jardine isn't so sure... and that's not because he's bragging and saying that he is the No. 1 guy in the UFC's 205-pound division.
Obviously referring to a crazy round-robin of wins and losses, the UFC's light heavyweight division does make for some strange MMA math. Rampage beat Liddell who beat Wanderlei who beat Jardine who beat Forrest who beat Rampage and is the champ. Say what?!
"This was a huge fight," said Jardine after his win over Brandon Vera at UFC 89 before adding, "The division is weird. Forrest (Griffin) is the champ right now, but who knows who the best guy is? It could be the number one guy. It could be the number ten guy. There's a lot of undefeated guys. There's a lot of guys coming up. I think it's going take a year or so to sort this thing out."
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