Forrest Griffin (17-6-0) avenged his April 2006 controversial decision loss to Tito Ortiz (15-7-1) in a clearly deserved decision victory last night during the Ultimate Fighting Championship 106 event broadcast on pay per view from Las Vegas. While many observers felt that Forrest deserved the decision in the first fight and was robbed by the judges, there was no doubt that he was the victor last night. If there was any controversy, it was that the decision wasn’t unanimous and that any judge scored the fight in Ortiz’s favor.

In some ways, last night’s fight was similar to the two fighters’ first meeting in the UFC Octagon. Their game plans were basically the same in both fights: Forrest wanted to stay standing and strike, while Tito wanted to take Forrest down and pound him with punches and elbows. The main difference between the two fights was that Tito was much more effective in carrying out his strategy in the first fight. He really battered and bloodied Forrest in the first round before fading in the second and third rounds.

A Nasty Cut and a Faceful of Blood

Last night, Forrest did a much better job of defending himself and preventing damage while he was on his back. He didn’t get hurt at all in the first round, but he did catch an elbow to the right eye that resulted in a nasty cut and left him covered in blood. His cutman was able to contain the bleeding between rounds, however, and the bleeding was not a factor in the third round.

Forrest also did a great job of finding a way to get back up to his feet after getting grounded in the first and second rounds. While the fighters were on their feet, Forrest was clearly the better man, continuously scoring with punches and kicks while dodging and slipping Tito’s punches. In the third round, Tito really did nothing at all beyond standing there and trying to block punches and kicks. Forrest, however, stayed active and picked Tito apart, landing strikes everywhere on Tito’s body.

Cracked Skull a Factor? Crowd Doesn’t Wanna Hear It

After the fight, both fighters quickly suggested that they wanted to fight again. They also both alluded to injuries. Forrest seemed to indicate that he had a broken foot, and Tito mentioned bulging disks and a cracked skull. Indeed, Tito had a discolored eye socket and a visibly swollen brow coming into the fight, and he did look more hurt in the third round than he should have been from the damage Forrest was able to inflict.

Many people booed Tito when he started talking about injuries, and he became defensive about it, asking the crowd if they didn’t get a good performance from him. In a show of sportsmanship, Forrest addressed the crowd in Tito’s defense, noting that many fighters have to fight while injured. But I think they both missed the point. I don’t think the crowd was booing Tito’s performance. I think they were booing him. The bottom line is that Forrest is a nice guy, while Tito is an arrogant blowhard.

(I should note here that I’ve always disliked the fact that Tito ripped off Tank Abbott’s nickname, The Huntington Beach Bad Boy, and I was planning to refer to him in this article as The Huntington Beach Butt Boy. I will, however, refrain from doing so at this time, so as not to kick a guy when he’s down. There’s no guarantee, however, that I won’t use that moniker in the future.)

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