Two former UFC light-heavyweight champions are scheduled to meet for a third time, as a trilogy bout between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin has been added to the UFC 148 card on July 7 in Las Vegas.
Ortiz and Griffin first met at UFC 59 in April 2006, when the veteran Ortiz beat the rising star Griffin by split decision. The two fought again three years later at UFC 106 with Griffin coming out on top, also by split nod.
Ortiz (16-10-1) is coming off a TKO loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 140 in Toronto and has lost six of his last eight fights dating back to 2006. The 37-year-old has one fight remaining on his UFC contract and has stated that he intends to retire once he has fulfilled his contract, which would mean the bout with Griffin will be his last in the Octagon. Ortiz specifically requested to fight Griffin for his farewell bout.
Griffin (18-7) is coming off a KO loss to Mauricio (Shogun) Rua at UFC 134 in Brazil in August. The 32-year-old has stated that he believes a third fight with Ortiz makes sense and was willing to accept the challenge.
While not official, it is expected that the event will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and be headlined by the bantamweight title bout between champion Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.
The Barbarian vs. The Count
Tim Boetsch got his wish and will fight Michael Bisping at UFC 148.
Boetsch (15-4) is coming off one of the more memorable comeback wins in recent MMA history. At UFC 144 in Japan, the 31-year-old was getting dominated by Yushin Okami until he turned the tides in round three and won by knockout. Since dropping to the middleweight division, Boetsch, who has been calling out Bisping since his last win, has gone 3-0 defeating Okami, Canadian Nick Ring and TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove.
Bisping (22-4) is coming off a close decision loss to Chael Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2 in January. Despite the loss, which snapped a four-fight win streak, Bisping is still believed to be in title contention.
One impressive streak will end
Top bantamweight contender Renan Barao is currently riding the longest unbeaten streak in any major MMA organization — 31 fights without a loss — as the Brazilian hasn’t lost since his professional debut in April of 2005. He beat WEC veteran Scott Jorgensen by unanimous decision at UFC 143 in his last outing. Barao will look to extend his streak against Jeff Hougland at UFC 148.
Hougland is also riding an impressive streak and will look for his 10th straight win when he takes on Barao. In his UFC debut last July, he won a unanimous decision over Donny Walker.
Middleweights Rich Franklin and Cung Le are set to meet on the card as well.
Welterweight warriors
An exciting matchup between rising welterweights Mike Pierce and Carlos Eduardo Rocha was the first fight added to the yet-to-be-announced UFC on FX 3 card expected to take place on June 8, according to MMAjunkie.com.
Pierce (13-5) is coming off a controversial split decision loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 143, while Rocha (9-1) is coming off a split decision loss to Jake Ellenberger at UFC 126 last February. The Brazilian has been out of action, recovering from elbow injuries for the past year.
More MMA matchups in India
Todd Duffee — famous for his six-second KO of Canadian Tim Hague at UFC 102 — will fight fellow heavyweight Neil Grove at the Super Fight League 2 event on April 7 in Chandigarh, India. A lightweight bout between UFC veterans Paul Kelly and Gabe Ruediger, as well as a middleweight matchup featuring Alexander Shlemenko and Ikuhisa Minowa, has also been added to the card.
