UFC 59 Griffin/Ortiz Decision
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UFC 59 Review Part 2: A Breakdown of Ortiz vs. Griffin
April 23, 2006
By J.C. Weyand
Hey guys (and gals). Before I leap up onto my Xyience powered soap box, I wanted to just say thanks for all the support and feedback for the first part of this review. I think I got back to most everyone who emailed me, so keep ‘em coming – it’s much appreciated. With that said and without further adieu, here’s Part 2 of the UFC 59 Review. The main thing I wanted to address in Pt. 2 is the most talked about topic in the world of MMA right now – The Ortiz/Griffin decision. However, before I talk about the decision, I wanted to give props to both Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin for an amazing war. That fight was one of the most exciting match-ups I’d seen in a long time; and regardless of the decision, both of fighters are winners. I hear so many people focusing on the decision, but nobody seems to mention just how great of a fight it was. Let’s face it – Ortiz/Griffin was everything GSP/Penn was supposed to be and did not disappoint. With that out of the way, onto the decision… Most people are probably expecting a rant standing for one side or the other, but I don’t know if I can do that. I don’t think you can honestly say that either fighter clearly and undisputedly won the fight. I think there are logical arguments for the fight going either way. To explain, I’ll break it down round by round:
Round 1: This round was ALL Tito. While watching the fight I remember wondering whether Forrest was even going to make it to Round 2. Forrest executed little to no offense and looked like he didn’t belong in the same Octagon as Ortiz. This round can easily be scored 10-8 Tito. I’ve seen rounds much less dominant be scored 10-8. However, you can just as easily add the recoveries and offense of Forrest Griffin to his credit, giving the round a 10-9 score.
Round 2: Tito seemed pretty frustrated and almost gassed at the beginning of this round. Just as the last round was all Tito, this round was all Forrest. In fact, this round is the only round of the fight with a clear winner and score. Griffin dominated the round, but Tito was never in real danger and in the round the whole time. Unless you have some kind of severe nuthugging disability or are just plain stupid (ala Cecil Peoples…I thought I sucked at my job), the round has to go to Griffin 10-9.
Round 3: This is where things get a little foggy. I had Forrest winning the round 10-9 (as did most people), but you have to remember that in the eyes of the UFC judges, takedowns are much more valuable than sprawls or submission attempts. A perfect example of this is a decision won by Matt Hughes over Renato Verissimo. Verissimo was dominating Hughes the entire fight throwing up submission after submission, but Hughes landed several takedowns and was in top position the whole time. Hughes scored a 30-27 unanimous decision. I’m not saying I agree with the system; I’m just acknowledging how the system works. To me the round was 10-9 Griffin, but I can definitely see why a judge would the round 10-9 Ortiz. Since I have my trusty calculator on hand, I’ll do the math for you. There are a couple different ways you could score this fight: 29-28 Griffin, 29-28 Ortiz, 29-27 Ortiz, or a 29-29 draw. Although I personally didn’t agree with the decision, I understand how the judges came to that conclusion. All in all, I think that even though Forrest lost the decision, the fight only propelled his status in the eyes of all MMA fans. I think you have to acknowledge that Forrest is one of the top Light Heavyweights in the world after his performance at Reality Check. In fact, the most recent rankings at MMANews.com showed him jump up the Top 10 LHW rankings to #9. On the flip side, with Tito winning, we’ll get to see another fight with Shamrock and Liddell. Those re-matches will be huge draws.Like I said earlier, in this fight everybody wins: Tito, Forrest, The UFC, and especially the fans.
Didn't get to see this fight but from what he says it was good did anyone order this ppv.
