Another great event is over with and time for me to give my 2 cents worth. If you haven’t already read my predicitions and also the weigh-in results (which actually changed my mind on one of my original predictions), then go ahead. It would be great to hear your comments below.

Tito Ortiz vs Forrest Griffin

The much anticipated rematch between these 2 warriors had finally come. Their first fight in 2006 was one of the fights of the year and this rematch in my opinion, lived up to its expectation. I predicted that Tito’s absence from the sport for a year and a half would allow Forrest to control the fight, especially towards the end if it went the distance.

The 1st round could of gone either way on the judges score cards. Forrest Griffin seemed comfortable with exchanging strikes standing. However, Tito managed to take Griffin down and give some ground and pound. Even so, Griffin seemed relaxed on the ground and consistently managed to protect himself from the hard strikes and got back to his feet.

The 2nd round started off similarly, with some exchanges on the feet and Tito once again taking Griffin down to the ground. Once Griffin got back up, he really kicked into gear and mixed his strikes well, including well timed punches, kicks to the legs and head and even reversing Tito while on the ground. Tito did manage to control his opponent during the end of the round on the ground, delivered some G&P until that reversal. It was probably quite tough to score the first 2 rounds. All depends on whether the judges saw takedowns or striking as getting the most points.

If the judges struggled to score the 1st 2 rounds, then the final round was an easy one for them to score. Forrest Griffin completely controlled the final round. He mixed up his strikes very well and rocked Tito. Tito couldn’t damage Griffin on the feet and also didn’t take him down. Griffin wins by split decision 29-28 Ortiz, 30-27 Griffin, 29-28 Griffin.

Josh Koscheck vs Anthony Johnson

As anticipated, this was a great fight with both fighters swinging for the KO. I originally predicted a close stand up fight with Anthony Johnson winning by KO, but I changed my prediction in my weigh-in result post. I noticed Anthony Johnsone saying something about really struggling with the weight cut, and I’m not the only one who thinks someone who walks around at over 200lbs probably shouldn’t be cutting down to as low as 170 lbs. He looked like a beast compared to Koscheck, but the question is how much of a toll does it take on your body when you struggle to cut weight for a fight.

The 1st round probably should of started with the referee going over the rules once again! Josh got kneed in the face whilst kneeling. One particular camera angle seemed to show the knee being deflected from the face by Kos’ arm and Johnson’s finger poking his right eye, even though Kos was struggling to open his left eye. This seemed to cause unrest in the crowd and plenty of booing, but people forget that a single camera angle doesn’t always show everything. Kos was obviously not pretending to be hurt. It was also an illegal knee attempt, regardless of whether Kos got poked in the eye or not. Right…. rant over and lets continue with what turned out to be an awesome fight. Josh finished the 1st round contolling his opponent on the ground, always working for the better position. Possibly with an extra 30 seconds he may of submitted Johnson.

The 2nd round really got the crowd against Koscheck. He seemed to catch Johnson with 2 pokes in the eye, and lets not forget that Johnson has had surgery for a poke in the eye in the past. Both fighters exchanged well after Johnson recovered, but it was Koscheck who managed to take Johnson down and deliver some brutal ground and pound. Once again, Kos worked for position and ended up getting his opponents back. Time was running down fast, but Koscheck got hold of a tight rear naked choke and Johnson tapped out with only a few seconds to go. Koscheck wins by submission at 4:47 of the 2nd round.

This fight wins the official fight of the night and submission of the night. I great pay day for Koscheck.

Reviews of the other fights coming soon. Follow me on twitter for my new posts and updates.

I’d love to hear your comments on the fights below. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

The weigh ins saw the return of 2 UFC veterans, Tito Ortiz and Phil Baroni. Both looked in great shape and extremely confident. Tito cut over a stone in weight according to his latest twitter after the weigh ins. He is now walking around at around 225 lbs.

http://twitter.com/titoortiz – “Good night to all. Im up to 225. God it felt good to eat and drink. I will be going to war tomorrow night so I ate hearty. Go to Punishment”

Anthony Johnsone apparently struggled to cut weight but he made the 170 lbs. If he indeed struggled, it will put into question his general fitness for this fight compared to Josh Koscheck. Josh Koscheck is known for his great cardio fitness, and I’m starting to veer away from my original prediction of Anthony Johnsone winning the fight. If Josh’s gameplan is to wrestle his opponent and wear him down, I think Josh will have another win under his belt. I think the key to this fight is how well Anthony can recovery from the cut.

Here are the official results and a link to the video of the weigh-ins.

Forrest Griffin (205) VS Tito Ortiz (204)

Anthony Johnson (170) VS Josh Koscheck (171)
Paulo Thiago (169) VS Jacob Volkmann (170)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (205) VS Luiz Cane (205)
Phil Baroni (170) VS Amir Sadollah (170)

Ben Saunders (170) VS Marcus Davis (170)
Jake Rosholt (185.5) VS Kendall Grove (186)

Brian Foster (171) VS Brock Larson (171)
Fabricio Camoes (155.5) VS Caol Uno (155.5)
Jason Dent (155) VS George Sotiropoulos (155)

Watch the weigh-ins here: http://bit.ly/4u6D48