After a successful showing by the UFC's British talent at UFC 105, Zuffa heads back to their home base in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin II on Saturday, November 21st from the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The event's headliner will feature a rematch between UFC veterans Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz, a bout that took place at UFC 59 and ended with a split decision victory for Tito Ortiz. This match will now feature two former champions as Griffin did obtain the strap at UFC 86, and it'll also give fans a chance to watch an injury-free Ortiz try to prove that his back was a huge disability in his past performances.
Before we delve into the intricacies of the rematch, we'll take a look at the UFC 106 preliminary card, a card that will feature six preliminary bouts with two of those match-ups airing for free on SpikeTV preceding the pay-per-view at 10 PM EST.
One of those battles that fans will see on SpikeTV will be a welterweight match-up between American Top Team-trained fighter and The Ultimate Fighter Season 6 contestant Ben Saunders (7-1-2, 3-1 UFC) battling proud Irish-American southpaw Marcus Davis (16-5, 8-2 UFC). Saunders enters the contest following a loss at UFC 99 to top welterweight talent Mike Swick while Davis went to war with Dan Hardy on the same card, losing via split decision.
Davis will bring a successful boxing background as a highly-ranked super middleweight fighter in the New England region in his more youthful days, and that punching has translated well to the sport of mixed martial arts. While he has been susceptible to speedier strikers, Davis does have the footwork and skills in the boxing department to frustrate fighters trying to bang with him. With help from Jorge Gurgel and Mark Dellagrotte, Davis has rounded out his skills enough to be considered a middle-of-the-road fighter in the UFC's welterweight division.
For Saunders, this will be a bout in which he can prove he belongs in bigger fights following his loss to Mike Swick. Saunders' lengthy frame is one of his biggest assets, and the Muay Thai techniques and jiu-jitsu tactics that he can use with that frame will cause some concern for Marcus Davis in this fight. Davis will more than likely want to trade punches with the less-experienced Ben Saunders, but I think Saunders will want to put Davis on his back or in the clinch to use his size to his advantage. The Muay Thai plum and knees in the clinch will soften up Davis, but I think Saunders can ultimately end this fight on the floor.
I'm going to go with the upset immediately here and taking Ben Saunders. While Davis could punch him out early, Davis has never fought someone with Saunders' size or bulk at welterweight. Look for Saunders to damage Davis in the clinch and win this one in the later rounds.
The second preliminary bout that will be featured on SpikeTV will pit The Ultimate Fighter Season 3 champion Kendall Grove (10-6, 5-3 UFC) in a possible do-or-die showdown with three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion and four-time All-American Jake Rosholt (6-1, 1-1 UFC). Grove enters the contest following a loss to Ricardo Almeida at UFC 101 while Rosholt defeated the heavy-handed Chris Leben at UFC 102 via an arm-triangle.
There isn't much of a mystery as to the gameplan that Rosholt intends to use against Grove. Rosholt is considered one of the best wrestlers in the sport on paper with three championship titles in NCAA wrestling, but his quick submission loss to Dan Miller at UFN 17 didn't inspire confidence that he would make the full transition to the sport so quickly among fans. His win over Leben showed a lot of promise in his ability to quickly add submission skills to his repetoire, and he'll need to show some more improvement if he intends to blanket a lengthy Kendall Grove.
As with most tall competitors in mixed martial arts, Grove uses a mix of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai as his base to do damage in the Octagon. His lengthy frame allows him to maintain a high guard while also giving him the ability to land devastating knees in the clinch. The major knock on Grove has been his chin, and his stand-up defense has been questionable in the past as he was exposed to the knockout power of Jorge Rivera and Patrick Cote in past match-ups. Rosholt has some power, but it mostly manifests itself during ground battles, not striking wars.
I think Grove could potentially put Rosholt into some real trouble against the fence in this match-up, and he has the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ability to keep him guessing if he finds himself on his back. Rosholt showed some good defense against Leben's rubber guard, but the true question is whether Rosholt realized some of his weaknesses in that fight. His conditioning, while good, began to fail late in the fight, and many of his trainers pointed out that it would be immaculate in that match-up. If he can bring the pace to this fight, he could win a top controlling battle in which Grove becomes increasingly wore out. With that said, I think I'll take Jake Rosholt's wrestling pedigree via decision.
Other preliminary action
In one of the better battles on the UFC 106 undercard, Brazilian prospect and UFC newcomer Fabricio "Morango" Camoes (10-4) will take on UFC and K-1 HERO's veteran Caol Uno (25-12-4, 3-4-1 UFC) in a lightweight contest. On paper, Camoes looks like a beastly opponent for Uno as he has won in the first round in his past four fights with notable victory over Jean Silva. Earlier in his career, he did drop a loss to current UFC fighter Gleison Tibau and two losses to prospect Luis Dutra Junior.
This is truly one of the most interesting fights on the entire card due to the credentials that Camoes brings to the table. He's a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Royler Gracie, but he's also shown some hard-hitting Muay Thai boxing coupled with some wrestling ability. Uno's abilities in the cage usually center around his jiu-jitsu tactics controlling the fight and potentially submitting his opponent, and Camoes' credentials wouldn't exactly lead anyone to believe he could do so. In fact, Uno has only submitted one elite level grappler, a wrestler in Mitsuhiro Ishida, in the last decade.
That doesn't mean that Uno can't use his slick reverses and transitions to move to mount and punish Camoes, a tactic that is much more likely. Uno will have some trouble with Camoes' bigger frame and power, but that's been something Uno has had to deal with for his entire career. This should ultimately come down to whether Uno's striking has improved with training under Freddie Roach, but it'll also come down to a chess match on the floor if Uno can gain a takedown. Very intriguing match-up, and I'll biasedly pick Caol Uno via decision.
Moving back up in weight to the welterweight division, Minnesota-native and power wrestler Brock Larson (26-3, 3-2 UFC) will battle Matt Hughes-trained Brian Foster (12-4, 0-1 UFC) in what should be a redemption fight for Larson following his loss to Mike Pierce at UFN 19.
Stylistically, Larson brings his vaunted wrestling ability to the cage which normally sets him up for chokes or mounted beatdowns of his opponents. Foster is a surprising prospect, however, as his punches seem to cause a lot of damage almost immediately. In viewing some of his past fights and watching the Rick Story fight, Foster has the uncanny ability to land fairly accurately at times, and many of those blows induce cuts on his opponents. He's also good in the scramble, and his takedown defense is above average considering his training with guys like Robbie Lawler and Matt Hughes in Granite City, Illinois.
Where this fight goes south for Brian Foster is in the history of Brock Larson. Larson has never been knocked out in 29 fights, and while we could turn to the old saying -- "There's a first for everything" -- it really comes down to Larson's ability to gain the clinch and control fighters. Mike Pierce just so happened to be more powerful and relentless in the double leg takedowns, and Foster doesn't have that overwhelming power. He'll want to try to land on Larson early, but he'll give up the takedown in doing so. This should be a win for Brock Larson, but don't count out Brian Foster completely.
Quick picks
George Sotiropoulos (10-2, 3-0 UFC) vs. Jason Dent (19-9, 1-2 UFC): After watching George Sotiropoulos put a guard passing clinic in hyperspeed on George Roop at UFC 101, I'm pretty interested in seeing how Jason Dent intends to deal with George's speed and strength on the ground. I don't see Dent defeating George, but he might be able to take this to a decision.
Paulo Thiago (11-1, 1-1 UFC) vs. Jacob Volkman (9-0): Another Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy fighter in Jacob Volkman gets a shot at the big time following his nine-fight undefeated streak. The interesting part is that he actually submits his competition instead of using a top control game to do just that... control opponents. While Thiago's striking should still be considered "bad" following his knockout win over Josh Koscheck, Thiago showed some nice transitions and jiu-jitsu prowess against Jon Fitch, and he should be able to defeat a lesser wrestler in Volkman with that skills. I'll take Paulo Thiago in this preliminary welterweight showdown.