Tito Ortiz ready for Forrest Griffin, UFC 106 main event

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Three weeks ago, former Ultimate Fighting Championship light-heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz of Huntington Beach was preparing for a ‘warmup’ return to the UFC against the aged Mark Coleman.

Then Coleman got hurt and was replaced by former UFC light-heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin. And on Monday, the UFC announced heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar is sick and has missed more than three weeks of training, causing his title defense Nov. 21 against Shane Carwin to be postponed until Jan. 2.

So, Ortiz will now star in the UFC 106 main event at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in a rematch of his classic 2006 battle against Griffin, who has lost his last two fights by TKO (Rashad Evans) and KO (Anderson Silva).

‘From low tide to high tide,’ Ortiz cracked during a training break in Big Bear on Monday.

Although the main-event switch generated a flurry of complaints by fans on the UFC website, Ortiz, 34, pointed to the Griffin fight’s obvious selling points: his first bout in the organization since May 2008 because of a contract split and his return from back surgery, questions about Griffin’s resilience after the Evans loss and an embarrassing showing against middleweight champ Silva, and the interest in the veterans’ rematch.

‘You figure in losing the title [to Evans] that Forrest has doubt; he had doubt against Silva,’ Ortiz said. ‘This is all or nothing for him.

‘And this is my comeback fight. I’m not going to lie, it’s been a challenge for me. Not pain. I have no [back] pain, but I’m dealing with the fatigue from not fighting so long. I’m like 80-90% now, not 100.

‘Coming back is hard mentally and physically. So even though I won’t be going anywhere -- I have five fights left on my contract -- it’s kind of do or die for both of us. But I promise I’m going to get in there and entertain. I can’t wait.’

Griffin won a lot of support by emerging from the reality television series ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ to challenge Ortiz in 2006. Ortiz won a split-decision in Anaheim, but many fans thought Griffin won.

‘Look at that fight again with the volume off and you’ll see I got two takedowns to win the first round,’ Ortiz said. ‘I kind of gassed out. I had a torn [knee ligament] and bulging [back] disc, and probably shouldn’t even have fought, so he probably won the second round. But I came back in the third and got that last takedown to get him. It might have been a split-decision, but I thought I won. Look at my face after the fight, and look at his, and you’ll also see my hand was raised afterward.’

Now, part 2, and even if questions persist about what each have left in the tank, Ortiz predicts the bout will be far more entertaining than the dull light-heavyweight title defense by Lyoto Machida over Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua on Saturday night at Staples Center.

‘Two former champions,’ Ortiz said. ‘A lot of fans hate Forrest now after the Silva fight, but he usually brings it, and I always come to fight. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve been surviving for 12 years. I know how to do this.’

-- Lance Pugmire