Tito Ortiz getting Forrest Griffin in retirement fight this summer

It appears iconic light heavyweight Tito Ortiz will be granted his last request before retirement and mix it up against Forrest Griffin for a third time after splitting a pair of Split Decisions in their previous fights. Though no date/event were confirmed, the source of the potential pairing was none other than UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta meaning the likelihood of it happening is fairly high.

Ortiz had requested a third fight with Griffin to close out his career with designs on a July date, most likely UFC 148. May 30 will mark the fifteen anniversary of “The People’s Champion” making his debut in MMA where he went on to become one of the UFC’s biggest stars, picking up wins over Ken Shamrock, Wanderlei Silva, Evan Tanner, and Vitor Belfort during his career-long run inside the Octagon.

Like Ortiz, Griffin could use a win in the bout after suffering a knockout loss to Mauricio Rua this past August. Prior to the defeat he had won back-to-back fights including the outpointing of Ortiz as well as another of Rich Franklin.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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MMATraining Take: Too bad the UFC didn’t listen to what the fans wanted because I guarantee it was not a third fight between Ortiz-Griffin. Their first two weren’t necessarily exciting even if close and it’s a damn shame Ortiz has been given the same opponents over and over instead of fresh match-ups. Since 2002 he has fought sixteen times with nine of the bouts involving repeat opponents.