Fertitta confirms Tito vs. Griffin III, Mir vs. Velasquez
A great champion is made by a great rivalry. No Joe Frazier no Muhammad Ali, no Sugar Ray Robinson no Jake LaMotta, no Micky Ward no Arturo Gatti, and you can go on through all the fighting greats in history.
Tito Ortiz may only be the people's champion now, but he remains the longest reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion of all-time, and one of the greats in the short history of MMA.
Tito's legacy was built of rivalry.
His three fights with Ken Shamrock made him rich, and were part of a contining rivalry with the Lion's Den, going 1-1 with Guy Mezger, and stopping Jerry Bohlander on cuts.
Tito feuded with Chuck Liddell, losing twice, and in turn cementing Chuck's status as an all time great.
Tito's greatest rivalry was perhaps with fellow former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin, splitting split decisions, with a win in 2006 and a loss in 2009.
The two campaigned to do it one last time, in 2012.
"You know what's funny about me and Tito?" asked Griffin insightfully. "The truth is we each consider the other an easy fight ... Coming back from a bad loss and beating Tito Ortiz up? No problem. For Tito, he's thinking, 'Forrest ain't that good. He's getting old, prematurely. This is a great way to go out, with a win over Forrest!' So, I think it's a beautiful match up."
Now UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta has announced that Griffin and Ortiz are going to get what they want. Fertitta also announced that former UFC heavyweight champions Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez are going to be fighting.
No date for either fight was revealed.
