UFC 106: Live Results + Commentary

(Bruce Buffer is fairly confident that Griffin will outstrike Ortiz to a unanimous decision. Joe Rogan is peaking on a DMT trip and is desperately trying to keep his shit together as Tito's head explodes into a screaming ball of golden phosphorescence. / Photo courtesy of the UFC 106: Weigh In Pics set on CombatLifestyle.com.)

After an ancient curse claimed Brock Lesnar, Mark Coleman, Ricardo Almeida, and Karo Parisyan — and even threatened the velvet voice of Mike Goldberg — we've finally arrived at tonight's bedraggled UFC event, which will be headlined by a do-over between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin. Guiding us through the action this evening is special guest liveblogger Chad Dundas; please make him feel welcome. Round-by-round results from the UFC 106 pay-per-view broadcast are after the jump, beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and say a little prayer that Josh Koscheck doesn't accidentally gouge his eye out in the locker room while putting on his cup.

Greetings PotatoNation and thanks Ben(s) for the gracious introduction. As you've heard, my name is Chad and before about 10 days ago, I'd never before written a story about the well-being of another man's intestines. During the last week, in my position as Lead MMA Editor at The Sporting News, I penned about 15. If you're so inclined, you can check out the magazine's combat sports blog called The Rumble. Otherwise, thanks for following along with tonight's action.

As the show begins, both Goldberg and Rogan look as hungover as ever. In hashing out the particulars of tonight's main event, both guys steadfastly steer clear of mentioning the recent hard times faced by both Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin. After some perfunctory opening remarks, we head to the cage for the fight everyone agrees has no business on pay-per-view …

Amir Sadollah vs. Phil Baroni

Round One
Baroni comes out aggressively, winging punches to Sadollah's body. Baroni lands a right that briefly puts Sadollah down, but he recovers and they clinch against the fence. Baroni is having success with uppercuts. Amir gets separation and lands a low kick. They go back to the fence, where Amir looks relentlessly for the Thai clinch, while Baroni lands some punches. At 2:34, Baroni gets a takedown, but can't do much from Sadollah's guard and lets him up with 1:30 to go. Surprise, surprise, Baroni is starting to look gassed. Sadollah lands a knee and straight right that cuts Baroni over the left eye. Sadollah lands a couple of knees and Baroni ends the round digging for a takedown. The older fighter is a bit of a bloody mess at the horn.

Round Two
As if sensing that Baroni is tiring, Sadollah takes the lead to open round two, throwing some nice combos. For the first half of the round, he controls Baroni against the fence, mixing in some punches and knees. Baroni looks super tired as they separate with 2:00 left. After a brief exchange, Sadollah forces the clinch again. He's dominating this round from that position. In the final minute, Baroni finds some space and lands some punches. He's very tired at the end of the round.   

Round Three
Sadollah lands a pair of leg kicks to open the final stanza. Rogan loves it. Baroni lands a couple of strikes, but is having trouble mustering combinations. Amir remains dedicated to the low kick. At 3:11, they go against the cage again and Sadollah lands a pair of elbows that open a cut high on Baroni's forehead. Both guys are starting to slow down, as Amir's kicks lack the snap of his previous efforts. Baroni is huffing and puffing. Amir buckles him with a knee and follows it with a punching combo at 1:30. A high kick by Sadollah at 1:08. He's opening up on Baroni in the final minute. At the horn, call it a victory for Amir via thorough ass-beating.      

It's official: Amir Sadollah def. Phil Baroni vs. unanimous decision.

Rogerio Nogueira vs. Luiz Cane

Round One
They touch 'em up and Cane tosses out a couple of leg kicks. Nog gives him one of his own. After a short feeling-out process, Nog lands two hard left hooks. Cane may be in trouble and literally runs away. Once Nog catches him, he lands two more left hooks. Now Cane is definitely hurt. Nog rushes in, lands yet another big left and drops Cane. Nog follows him to the mat with a punch and referee Steve Mazzagatti stops it.

Rogerio Nogueira def. Luiz Cane via TKO, Round 1

For some reason, the UFC opts to show the Marcus Davis vs. Ben Saunders fight, despite the fact that it aired on the SpikeTV broadcast just over an hour ago. Since I assume all you cheap bastards watched the free portion of the show, we'll skip the play-by-play, except to say Saunders def. Davis via KO (knee), round 1.

Oh, and speaking of fights that probably don't belong on PPV …

Paulo Thiago vs. Jacob Volkmann

Round One
Volkmann looks very awkward on his feet, but throws a left to get us started.  Thiago throws a couple of experimental uppercuts and whips out a high kick. They clinch up against the cage, where Thiago lands a throw straight into side control.  Volkmann gets half guard, but is cut on the bridge of the nose. Volkmann forces a scramble and gets to his feet, where Thiago scores a trip takedown and immediately takes mount. Volkmann scrambles back to half-guard. With 2:00 left, Thiago drops some short elbows. Volkmann gets back to full guard and Thiago backs out to the feet with 1:30 left. After another exchange in the clinch, Thiago throws a combination that ends with a straight right that drops Volkmann, but he is saved by the bell as he hits the canvas.

Round Two
Thiago catches a kick by Volkmann and drops him to the mat with a sweeping kick. Volkmann pops back up and gets his own takedown into side control. Thiago scrambles up with 3:00 left. After a minute's worth of fairly even striking, they go back to the mat with Volkmann on Thiago's back. Thiago sweeps him to get top position with 1:20 left. Thiago stands and lands an impressive punch to his grounded opponent just before time expires.

Round Three
In the early going, Thiago floors Volkmann with a punch. He follows to the canvas and gets north-south position, but Volkmann worms out and gets back to standing. Volkmann shoots, but Thiago steps out of it easily. Thiago tries a strange-looking axe kick to Volkmann's torso, but the American uses it as an excuse to get Thiago to the mat and works his way to side control. With 1:50 left Volkmann catches Thiago in a crucifix position and lands some punches. As Thiago squirms out, Volkmann tries for his back and bungles it, ending with Thiago on top in side control. Volkman locks on a darce choke from the bottom, but Thiago gets out and ends the round with some more ground and pound. A good, back and forth fight. 

Paulo Thiago def. Jacob Volkmann vis unanimous decision

Another fight from the SpikeTV broadcast is up next, as Kendall Grove takes on Jake Rosholt. Grove looks fairly impressive in finishing this fight, defeating Rosholt via triangle choke in round one. Not so impressive that I wanted to watch this fight twice in one night, but still pretty good. So, moving on …

Anthony Johnson vs. Josh Koscheck

Round One
Johnson dwarfs Koscheck in the cage. Koscheck hits Johnson with a left hook early that seems to surprise the bigger man. Johnson partially lands a high kick. Koscheck lands a winging right hand. Johnson  lands a straight right. Nice striking early from each guy. Johnson with an inside leg kick. Koscheck tries for a takedown at 2:40, but Johnson stuffs it. In a scramble, Johnson knees Koscheck in the face while Koscheck clearly has both knees on the canvas. Time is called, but Koscheck stays down for a few minutes, while Johnson loses a point. Multiple replays make it unclear as to whether or not it was Johnson's knee or finger that caught Koscheck in the eye. After a delay they restart the fight …

Johnson throws another high kick, blocked by Koscheck. Johnson is trying to push the pace, but Koscheck shoots in and gets a takedown with 53 seconds left. Koscheck has Johnson's back, where he lands a punch, then a knee to the body before flirting with a rear naked choke. Johnson gets a reversal as the round ends.

Round Two
Johnson lands a low kick early and in a punching exchange, Johnson comes away claiming he was poked in the eye. There is a short delay and on the restart Koscheck lands a nice high kick. Koshcheck tries to turn it on with a punching combination, but Johnson begs off claiming another eye poke, leading to another stoppage. This is really bizarre. The replay clearly shows Koscheck's finger go into Johnson's eye during a punch.

After the restart – with 3:30 officially on the clock – Johnson and Koscheck continue to throw down. Koscheck secures a takedown into half guard with 3:00 left. He lands some hard short elbows and just grinds on Johnson for the next two minutes. With one minute left Koscheck slips to Johnson's back, secures a rear naked choke and gets the tap out with 15 second left in the round.

Josh Koscheck def. Anthony Johnson via submission (choke), round two

Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin

Round One
The first round opens with both fighters trading punches. Griffin is perhaps getting the better of it. With 3:43 left, Tito shoots and gets the takedown. From inside Griffin's guard, he starts to dish out some punishment. At 3:00, Griffin uses a Kiruma try to throw Ortiz off. Ortiz pushes him up against the fence. Griffin reverses the position and lands a couple knees to the body. After a separation, Griffin throws a two-punch combo, then another with a kick. In another exchange, Griffin lands two more straight punches. Probably his best of the fight. Tito shoots with 1:00 on the clock, but Griffin avoids the takedown and they grind to the end of an even first round.
 
Round Two
Tito gets a takedown 30 seconds into round two. He lands a couple of elbows, but Griffin stands as Ortiz tries to move to half-guard. Griffin lands a front kick to the face of Ortiz that sends his mouthpiece flying. After a restart, Griffin lands a low kick then a body kick. Ortiz gets another takedown with 2:20 left and almost moves to the mount. From Griffin's butterfly guard, Ortiz lands some short punches, then a pretty solid elbow. Then another that cuts griffin open with 50 second left. With 35 seconds left, Griffin sweeps Ortiz into half guard and lands some short elbows and a body shot. Forrest is dumping blood all over Ortiz as the round ends.

Round Three
Griffin lands a solid left hand and keeps right on kicking, regardless of Ortiz's takedown ability. Griffin lands another solid punch. Griffin is definitely the aggressor on the feet, though it's unclear how much he has left on his punches. Lands a right, then a jab, then a body shot. He's picking Tito apart, landing a two-punch combo. Ortiz shoots, but Griffin fends him off with 2:40 remaining. Griffin comes forward with four punches, then a pair of leg kicks. Ortiz looks very passive this round. Griffin turning it up a notch with the striking, including a high kick. With 1:20 left, Griffin is firing combinations at will. Tito lands a left, finally coming forward. Stuffs another takedown attempt with 45 seconds left. Griffin pours on a few more punches as the fight ends.

Griffin clearly won the third, but will it be enough?

And, yes it was. Forrest Griffin def. Tito Ortiz via split decision.

A pretty good fight. One judge scored it 30-27 for Forrest, which is mind-boggling. Griffin is humble in victory, Ortiz stumbles his way through a concession speech. Both agree that they should do it one more time.

With the UFC rolling out yet another fight that we already saw on SpikeTV, I'm out of here. Thanks all, for reading.