Griffin gets up for win over Ortiz

Forrest Griffin entered his UFC 106 main-event fight Saturday night to the cheesy pop tune "Tubthumping" by Chumbawumba.

It couldn't have been a more fitting song for the former light heavyweight champion.

Griffin dominated the third round to earn a split decision over Tito Ortiz at Mandalay Bay.

The familiar chorus of the song goes, "I get knocked down, but I get up again. You're never gonna keep me down."

It applied to both Griffin's career and Saturday night's fight.

The Las Vegan rebounded from two straight losses, including an embarrassing defeat to Anderson Silva in August, to avenge a controversial split-decision loss to Ortiz in 2006.

He was also able to reverse takedowns in each of the first two rounds Saturday night. Ortiz shot on Griffin, got him to the ground and started landing elbows that cut up Griffin's face in Rounds 1 and 2.

Griffin fought his way off of his back both times, though he did take some damage.

"I was lazy, though," Griffin said of his maneuver. "I was setting that sweep up for about a minute while he was elbowing me in the face."

Griffin controlled the third round, landing punches with both hands and a variety of kicks to take the decision.

One judge had Griffin winning all three rounds, while he needed the third round on another card to get the victory.

The third judge gave Ortiz the victory.

"I thought I won the fight. I thought I won the first round and I thought I won the second round," Ortiz said. "The third round, I was gassed. I gave my heart and soul, man. I entertained the fans. I thought I won.

"The judge that had it 30-27. What are they (expletive) blind or something?"

Each fighter now owns a split-decision victory over the other, leading to the inevitability that a third fight between the former champions is down the road.

Griffin eluded to it almost immediately after his hand was raised.

"I think we're going to have to do a third, man," he said.

UFC president Dana White was not ready to commit to a rubber match.

"The second fight just happened," he said. "We'll see."

Josh Koscheck was far less gracious in his postfight interview, though his words weren't aimed at his opponent.

After submitting Anthony Johnson with a rear-naked choke near the end of the second round, Koscheck set his sights on British welterweight Dan Hardy.

Hardy, who was seated in the first row, was rewarded for a win over Mike Swick last week with a future title shot against Georges St. Pierre.

Koscheck said Hardy hasn't earned anything.

"He ain't fought nobody like me," Koscheck said. "I'm the No. 1 freaking contender in this weight division."

Koscheck defeated Johnson by returning to his roots.

A former college wrestler, Koscheck has tried to prove his striking prowess in recent fights.

He said he planned to stand and trade with Johnson, one of the elite strikers in mixed martial arts.

Koscheck did stand for a bit, but secured the win when he took Johnson down against the cage late in the second round. He landed several elbows and shots as Johnson was trapped.

Koscheck secured a choke and Johnson was forced to tap at 4:47 of the second round.

Also, Amir Sadollah and Paulo Thiago earned unanimous decisions on the main card.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the twin brother of former interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, impressed in his UFC debut with a first-round knockout of Luiz Cane.

Kendall Grove beat Jake Rosholt with a triangle choke, and Ben Saunders knocked out Marcus Davis with knees from a muay-thai clinch on the portion of the card televised on Spike.

Brian Foster and George Sotiropoulos earned victories on the undercard, while Caol Uno and Fabricio Camoes fought to a draw after Camoes was deducted a point for an illegal kick.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.