The first two rounds between the pair were close, as Ortiz wrestled Griffin to the ground several times and unloaded ground and pound while Forrest connected with punches and kicks on the feet, but Griffin dominated the third, battering Ortiz with strikes to earn the split decision with scores of 28-29, 30-27, and 29-28.

Griffin snaps a two-fight losord his ing streak and improves to 17-6 with the win, while the returning Ortiz, fighting for the first time in 18-months, falls to 15-7-1 after failing to record his first victory since 2006.

Excuses were aplenty after the bout, as Griffin said a broken foot hampered his performance in the fight, while Ortiz said his training was limited due to bulging discs in his surgically-repaired back as well as a facial fracture that resulted in a noticeable black eye.

The narrow decision and satisfying action means a rubber match between the former light heavyweight champions is likely, and both fighters indicated after the matchup that they were open to meeting again.

In the UFC 106 co-headliner, welterweight contender Josh Koscheck resorted to his wrestling to take out knockout artist Anthony Johnson, recovering from an illegal knee and powerful combination suffered in the first to force Johnson to tap to a rear naked choke late in the second round.

After the win, Koscheck, improving to 14-4 with his second-straight win, called out upcoming welterweight challenger Dan Hardy and plead for a rematch with title-holder Georges St-Pierre. Johnson falls to 8-3 and has his three-fight win streak snapped in the loss.

Also on the UFC 106 main card, Paulo Thiago grinded out a unanimous decision over newcomer Jacob Volkmann, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira made his UFC debut with a first-round knockout of Luiz Cane, and Amir Sadollah battered a return Phil Baroni en route to a unanimous decision victory.

In preliminary card action, Ben Saunders picked up a first-round knockout of Marcus Davis, Kendall Grove forced Jake Rosholt to tap to an opening-round triangle choke, Brian Foster recovered from two illegal strikes to take out Brock Larson via second-round TKO, Fabricio Camoes and Caol Uno fought to a majority draw after Camoes lost a point, and George Sotiropoulos submitted Jason Dent with an armbar in the night’s first fight.

The official results for UFC 106 were:

• Forrest Griffin def. Tito Ortiz via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
• Josh Koscheck def. Anthony Johnson via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 2, 4:47
• Paulo Thiago def. Jacob Volkmann via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Luiz Cane via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:56
• Amir Sadollah def. Phil Baroni via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Ben Saunders def. Marcus Davis via KO (knee) – Round 1, 3:24
• Kendall Grove def. Jake Rosholt via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:59
• Brian Foster def. Brock Larson via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 3:25
• Fabricio Camoes vs. Caol Uno – majority draw (29-27 28-28 28-28)
• George Sotiropoulos def. Jason Dent via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 4:36

During a Q&A session before Friday’s UFC 106 weigh-ins, White revealed that the matchup would likely take place in February,which includes UFC 109 on February 6 in Las Vegas as well as UFC 110. Then, in an appearance on MMAjunkie Radio, White said that the fight wouldn’t take place UFC 109, which is scheduled to be headlined by middleweight champ Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belort, leaving UFC 110 as the likely card.

Wanderlei Silva had been expected to make his middleweight debut against Yoshihiro Akiyama in the UFC 110 headliner, but White indicated on Friday that the promotion was “moving things around” and that the bout may not take place on the card.

St-Pierre (19-2) is currently riding a six-fight winning streak that includes title defenses over BJ Penn and Thiago Alves in 2009, but has been sidelined since July due to a groin injury suffered in his unanimous decision win over Alves at UFC 100.

Hardy (23-6) earned a shot at St-Pierre earlier this month with a unanimous decision win over Mike Swick at UFC 105, his seventh-straight win and fourth-straight inside the Octagon.

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

The returning Ortiz, who is fighting for the first time in 18-months, tipped the scale at 204-pounds, while fellow former light heavyweight champ Griffin weighed in at 205-pounds for their anticipated rematch.

Welterweight Anthony Johnson, who failed to make weight for his most-recent bout in October, successfully weighed-in at 170-pounds, while co-main event opponent Josh Koscheck came in at 171-pounds.

The card’s official weigh-in results were:

MAIN CARD (PPV)

• 205: Tito Ortiz (204) vs. Forrest Griffin (205)
• 170: Josh Koscheck (171) vs. Anthony Johnson (170)
• 170: Paulo Thiago (169) vs. Jacob Volkmann (170)
• 205: Luiz Cane (205) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (205)
• 170: Amir Sadollah (170) vs. Phil Baroni (170)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)

• 170: Marcus Davis (170) vs. Ben Saunders (170)
• 185: Kendall Grove (186) vs. Jake Rosholt (185.5)

PRELIMINARY CARD (non-televised)

• 170: Brock Larson (171) vs. Brian Foster (171)
• 155: Caol Uno (155.5) vs. Fabricio Camoes (155.5)
• 155: George Sotiropoulos (155) vs. Jason Dent (155)

Stop back to MMAFrenzy.com tomorrow for live UFC 106 coverage beginning at 8pm ET.

Pictured: Forrest Griffin

Santos (8-1), who’s expected to meet top contender Marloes Coenen on the card, won her title in August with a first-round TKO of Gina Carano, her eighth-straight win since dropping her professional debut in 2005.

Walker (0-0), a 47-year-old former Heisman Trophy winner who signed with Strikeforce in September, is a sixth-degree black belt in tae kwon do who has been training with American Kickboxing Academy in preparation for his MMA debut against an opponent to-be-announced.

For the latest Strikeforce news and Strikeforce rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos

“Karo Parisyan has f***** over the UFC, the fans and his opponent again. He will not be fighting Saturday or ever again in the UFC,” wrote White. “Pulled out of the fight the day before weigh-ins again with a laundry list of excuses. Let the press ask Karo why. Let him explain.“

Parisyan (18-5), a longtime contender at 170-pounds, was to return to the UFC after serving a nine-month suspension for testing positive for banned painkillers after a January win over Dong Hyun Kim that has since been changed to a no contest. Prior to suffering a second-round knockout to Thiago Alves last April, “The Heat” had won three-straight and eight of his last nine, with his only career losses coming to notables Sean Sherk (twice), Georges St-Pierre, Diego Sanchez, and Alves.

Hazelett (12-4) is coming off back-to-back submission victories over Josh Burkman and Tamdan McCrory, which improved his UFC record to 5-2, but hasn’t fought in over a year after an injury sidelined him from a scheduled March return.

Due to Parisyan’s last-minute withdrawal, Hazelett will not be in action at Saturday’s event and will instead be scheduled to fight on another upcoming card, though the UFC will still pay him his full salary and win bonus.

“Dustin will be paid his full purse to show and win. It’s not his fault,” wrote White.

For complete UFC 106 coverage stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Also on the Versus-televised main card, Manny Gamburyan topped fellow featherweight contender Leonard Garcia by unanimous decision, newcomer Karen Darabedyan scored a split decision win over former lightweight champ rob McCullough, Shane Roller submitted Danny Castillo with a third-round rear naked choke, and Kamal Shalorus knocked out Will Kerr in the opening round.

The complete results for WEC 44 were:

• Jose Aldo def. Mike Brown (c) via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:20
  WEC Featherweight Championship
• Manny Gamburyan def. Leonard Garcia by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Karen Darabedyan def. Rob McCullough via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
• Shane Roller def. Danny Castillo via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 3, 3:32
• Kamal Shalorus def. Will Kerr via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:26
• L.C. Davis def. Diego Nunes via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
• Cub Swanson def. John Franchi via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 4:50
• Antonio Banuelos def. Kenji Osawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Ricardo Lamas def. James Krause via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Frank Gomez def. Seth Dikun via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Pictured: Jose Aldo

Machida retained the 205-pound title with a controversial unanimous decision win over Rua in their first meeting at UFC 104 in October.

Machida (16-0) has remained undefeated with eight-straight UFC victories, including wins over Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva, and then title-holder Rashad Evans.

A PRIDE veteran, Rua (18-4) was upset by Forrest Griffin in his UFC debut in 2007 but rebounded with back-to-back wins over Mark Coleman and Chuck Liddell before falling to Machida in a bout most observers scored in Shogun’s favor.

The rematch was expected to take place in January at UFC 108, but was postponed after Machida underwent surgery to repair a hand injury suffered in his October win.

For the latest UFC rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.

Couture (17-10), a five-time champion in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, returned to the 205-pound class on Saturday at UFC 105, scoring a unanimous decision win over Brandon Vera to snap a two-fight losing streak.

Coleman (16-9) is 1-1 since returning to the UFC in January, suffering a third-round TKO to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua before bouncing back with a unanimous decision over Stephan Bonnar in July. He had been slated to take on Tito Ortiz this Saturday at UFC 106, but was forced to withdraw from the bout with an undisclosed injury.

UFC 109, which takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center and airs live on pay-per-view, is expected to be headlined by middleweight champ Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort.

For the latest UFC 109 fight card, check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Pictured: Randy Couture

Brown and Aldo both tipped the scale right at the 145-pound featherweight limit, while featherweight contenders Manny Gamburyan and Leonard Garcia, who co-headline the event, weighed in at 146-pounds.

The official WEC 44 weigh-in results were:

MAIN CARD

• Mike Brown (c) (145) vs. Jose Aldo (145)
  WEC Featherweight Championship
• Manny Gamburyan (146) vs. Leonard Garcia (146)
• Karen Darabedyan (156) vs. Rob McCullough (155)
• Danny Castillo (156) vs. Shane Roller (156)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Will Kerr (155) vs. Kamal Shalorus (156)
• LC Davis (146) vs. Diego Nunes (146)
• John Franchi (145) vs. Cub Swanson (146)
• Antonio Banuelos (136) vs. Kenji Osawa (136)
• James Krause (156) vs. Ricardo Lamas (155)
• Seth Dikun (136) vs. Frank Gomez (136)

For the latest WEC news and WEC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Mike Brown

According to White, Lesnar, who is also suffering from mono, has been hospitalized since collapsing during a trip to Canada last week. He will reportedly be transferred to the Mayo Clinic, where he’d undergo surgery for a “intestinal disorder”.

While the TMZ report is in line with earlier rumors that the illness could be career threatening, MMA Weekly, citing a source from Lesnar’s camp, reported yesterday that the illness was “nothing life threatening” and was simply complications that could be treated with antibiotics.

Lesnar had been scheduled to fight Shane Carwin this Saturday at UFC 106, but withdrew from the bout late last month before being targeted for a January return that again fell through.

If Lesnar does require surgery and remains out for the foreseeable future, an interim heavyweight title matchup between Carwin and Cain Velasquez is likely to take place in February or March.

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.