It was another frustrating mixed martial arts main event to score at UFC 106. Forrest Griffin got a split decision win over Tito Ortiz 29-28, 30-27 and 28-29. Ortiz scored more takedowns and did some solid damage on the ground, including opening a nice cut over Griffin's left eye. Griffin threw more shots throughout the fight and was really effective landing heavily in the final two minutes of the fight. Before that, how many headshots did he actually land?

A look at the photo gallery provided by Getty Images shows an awful lot of blocked shots. Getty uploaded 11 photos of Griffin throwing a kick or punch at Ortiz' head. Tito is shown blocking 10 of them. This is only a small sample but it certainly proves the fight is worth another look.

UFC president Dana White said the 30-27 for Griffin was ridiculous. Griffin asked Ortiz in the cage right after the fight if he had been his back too often to win the fight. Meanwhile over at Bloody Elbow, writer Mike Fagan suggested Glenn Trowbridge, the judge who scored it 29-28 for Ortiz, is incompetent:

Someone needs to take away Glenn Trowbridge's judging license.  A card of 29-28 Ortiz is atrocious.  Absolutely atrocious.  I personally had the fight 30-26 Griffin, though I find 30-27 and 29-28 Griffin acceptable as well. 

Fagan said he scored it 30-26 for Griffin.

This makes it three straight main events where fans walked away split on a definitive winner. UFC 104 featured a close win by Lyoto Machida over Mauricio Rua (48-47 on all cards) and at UFC 105 Randy Couture edged Brandon Vera (29-28 on all cards).

It was a close decision but the UFC escaped fan outrage because they agreed with judges who sided with Forrest Griffin. It was a fight that could've gone either way but Tito Ortiz is still clearly a heel in the minds of many fight fans. He probably added to their dislike even more when he complained about multiple injuries as part of the reason he lost the fight. The fight was even on two judge's scorecards but the younger Griffin played target practice with Ortiz' face and won a split decision 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29 in a light heavyweight bout to close UFC 106 in Las Vegas. More than a few folks along press row scored it 29-28 for Ortiz.

During his postfight conversation with UFC color analyst Joe Rogan, Griffin mentioned that he broke his right foot (during training camp). That set off Ortiz. He initially gave credit to Griffin but mentioned that he couldn't spar before the fight suggesting that beyond a badly blackened eye, he also had a bulging disk in his back. That's bad news from a guy who just missed 17 months recovering from back surgery.

Attempting to shutup Ortiz, Griffin returned to grab the microphone and say all fighters get hurt in training camp.

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UFC 106 hit a little lull with that fight. You have to really appreciate ground work and scrambles to enjoy the battle between Jacob Volkmann and Paulo Thiago. Volkmann, a former wrestler at Minnesota, got outgrappled by Thiago losing a unanimous decision 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.

Thiago (12-1, 2-1 UFC) did land the best shot of the fight. As the horn sounded to close the first round, the Brazilian nailed Volkmann (9-1, 0-1 UFC) with a left and then a huge right. Volkmann's body locked up as he fell to the ground and then it appeared that the fall jarred back his consciousness.

"I should've kept the fight standing. I had him hurt in the first but unfortunately the round ended," said Thiago.

Volkmann had his opportunities but didn't seem to have a plan when he was in dominant position often getting overanxious and losing the position. Meanwhile, Thiago stay composed and hit Volkmann with big shots from a standing position when the American was on his back.

"The UFC has given me top-notch wrestlers (Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch) to go up against. They've been good matchups for me but I'd like to make sure to work my standup more."  

Judge Glen Trowbridge gave the second round to Volkmann, that was the only round given to the Minnesotan. Thiago won as a minus-330 favorite. It's been a shaky night for the favorites going just 4-3.

Phil Baroni made his return to the Octagon after four years away. He got a standing ovation at the completion of his battle against Amir Sadollah, but that was only place he won the fight. Sadollah cruised to a unanimous decision 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 victory. Baroni, introducing himself to new set of UFC fans, was a bloody mess by the end of the fight.

It's the kind of fight fans love but it's hard to walk away thinking the "New York Bad Ass" belongs in the UFC at this stage of his career. His career-long bugaboo, conditioning, reared its ugly head early in the second round. Baroni (pictured) dropped his hands often throughout the final two rounds, proving to be target practice for Sadollah knees and kicks.

"I knew I'd have to weather the initial storm. The guy would not go down. My strategy was to se him up with body shots. It felt good to get back on the winning track."

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Kendall Grove is a battler. He got tossed around the Octagon for three-plus minutes but when Jake Rosholt left an opening, the Hawaiian was johnny-on-spot. Rosholt, a three-time national champion as a wrestler at Oklahoma State, repeatedly tossed the 6-foot-6 Grove to the ground. He actually had his back shortly before the end of the fight. Grove was able to roll to his back where Rosholt stood up for a split second and put himself in a vulnerable position. You can't do that against a fighter with legs like Grove. He slapped on the triangle choke and Rosholt showed little resistance. He tapped immediately at 3:59 of the first round.

Grove (11-6, 6-3 UFC) dedicated the win to his grandmother who passed just nine days ago on  his birthday.

Brock Larson's got 26 wins so last thing you'd expect is the veteran fighter to tap via strikes. He simply couldn't withstand the Brian Foster onslaught anymore. Larson got into real trouble when he was slammed to the ground with 3:10 left in the second round. Foster drilled Larson with a left that slammed his head off the canvas. He worked over Larson with some ground and pound. The fight got back to the feet and Larson tried to shoot. He got drilled with a right uppercut and fell to his knees where Foster nailed him with four more shots. Larson tapped on the ground asking referee Yves Lavigne to show some mercy at 3:25 of the second. It was Foster's first win in the UFC. Larson (26-4, 2-2 UFC) drops his second straight fight and could be in jeopardy of being cut from the roster.  

Foster showed good killer instinct. Truth be told, after a wacky first round that he won 10-7, he could've run in the second and third, and still won the fight. For the second time of the night, a fighter got nailed with a illegal kick to the head on the ground. With Foster in Larson's guard, Larson kicked Foster off. But as Foster sat on his knees, Larson drilled him with another kick on the right side of his head. After a short stoppage, Larson then nailed Foster in the head with a knee as Foster was hunched over in a three-point stance.

Foster pulled the upset as a plus-300 underdog. That was about as dominant as a dog can look.

Jason Dent was able to hang during season nine of "The Ultimate Fighter" and reach the semifinals but this was a whole different animal he was facing in the opening bout of UFC 106. George Sotiropoulos (pictured on the left) is a high level grappler. After some spirited stand-up for much of the first round, the Australian took the fight to the ground and it was clear Dent was in big trouble. He was mounted with 53 seconds left in the first. Dent survived but found himself in the same position with 1:30 left in the second. Sotiropoulos worked for an armbar and finally freed Dent's arm with 28 seconds left. Referee Yves Lavigne stopped it immediately giving Sotiropoulos the win at 4:36 of the second.

"I showed my ground game a lot and that's what people expect from me, so I wanted to show my standup a bit," said Sotiropoulos. "But I let the fight take the natural course, and it eventually got there."

He was slick on the ground in setting up the finish:

"I went for the arm crush and I was holding the leg but he defended so I let go of the leg and went for the arn and got it."

Dent (19-10, 1-3 UFC) deserves another shot in the UFC. His standup was pretty solid and he walked through a few big shots from Sotiropoulos. In the second round, he actually dropped his hands and implored Sotiropoulos to fight. Sotiropoulos (11-2, 4-0 UFC) was the biggest favorite on the card at 5-to-1.

CAMOES ILLEGAL KICKS COST HIM A WIN AGAINST UNO 

A momentary lapse cost Fabricio Camoes his shot at opening his UFC career with a win. Camoes threw a few kicks from his back as Uno sat up on his knees in full guard with four minutes left in the second round. Referee Mario Yamasaki took away a point and that ultimately turned the fight into a majority draw 29-27, 28-28, 28-28.

"I understand the game, they took a point there. I was making my debut against a legend and I'm happy with my performance. I try to evolve in every aspect of the fight game."

Cagewriter had it 29-27 for Camoes (10-4-1, 0-0-1 UFC). The judges blew it overvalueing Uno's takedowns. The veteran fighter scored a takedown in each round but that was only after getting smashed repeatedly on the feet. All you had to do was look at the fighter's faces after the fight to see who won the fight. It was actually the second draw of Uno's UFC career. He scored a draw back at UFC 41 against B.J. Penn.

Cagewriter is your spot for all the action tonight from Las Vegas. The betting public likes Jake Rosholt. He's jumped from a minus-160 favorite to minus-200. Kendall Grove is a plus-155 dog. That fight along with Ben Saunders versus Marcus Davis is on Spike at 9 p.m. ET. Davis is also being slammed by the public moving 60 cents all the way up to minus-240.

UFC 106 (Opening odds courtesy Venetian Resort Hotel Casino)
Recommended plays in BOLD  

Pay-Per-View Bouts:
Forrest Griffin (-130) v. Tito Ortiz (Even) - Light Heavyweight

Based on Tito's time off and little time to prep for a fight of this magnitude, Griffin should be a gigantic favorite. He's not and because he lacks finishing power. Anytime a wrestler, like Ortiz enters the cage and we're looking at a decision situation, he's got a shot. Ortiz can score often with takedowns. We've seen Griffin taken down in past fight and smashed out with elbows and punches by Rashad Evans. This should turn out to be a nasty fight with a close decision going to Ortiz.
PICK: ORTIZ EVEN

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Marcus Davis is on the comeback trail from a loss at UFC 99. Tonight he faces Ben Saunders at UFC 106 but that loss to Dan Hardy is still fresh in his mind. Davis got fired up before the fight and probably a little too jacked in the cage. Hardy moved on to beat Mike Swick and earn a title shot against Georges St. Pierre, but Davis told Cagewriter that Hardy is a fortunate guy: 

"I still think he's a douchebag. I still don't like the guy. GSP will end up taking him down and just smashing his face apart, and send him back my way."

Davis said Hardy's wrestling simply isn't up to snuff:

"Marcus Davis, who's never wrestled in his life, he can take Dan Hardy down as many times and as easy as I did. I magine what Georges St. Pierre is doing to do?"

Davis wonders why Hardy is even getting the shot: 

"Obviously he doesn't deserve a shot. Have you ever seen Mike swick look like that? I've never seen him look that bad. I don't think it's because Dan Hardy. I just think something happened with Swick getting over there. That was the worst mike swick I've ever seen."

Now the 6-foot-3 Saunders is standing in Davis' way. The 5-10 Davis said speed and footwork beats a reach and height advantage. He worked on a new hands speed drill for this fight and says his punch output has improved immensely.