Tito Ortiz will conclude his heated trilogy with Forrest Griffin at UFC 148. Ortiz announced the bout late Monday night via Twitter.
The 37-year-old Ortiz campaigned vigorously for a final meeting with Griffin, and is expected to retire following the rubber match.
UFC 148 is scheduled for July 7, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card will likely be headlined by another contentious trilogy, as The Ultimate Fighter 15 coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber square off for the UFC bantamweight title. Also featured are middleweight bouts Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le and Michael Bisping vs. Tim Boetsch, as well as a bantamweight clash between Renan Barao and Jeff Hougland.
Ortiz and Griffin met twice previously, with each man claiming a victory. The pair first fought at UFC 59, where Ortiz nabbed a narrow split decision win. Griffin found his revenge three years later, taking the judges’ nod via another split decision at UFC 106.
Suffice to say, both men have experienced mixed results since that meeting.
Ortiz (16-10-1), a former UFC light heavyweight champion and the owner of the most fights in UFC history, stumbled through a winless streak from 2006 to 2010, until upsetting Ryan Bader with a stunning first-round submission victory at UFC 132. However the momentum was short-lived, and Ortiz has since dropped two straight contests to Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
Griffin (18-7), meanwhile, has split his two appearances since the Ortiz rematch, defeating Rich Franklin via unanimous decision at UFC 126 before falling to Mauricio Rua at UFC 134.