With today’s surprising news that Brock Lesnar has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 106 championship bout with Shane Carwin, the UFC has announced that the rematch between light heavyweights Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz will move up and receive top billing as the main event of the evening.
Heavy.com has confirmed with sources inside the UFC and Carwin’s camp that the Lesnar/Carwin bout will be re-scheduled for UFC 108 on January 2nd. UFC 108 will serve as the traditional flagship show for the company and will likely be titled “The Ultimate 2009”.
Ortiz was originally scheduled to face Mark Coleman at UFC 106, but a training injury to Coleman forced him to withdraw from the fight. Griffin stepped in to replace Coleman, and it will be the popular former champ’s first bout since losing to Anderson Silva in August.
Griffin and Ortiz fought previously at UFC 59, where Ortiz earned a close split-decision victory in a bout many feel Griffin won.
The removal of the Lesnar/Carwin bout leaves an opening for another fight on the televised portion of the card. We’re told that the UFC is looking to book another marquee fight to placate the fans who have already purchased tickets in the hopes of seeing the Lesnar bout, but if the company cannot find a replacement, the Phil Baroni vs. Amir Sadollah bout will be moved up from the preliminary portion of the show.