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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief Tito Ortiz has officially signed a bout agreement to face Mark Coleman at UFC 106. The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion posted a video of himself signing and faxing in the agreement on YouTube and will co-headline the UFC 106 card from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV.
It brings to fruition the complete turnaround done by Tito and UFC President Dana White, who buried the hatchet following a more than year long verbal war between the two. At one point, Tito had said he would only return to the UFC if White was no longer President of the company. That all changed last month, however, and after officially announcing his return and discussing Coleman as the first opponent, it looks to be a done deal.
For Ortiz it will be his first fight in a year and a half, as his recovery from back surgery has kept him out of action since a unanimous decision loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 84. Coleman, on the other hand, has fought twice already in 2009 since coming back to the UFC.
After an injury kept him out of a return bout against Brock Lesnar last year, Coleman returned to face Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in January, losing by late third round TKO. He rebounded at UFC 100 with a unanimous decision victory over Stephan Bonnar.
UFC 106 is set to air live on pay-per-view from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV, on November 21st, headlined by a UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between Brock Lesnar and challenger Shane Carwin.
(Video of Ortiz signing his contract is below; App users video is available at MMATorch.com.)
Penick's Analysis: As I wrote about yesterday, the return of Ortiz at UFC 106 along with Brock Lesnar in the main event is sure to make this show one of the biggest pay-per-view events the company's ever had. It's a good bout for Ortiz in his return after such a long layoff, but Coleman's in no way a pushover in this fight. It's not the most marquee matchup Ortiz could have from the get go but he needs to get a solid win under his belt to reestablish himself in the light heavyweight division after the layoff.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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