Bellator 170: Sonnen, Ortiz provide a blast from the past

What: Bellator 170, Tito Ortiz vs. Chael Sonnen

When: 9 p.m. ET Saturday, Jan. 21 

Where: The Forum, Inglewood, Calif.

TV: Spike TV

Odds: Sonnen-160, Ortiz +130

Odds courtesy of Stratosphere Sportsbook

On Saturday night, Bellator 170 gives us a real interesting fight in the light heavyweight division between former UFC icons Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen.

Sonnen, who hasn't fought since being finished in the first round by Rashad Evans in 2013, is a -160 favorite over Ortiz, who last fought in 2015. He lost a Bellator light heavyweight title fight to Liam McGeary.

In that fight, Ortiz was doing well taking McGeary down, only to get caught in a submission from the bottom in the first round.

Sonnen's last three fights have been at light heavyweight , including a UFC title fight loss to Jon Jones, but I feel he always does his best work at middleweight, 20 pounds lighter than light heavyweight.  

Perhaps Sonnen's best moment was his memorable fifth-round loss to the great Anderson Silva back in 2010.

He dominated the first four rounds with superior wrestling, and kept Silva on his back most of the fight, only to be caught in a triangle from the bottom with less than two minutes left.

Ortiz has stated that, win or lose, this is his last fight and a motivated Ortiz has always been dangerous.

He always seems to come up with his best when his back is against the wall. In 2011, with his UFC career on the line, he upset highly-ranked Ryan Bader, finishing him in the first round.

In 2014, he finished Alexander Shlemenko, the Bellator middleweight champion at the time, also in the first round as a huge underdog.

I can see this fight playing out two ways, one a stand-up battle, which favors Sonnen, or a grappling match that favors the naturally bigger Ortiz.

I feel Ortiz will take down Sonnen and use his great ground-and-pound skills to break Sonnen down.

Pick: Ortiz (+130)