On Eve of Belfort Showdown, Ortiz Excited about his Future
Tito Ortiz
Josh Gross Feb 5, 2005
From the moment Dana White saw Tito Ortiz, a bleached-blonde light
heavyweight who fought like his car had just been towed, he was
convinced that in his presence was mixed martial arts’ next
superstar.
“He had this energy when he walked into a room that most guys don’t have,” said White, who briefly represented Ortiz before becoming president of the UFC. “You can’t teach that. They either have it or they don't.”
As it turned out, Ortiz had many things going for him: the right
look; a solid rapport with fans; his do-anything-to-get-ahead
ambition; and an almost sadistic ability to overwhelm opponents—or
as Ortiz labeled them, “victims”—when it came time to fight.
When White took over as UFC chief (his childhood friends, Lorenzo and Frank Feritta, purchased the company from Bob Meyrowitz in 2000) the former fighter manager plotted nearly every aspect of Ortiz’ UFC career.
Almost overnight Ortiz, who defended the UFC light heavyweight belt for two and a half years, was not only the organization’s flag bearer but also the face of American mixed martial arts.
He headlined four of the first five “new” UFC cards. (It would have been five fights in seven shows had he not torn a knee ligament while training for a UFC 36 bout versus Vitor Belfort.) So important was Ortiz to the UFC that when the light heavyweight went down in March 2002 Lorenzo Fertitta paid out of his own pocket for the reconstructive surgery and rehab.
Oh, how things have changed.
Over the past two years vitriolic contract squabbles strained the once-tight relationship. And as other fighters emerged from the pack while Ortiz chose to concentrate on projects away from the ring, the UFC quietly switched gears.
Tonight, after fighting Belfort in the main event of UFC 51 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Ortiz will have cleared the final obstacle between being bound to the UFC and free agency. He’ll be on the open market, free to negotiate with and fight for anyone he wishes.
Regardless of what happens in the ring Saturday night against Belfort, who like Ortiz finds himself at the end of his current UFC contract, the Huntington Beach, California resident says he’s excited to know that for the first time since becoming an MMA star, he, not White or anyone else associated with the UFC, will be pulling the strings.
“A lot of power is going to be in his hands to do whatever he wants,” said Ortiz’ agent, Bardia Ghahremani. “I mean, he could take less and fight in a smaller show or maybe go to a bigger show. Or go to PRIDE or K-1 or whatever he wants to do. The power is in his hands.”
Image Isn’t Everything
It’s hard to argue that Ortiz’ marketability is as powerful today as it was a year and a half ago. Losses to Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell caused many fans—including some in the organization for which he’s fought since 1997—to question his commitment to mixed martial arts.
Life outside the ring was going well, yet the only thing people concerned themselves with was the fact that this once-ruthless kid, who at times seemed perfectly willing to end an opponent’s career, was suddenly much more interested in things outside of fighting.
Determined to avoid ending up like his drug using parents, Ortiz felt every opportunity had to be explored. Two things in particular peaked his interest: a budding passion for acting and his new Punishment Athletics clothing line.
White (and virtually everyone who followed the UFC at the time) knew Ortiz would eventually have to face perennial UFC number-one light heavyweight contender Chuck Liddell.
It was a mega-fight and simply had to be made. However, Ortiz refused to cooperate. While it may have seemed to him that playing hardball equated to being in control, it proved quite the opposite.
Had he fought Liddell as champion, the worst-case scenario would have been a good-paying rematch. Now, not only did people interpret his moves a cowardice, when he finally did return to the ring it came with the unenviable task of beating Randy Couture, the former two-time UFC heavyweight champion who just finished mopping the floor with the man Ortiz had avoided for two years.
Ortiz looked even worse after Couture handed him his first loss since the millennium. So, there were only two options: Fight Liddell or retire with his tail between his legs.
If the Couture bout had not made him feel like so many of the opponents he trashed in the early portion of his career, 38 seconds into the second round against Liddell must have. Knocked out for the first time, Ortiz soon realized that things are easier at the top.
“People turn on you quicker than they could cheer for you,” he explained. “It’s just really funny.“
With losses mounting and both personal and professional pressure coming from all sides, he decided late last year to depart Huntington Beach for Las Vegas, leaving behind a team of fighters, including Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and his honest-to-a-fault trainer Colin Oyama, all significant reasons for his previous success.
The move fractured his four-year relationship with Oyama, who never looked for a reason to coddle or put up with any of Ortiz’ out-of-the-gym distractions.
Recently, the former champion placed blame for his setbacks on Oyama, saying things staled when the traditional Muay Thai coach attempted to branch out into other areas of instruction.
“When I brought him in to train me it was just more for the kickboxing side of it,” said Ortiz, who joined forces with Oyama to beat Brazilian Wanderlei Silva for the UFC 205-pound title vacated by Frank Shamrock. “And when he tried to take over on the jiu-jitsu and wrestling side of it … I was really making a lot of mistakes because he didn’t see a lot of the mistakes I was doing because he’s not a wrestler, he’s not a jiu-jitsu guy.”
“He can place blame wherever he wants to,” said Oyama, “but it wasn’t us who told him to stand up with Chuck. It wasn’t us that told him to [try and] take Randy down in the first minute, either. … But he can also look at the fact that, hey, for once in his life he fought two quality high-caliber fighters.
“As far as Tito and myself, he can point the finger where he wants. But in his heart he has to know the truth.”
“He had this energy when he walked into a room that most guys don’t have,” said White, who briefly represented Ortiz before becoming president of the UFC. “You can’t teach that. They either have it or they don't.”
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When White took over as UFC chief (his childhood friends, Lorenzo and Frank Feritta, purchased the company from Bob Meyrowitz in 2000) the former fighter manager plotted nearly every aspect of Ortiz’ UFC career.
The idea: Use the brash wrestler as a vehicle by which the company
could move into the future. Plan A—and B and C—to rehabilitate the
UFC brand centered squarely on the young light heavyweight.
Almost overnight Ortiz, who defended the UFC light heavyweight belt for two and a half years, was not only the organization’s flag bearer but also the face of American mixed martial arts.
He headlined four of the first five “new” UFC cards. (It would have been five fights in seven shows had he not torn a knee ligament while training for a UFC 36 bout versus Vitor Belfort.) So important was Ortiz to the UFC that when the light heavyweight went down in March 2002 Lorenzo Fertitta paid out of his own pocket for the reconstructive surgery and rehab.
Oh, how things have changed.
Over the past two years vitriolic contract squabbles strained the once-tight relationship. And as other fighters emerged from the pack while Ortiz chose to concentrate on projects away from the ring, the UFC quietly switched gears.
Tonight, after fighting Belfort in the main event of UFC 51 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Ortiz will have cleared the final obstacle between being bound to the UFC and free agency. He’ll be on the open market, free to negotiate with and fight for anyone he wishes.
Regardless of what happens in the ring Saturday night against Belfort, who like Ortiz finds himself at the end of his current UFC contract, the Huntington Beach, California resident says he’s excited to know that for the first time since becoming an MMA star, he, not White or anyone else associated with the UFC, will be pulling the strings.
“A lot of power is going to be in his hands to do whatever he wants,” said Ortiz’ agent, Bardia Ghahremani. “I mean, he could take less and fight in a smaller show or maybe go to a bigger show. Or go to PRIDE or K-1 or whatever he wants to do. The power is in his hands.”
Image Isn’t Everything
It’s hard to argue that Ortiz’ marketability is as powerful today as it was a year and a half ago. Losses to Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell caused many fans—including some in the organization for which he’s fought since 1997—to question his commitment to mixed martial arts.
Life outside the ring was going well, yet the only thing people concerned themselves with was the fact that this once-ruthless kid, who at times seemed perfectly willing to end an opponent’s career, was suddenly much more interested in things outside of fighting.
Determined to avoid ending up like his drug using parents, Ortiz felt every opportunity had to be explored. Two things in particular peaked his interest: a budding passion for acting and his new Punishment Athletics clothing line.
White (and virtually everyone who followed the UFC at the time) knew Ortiz would eventually have to face perennial UFC number-one light heavyweight contender Chuck Liddell.
It was a mega-fight and simply had to be made. However, Ortiz refused to cooperate. While it may have seemed to him that playing hardball equated to being in control, it proved quite the opposite.
Had he fought Liddell as champion, the worst-case scenario would have been a good-paying rematch. Now, not only did people interpret his moves a cowardice, when he finally did return to the ring it came with the unenviable task of beating Randy Couture, the former two-time UFC heavyweight champion who just finished mopping the floor with the man Ortiz had avoided for two years.
Ortiz looked even worse after Couture handed him his first loss since the millennium. So, there were only two options: Fight Liddell or retire with his tail between his legs.
If the Couture bout had not made him feel like so many of the opponents he trashed in the early portion of his career, 38 seconds into the second round against Liddell must have. Knocked out for the first time, Ortiz soon realized that things are easier at the top.
“People turn on you quicker than they could cheer for you,” he explained. “It’s just really funny.“
With losses mounting and both personal and professional pressure coming from all sides, he decided late last year to depart Huntington Beach for Las Vegas, leaving behind a team of fighters, including Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and his honest-to-a-fault trainer Colin Oyama, all significant reasons for his previous success.
The move fractured his four-year relationship with Oyama, who never looked for a reason to coddle or put up with any of Ortiz’ out-of-the-gym distractions.
Recently, the former champion placed blame for his setbacks on Oyama, saying things staled when the traditional Muay Thai coach attempted to branch out into other areas of instruction.
“When I brought him in to train me it was just more for the kickboxing side of it,” said Ortiz, who joined forces with Oyama to beat Brazilian Wanderlei Silva for the UFC 205-pound title vacated by Frank Shamrock. “And when he tried to take over on the jiu-jitsu and wrestling side of it … I was really making a lot of mistakes because he didn’t see a lot of the mistakes I was doing because he’s not a wrestler, he’s not a jiu-jitsu guy.”
“He can place blame wherever he wants to,” said Oyama, “but it wasn’t us who told him to stand up with Chuck. It wasn’t us that told him to [try and] take Randy down in the first minute, either. … But he can also look at the fact that, hey, for once in his life he fought two quality high-caliber fighters.
“As far as Tito and myself, he can point the finger where he wants. But in his heart he has to know the truth.”
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