Tito Ortiz

Tito Ortiz has been an outspoken S.O.B. and a pain in Dana White’s ass for over 10 years now. The “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” has come a long way since he put on the “Gay Mezger Is My Bitch” t-shirt and shot his popularity through the roof. It hasn’t hurt his career that he has won 16 of his 21 fights, against the best the sport has to offer. Many consider Ortiz to be a complete jerk, UFC’s version of the wrestling heel. It’s true that in his youth his self-promotion may have got out of hand a bit, but isn’t that the point?

After college at Cal State, where he trained with world champion Stephen Neal, his first UFC fight was in 1997. Tito’s success in the Octagon comes from this solid amateur wrestling background. His ground-and-pound attack is vicious and he is one of the most well-conditioned fighters in the game today. Tito overwhelms his opponents with aggression and pace. He won a vacant UFC light heavyweight belt against Wanderlei Silva in 1999, and defended it five times until Randy Couture won a unanimous decision over him in 2003. His feud with the Shamrocks and his appearance on Ultimate Fighter 3 in 2005 turned him into the biggest pay-per-view attraction of 2006.

Fight fans love Tito because he lives life the way he sees fit. This usually manifests itself in immaturity and selfishness in youth, but with experience individuals like Ortiz usually end up contributing to what they do in big way. It looks like Ortiz’s feud with Dana White is going to be what he will give to MMA, after taking so much. His battle for his rights as a fighter, in the form of increasing the share of promotional profits, as well as profits made from the sale of his likeness, will improve conditions for fighters in the UFC and all of MMA.

Ortiz faces the undefeated Rashad Evans in UFC 73 Stacked, which is one of the two remaining fights he has on his contract with UFC. With the recent loss to Chuck Liddell, it’s do or die for Tito’s championship hopes in this fight, but the younger Evans is on the same championship trail. Expect fireworks in this one, as both fighters have everything to lose on July 7.