Why Tito will Win at UFC 84

The Huntington Beach Bad Boy Tito Ortiz will have one large thing in common with Barry Bonds, Allen Iverson, and Daunte Culpepper after his much anticipated fight with Lyoto Machida this weekend at UFC 84. They will all be free agents looking to make a contract to solidify their future.

Almost all athletes will come to a crossroads in their athletic career where they will be forced to decide if they should move to another city and get paid, or stay where they are and be happy with what they are offered. If you pay attention to the current MLB season, most of the players that are in the final year of their contract are playing better than previous years. In a way they are acting like a personal billboard – advertising their talent so that in the offseason another team will spend the big bucks on them.

Tito Ortiz is at this cross road and will be looking to advertise himself this Saturday at UFC 84. Every MMA organization would love to have Ortiz in their organization. He is a big name, bring with him a billion dollar company in Punishment Athletics, and is one of the most dominate fighters in UFC history. On the horizon he looks to be in movies, and to be hosting his very own reality show. However, they will only pay big bucks for the Tito Ortiz that once dominated the cage. This second Gary Shaw is running numbers in his head and is sure to make a strong run at Tito. A Tito that can’t win isn’t worth nearly as much as one that does.

Throughout the later years of his 11 year tenure in the UFC Tito has had a large feud with Dana White. It is no secret that Tito would love to get the last laugh on Dana with a devastating win over Machida.

Tito Ortiz will win at UFC 84. He will do so because of his desire, motivation, and will. If the above reasons aren’t enough motivation to train hard, he also has to showcase his gym. As the key man in Punishment Athletics, he has to lead from the front. There’s no better way to do this than win. If he pushes Machida throughout the fight, stays on him, moves forward, and shows the Tito of old, it will go along way for his gym that he is hoping to revamp.

Also, matchups make fight. We have all heard it time and time again. It is why two of the greatest fights in the cage – Forrest versus Bonnar and Wand versus Chuck were so good. It is why the Sherk and Penn fight at 84 will be so great. In the case of Ortiz versus Machida the matchup leans in the direction of Tito. Tito will be the stronger more aggressive fighter and he will look to push Machida and use his cardiovascular shape in his favor. Of the two, Tito is the better wrestler and he will look to use this in his favor to be able to put Machida on his back and use his strength to ground and pound and push for a stoppage.

Once he leaves the UFC the level of competition will drop dramatically. He is going from the toughest division in all MMA in the 205 pound weight class with Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Keith Jardine, Rashad Evans, and many more. It is possible that Tito could rise through all of this top level competition, however it is very unlikely.

Tito Ortiz is more than just your run of the mill UFC fighter. He is a businessman, athlete, and leader. He should be inducted into the hall of fame once his time in the UFC is over. He headlined the two biggest PPVs in the history of the UFC and he was also their longest reigning champion. In a sense Tito’s popularity personally assisted in the rise of the UFC. Without the PPVs and T.V. specials, would the UFC be where they are today? Who knows, but the one thing we do know is that Tito is far from being done. Look for a renewed Tito at 84 and a very interesting post fight interview with Joe Rogan.