Is A Return To The Octagon In Tito Ortiz’s Future?
By Bryan Levick on Jul 17, 2009
Leave it to Tito Ortiz to once again try to steal someone’s thunder.
MMA Mania is reporting that Tito Ortiz stated on TapouT Radio that he has made amends to a certain degree with Dana White and a return to the octagon could be possible.
Ortiz stated that Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta have been good to him throughout his career. While he and Dana will never be friends maybe they can be amicable enough to work together once again.
“I’m very thankful for Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta from the UFC and I’m glad that me and Dana (White) kind of got to brush each other off. We may not still like each other or whatever but we came to amends — which is awesome. I gotta thank Strikeforce for giving me an opportunity and I want to thank Affliction for giving me an opportunity.”
Sounds to me like a man ready to step back inside the octagon. By thanking Strikeforce and Affliction is that his way of saying thank you, but no thank you? Many fans and pundits alike have predicted all along that Tito would make his way back inside the octagon and this whole circus has been a ruse in order to drive up pay-per-view sales for when he does come back.
Ortiz is 15-6 in his career and was at one time the UFC light heavyweight champion. His last bout was back in May of 2008 against current champion Lyoto Machida. Ortiz was dominated for the majority of the bout but gave Machida quite a scare during the last minute of the third round. While on his back Ortiz surprised everyone including Machida himself when he caught him in a triangle choke and then rolled that into an armbar. Machida eventually escaped but stated after the bout that he was nearly unconcious from the choke. Ortiz was well known for his stellar wrestling skills and ground and pound much more than for his submissions. Only two of his career victories came by submission.
Speculation has been rampant regarding a possible match-up with former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin who now fights as a light heavyweight as does Ortiz. UFC 103 scheduled for September 19th in Dallas still has no main event.
Ortiz is well known for his feuds with Chuck Liddell and Ken Shamrock. His rematch with Liddell at UFC 66 generated well over a million pay-per-view buys and grossed $5, 397,300 in ticket sales. Whether you love him or you hate him the man puts people in the seats and gets them to order pay-per-views.
Filed Under: MMA
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Tito is a huge draw! Could you imagine if he bumped to heavyweight? Could you imagine how much money a Tito Ortiz vs. Brock Lesnar fight would pull!
Tito on any card is a good draw for the UFC. Maybe he might win a fight or two but not against the “Ace” Rich Franklin . . . well unless it is via decision.
Tito Ortiz x Randy Couture = In-Out, Out-In, repeat.
Well Tito’s last 6 fights at LHW returning to the UFC were against: Griffin (win), Shamrock twice(both wins), Liddell (loss), Evans (draw), Machida (loss). But Liddell is gone, Evans and Griffin have won the belt each, and Machida is the current champ. Ortiz should have beat Evans (fence grabbing cost him a round) and he actually thinks he did well against Machida. So aside from Machida he actually has beaten to some respect two of the top contenders in the LHW division. And he is a draw. The UFC could market a rematch between Griffin or Evans and Tito or any number of other fighters. I doubt he will ever get the belt back, but he could be a money maker. But can the UFC handle Tito and Brock at the same time?
He could be just another guy in the division to fill a void or someone that can really make a push.
The match ups are endless, but they all seem to make sense!
Maybe a Tito vs. Chuck as Chuck’s last go around…
Tito vs. Randy! The names alone would sell.
Tito is back just confirmed more or less via Twitter.