“Tito Ortiz could be in store for his second consecutive loss if he ends up fighting Rashad Evans at UFC 71 in May. Evans, while being less experienced than Ortiz, is a superior standup fighter. Ortiz is noted for his ability to take down fighters and beat them with his superb ground and pound game. But he did a poor job of setting up his takedowns against Chuck Liddell at UFC 66 and could struggle to get Evans, a former amateur wrestler at the collegiate level, to the ground. This could be the beginning of the end for Ortiz, who has failed to evolve as a fighter or earn a notable win since 2002. One could counter and say that Ortiz’s split-decision victory against Forrest Griffin last April at UFC 59 qualifies as a ‘notable’ win, but many felt Griffin was the true winner of that fight and Griffin was TKO’d by Keith Jardine at UFC 66. Few fighters are more dangerous than Ortiz when it comes to striking from someone’s closed guard, but his standup is still suspect and his submission ability is questionable, at best.”
–Rather harsh criticism of former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz from Sam Caplan — a CBSSportsline.com contributor — who weighs in on the potential showdown between the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” and Rashad Evans at UFC 71 on May 26.
51 Comments »
This idiot gets one big interview with Dana and all of a sudden hes an expert. Not the kind of ‘reporting’ that should be coming from a major sports news site IMO. When Tito crushes Evans Ill be the first to remind Sam Caplan about this………
I also think this is a tough fight for Tito, thats why it is so interesting. Maybe more so than any other upcoming fight. I just love the matchup.
But i do believe Tito will get Rashaad down. Just look at how bad Evans did Vs Salmon. Salmon took him down more than once. And at times seemed kinda easy. Yes Salmon is a Collegiate wrestler also, but Evans defense didnt look that great. MMA Wrestling is a bit differant and Tito has some of the best MMA Wrestling out there.
Were it gets dicey for Tito in my opinion is later in the fight.
Should be great, cant wait i will be there.
How can Rashad be better ranked then Tito? He have never been facing a top fighter or have i missed something!?
Evans is going down! Tito will take him down, and then ground, pound and trash him out. That guy is not Chuck, he doesnt have the best takedown defense in entire MMA, and Tito is a superior wrestler and GaP gamer.
Love these new found experts who think all these TUF fighters are the sh#@. He talks about Tito having no notable wins since ‘02, never mind the fact that Rashad has had no notables wins in his whole career. Salmon took Evans down easily and Salmon was not even a top 50 fighter, Salmon’s stand up was horrible, his takedowns slow and the jumpin karate kid kick was the most embarrsing thing I’ve ever witnessed in MMA. As long as Tito’s heathly, he’ll take Evans down at will. Tito by decision. If Evans wins then I will give him some respect but until he actually beats someone who’s a top ten fighter he’ll be just like all of the other spoon fed TUF fighters that Dana’s protects.
rashad never beat anyone???….how bout jason lambert???….rashad killed him!!!…..how is lambert not top 10??….hes 4-1 ufc with a win over the 2nd best LHW in the ufc….Rashad by unanimous decision
Im not a big Tito fan but i think Rashad Evans is no problem for Tito. I think Tito should go to a another organisation and seek the luck, he`s been in the shadows of Lidell to long now…
Sorry Jason Lambert is not a top 10 fighter in my book, just because he beat a declining Babalu. Don’t use mmaweekly’s ranking as your basis, hell those ratings are clueless when ranking fighters. Ranking Lambert as a top 10 fighter makes about as much sense as putting Rich Franklin above Dan Henderson and Denis Kang…it doesn’t.
This rankings is shit! I only know one guy who has an clean record and he is the fucking GOAT!
If Tito from round 1 of ortiz vs. griffin shows up… Ortiz tko rnd 2.
Say what you want but have knout out Babalu Sobral don´t means a shit! Sobral is not the man he used to be…
I just love these johnny come lately experts.the guy probably doesn’t even watch the fights.
TITO SHOULD WIN THIS FIGHT FAIRLY EASY IN MY OPINION. EVANS ISN’T ON THE SAME LEVEL AS ORTIZ.
It really has been a long time since Tito had an impressive win. He barely beat Griffin and beat a crippled Ken Shamrock twice in a row. Rashad has a decent chance of winning this fight. I think it could go either way, depends on what Tito Ortiz shows up. If Tito loses this fight tho, he is really going to have to switch up his training and make an attempt to “evolve”.
tito won’t have the pressure of liddells dynamite hands. i say tito without a doubt
Tito wins because of experience and cardio Evans always looks gased after the first round.I really like both of these guys. But Rashad isnt being spoon fed like the other TUF guys. Lambert is a creditable fighter and got knocked out by him. Rashad easy fight was the salmon fight. Give rashard Credit he is a damn good fighter. But I dont see him beating Tito
I wanna see EVAns VS Eastman that woul;d be a good fight.
Rashaed ko 1st round
There’s no question Evans is improving in all aspects, but
“Rashad Evans is a superior striker”????
What is this guy talking about????
Eastman is no joke! He can beat Rashad when he sleeps!
THIS SEEMS TO BE AN INTERESTING MATCH-UP, WE WILL FINALLY FIND OUT WHETHER OR NOT RASHAD IS A SERIOUS CONTENDER IN THE LHW DIVISION, I PERSONALLY THINK HE WILL BE, BUT NOT FOR THIS FIGHT.
I’m thinking that this will go the distance and be a decision. Evans imo hasnt managed to blend his stand up with his ground game so he has two modes, either he fights standing up or he goes for the takedown. Tito has enough experience to trip Rashad up and take advantage.
If Rashad has improved during his training and can move with greater easy from ground to standup and back again he has the raw power to do serious damage to Tito, and the technical skill to make that power effective.
Tito is still the favorite but dont expect Rashad to lay down and take it is more what I’m saying. 7 out of 10 times I think Tito wins. 5 out of 10 that it goes to the judges. But I’m no expert just a fan.
If this was Evans next fight as in he was fighting someone else and then fighting Tito down the line I’d say it would be alot closer to a toss up.
This should be an interesting match regardless.
Did I write that article? I said virtually the same thing in two other posts.
Tito hasnt fought anyone in over 4 yrs to have deserved a title shot, but hey when ya get em written into your contract, that makes it much easier…
Tito hasnt faces a wrestler or sub guy in almost 7 yrs. Hmm, protected, maybe? Time for him to prove he has evolved as a fighter, or Cage Rage will be calling shortly.
Evans via blanket.
I think Rashad has a great chance to beat Tito. I think while Tito definately has more experience he hasn’t evolved into the total MMA package. He’e got a great ground and pound but that is only One out of three skills required. His striking isn’t that good and I have never seen him submit anyone. Of course I haven’t been a fan as long as many of you but he seems alot like Babalu…He’s gotten as far as he can go at being good at onely one thing.
Tito needs a win to justify that he on top of the heap.
Evans is improving… Why not give er a go.
I would like to think Tito will win but i dont know anymore.
This will be a fight that each guy has something to prove.
Actually I would like to see Babalu Drop some weight and fight Silva or have silva gain a bit to put him in the same ballpark.
There really isnt anything in that division for him (SILVA) he mays well bump up and see what happens for KICKS.
well first of all i’d like to ask why tito has so many fans. He’s an arrogant, 1 demensional shit talker who has always been outclassed but well rounded fighters. 2nd of all, forrest griffin beat him, ive watched the fight over and over. tito’s name won him that fight. 3rd, i see people say, “well if the same tito that showed up for the first round of griffin v ortiz shows up, he’ll win”, what the fuck are you talking about? if that was such complete and total dominance, then why was there a 2nd round at all??? and why did griffin come out swinging, and tito looked like he could barely stand. i will cheer for evans and hope tito gets his contract shredded
haha theres a lot for Silva..Marquet, Swick, Franklin all can pose Silva a threat…theres no way Babalu can make 185
THIS WILL BE A GREAT FIGHT, AND SHOULD RETIRE TITO SINCE HE HASN’T DONE JACK SINCE 2002. GO SUGAR!
Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Shane Mosley
Sugar Rashad Evans????
Am i the only one that thinks this nick name is retarded for Rashad?? The other guys names flow with it, and they are all smooth, slick fighters…it doesnt make sense!
I don’t like any of tuf fighters either.
tito can and will take evans down! rashad is not on liddells level strike,take down defense or wrestling wise so yeah tito will beat down rashad.i know danas trying to discover the next ultimate fighter to ride on his coattails,he did it with tito,now its chuck and if chuck starts to lose he’ll need someone else to hang out with and praise and since CRO COP wont let dana play him like that he needs someone,but its not rashad!! anyway i hope tito wins buhday!!!
Not sure why there is so much hate here for Tito. Tito talks shit, so what……90% if not more of fighters talk shit, thats part of the game. Its not as bad as the Hypocritical “Jesus lovers” talking shit.
Give the man some credit he’s been around for 10 years, has done alot for the popularity of the sport, his coaching skills in TUF3 were off the chain with mostly all team punishment/ortiz in the finals. Most of his team punishment guys have very good UFC records (although not very formidable opponents)and at least two are undefeated.
So what he lost x amount of times, ALL champions in UFC have loses on there records, all his losses were against world champions (not too bad in my book) and some of you state that he hasnt done shit in 4 years, – He came off back to back loses to two of the best fighters in the World(IMO), had two close decision wins, took a year lay off, Beat Forrest, Killed Kenny x2, and then went 3 rounds on his feet with the most dominating knockout artist in the game. Got beat down in the 3rd round, and was very gracious in defeat, no excuses, but said he will be back. And now he starts his road back to the top……….
Once again – Tito RD2 GnP
mayberry that made me laugh. tito is so done its sick, he might not lose to evans but what will he do after that? He will never be champ again>
Does anyone know who Rampage is fighting next???????????
hope your still laughin after 71
Rashad hasn’t fought the same level of competition as Tito, so i woudn’t go as far and say that it will be the end for Tito.
I agree with you Mayberry! Jesse1 has no idea what the hell is going in the UFC. You can add Jesse1 to the list of haters. Tito Ortiz – RD. 1 – Ground and Pound! I’ll be sure to copy this to my microsoft word so when he does smash, I’ll repost it for Jesse1 to read and feel like a total dumbass!
First of all, I am a Tito Ortiz fan. I love the trash talk and his antics. They are fighting in front of millions of people. What’s wrong with a little showmanship? He also has some impressive wins, but none of late, I agree. That’s why I have to go with Rashad in this one. Yes, Salmon took Rashad down, but he couldnt keep him down. Also, depsite wrestling being his strength, Evans seemed determined to beat Salmon with striking. He really didn’t seem very interested in falling back on his wrestling skills. I have yet to see Tito do the same and so I have to go with Rashad in this one.
Rashad via knockout, late in the fight.
Who said that rashad strikes better than tito??? It is not easy to strike with iceman for 3 rounds!!!
[quote comment="12697"]Did I write that article? I said virtually the same thing in two other posts.
Tito hasnt fought anyone in over 4 yrs to have deserved a title shot, but hey when ya get em written into your contract, that makes it much easier…
Tito hasnt faces a wrestler or sub guy in almost 7 yrs. Hmm, protected, maybe? Time for him to prove he has evolved as a fighter, or Cage Rage will be calling shortly.
Evans via blanket.[/quote]
Since when was Shamrock not a sub guy? what about his three wins over shramrock.
im not serious
[quote comment="12839"]mayberry that made me laugh. tito is so done its sick, he might not lose to evans but what will he do after that? He will never be champ again>
Does anyone know who Rampage is fighting next???????????[/quote]
So you trying to tell me if someone isnt gonna be champ he should just quit, because hes “done”. The truth is there are a lot of guys out there who people like that will never be champ, they know they will never be champ, but they just like to fight…theyre not done whatsoever…and with as much nuthigging as Rashad is getting, if Tito wins it should prove that hes not “done”…i never thought id defend Tito so much, butsome of you arent making sense at all
Yeah he never beat any good strikers..what was that guys name…vitor something
I’ve watched Tito fight in the UFC over the past 5 years. At one point I thought no one out there had more stamina and raw power than him. Watching him in the Griffin fight and seeing Forrest prevent the takedown(s!!!) really seened to discourage Tito, not to mention take the wind right out of his sail. Tito Rd 1 definately. Round 2 TossUp as Forrest gained confidence preventing the takedowns but got busted up in the process due to Tito’s standup. Round 3 I gave to Forrest hands-down. I honestly think there should’ve been a round 4 or call it a draw but I’m no Ref. Rashad is a good fighter and proved that he can hang with the big boys especially during the show when he packed on 40 extra pounds and beat that GIANT. Great left hook and overhand right. I don’t think he can get past Tito’s jab though. Point is if Tito expects to remain on top and a favorite to the masses he’d better train harder, increase his stamina, expand on his Jujitsu/submissions abilities…or he’ll wind up just like Ken Shamrock…….a has-been. Keep in mind he’s still my favorite fighter though!!! Tito over Rashad…1st Rd, ground and pound Ref stoppage.
Hey Tito’s haters,
Just listen to Chuck. He said “Tito is one of the toughest fighter out there”. Does that mean anything?? or let me guess, Chuck said that because he respects all of his opponents. Maybe calling Vernon “Tiger” White a legend in his own damn mind is a good indication for all you haters.
Rashad is on the way up; Tito’s on the way down. It’s an irrelevant fight anyway – it’s like watching two mules fight over a turnip.
that was some critical thinking, criticalthinker…if thats the case then why is there mma anyway…it woul all be irrelevant, the fact that this thread is getting so many posts shows that people care about this fight…you get the douche award
now i look like the dick…haha…oh well…things were deleted on criticalthinkers post, fyi
Sorry … that guy is a big dick. He will soon receive the second ban in the the history of the site shortly.
haha yeah he must have thought he was on the sherdog forum, good call though…you can argue mma without running everyone down and being a prick
Fuck tito he lost it, and i personally don’t like the drama bs he pulls with everyone. like i said Rashad ko 1st round
I think tito takes this one, other than his amazing high kick rashad looked kinda sloppy out there in his last fight. I’ll tell you one thing if tito gets him down, rashad is in for a ground and pounding like he’s never had before.
TITO is going to take fight, Rashad is not quality fighter so people stop talking what is not true…
[quote comment="15427"]I think tito takes this one, other than his amazing high kick rashad looked kinda sloppy out there in his last fight. I’ll tell you one thing if tito gets him down, rashad is in for a ground and pounding like he’s never had before.[/quote]
rashad’s not going to get in that vulnerable position of being grounded and pounded.
he’s much too strong and too impressive of a wrestler.
evans is going to blanket him, and get the win.
tito will have to recupe a career gone south at that point.