When given the opportunity to talk to former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, I jumped at it. I knew there were some definite questions that I wanted to ask him — not only about his upcoming opponent Lyoto Machida, but also about one of the hottest topics in MMA today, and one that he’s been very outspoken about in recent months: Fighters’ pay.
Knowing Tito would never back down from a question, I fired away, and what came out of it was nearly 35 minutes of pure Tito Ortiz.
I asked him about holding the fence against Rashad Evans at UFC 73; how he plans to close the distance on Machida; if he’s concerned at all about needing to readjust to fighting outside the Octagon, once he presumably leaves the organization this summer; and if he thinks he can use his wins over Forrest Griffin and Wanderlei Silva as leverage to get back in.
Tito surprised me. He even commented on a few fighters who might not be as happy as you’d think with the UFC.
While it’s a long interview, I just couldn’t bear to cut it down. So read what you want of it. It never gets dull talking to Tito.
“The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz (15-5-1) faces Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida (12-0) at UFC 84: “Ill Will” just two weeks away on May 24 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It will be the last fight on his contract, and reportedly the last time you will see Tito Ortiz in the UFC Octagon.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): You’ll be fighting Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 on May 24 for your last contracted fight in the UFC. Machida’s undefeated and is a noted counter striker. How have you been preparing for this fight, particular in preparation for his style?
Tito Ortiz: I really just think about being a great champ, you know. I don’t think Machida’s ever fought anyone like me — someone who’s aggressive, someone who pushes the pace, and I’m going to be that person.
He’s had some tough guys that he’s fought, but it was a B.J. Penn at 175 pounds or a Rich Franklin who was a 185 pounder who was maybe 202, 203. So when he has someone on him who’s 220 fight time — I mean, I’ll make weight at 205 without a problem at all, you know, coming from a wrestling background, but I’ll be 220 fight time — so let’s see if he can handle a bigger man on top of him. Let’s see if he can be as elusive as he has in his fights.
I have a lot of guys up here who are great wrestlers, great strikers — southpaw guys too — who really mimic what Machida’s fight style is — elusive, always circling out, always running away. I’m going to push the pace, man, like all my fights. I bring the fight when it’s fight time. That’s why so many fans watch pay-per-view (PPV) of Tito Ortiz, because they want to see a fight, and I bring the fight every time I fight.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): That they do. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I’m pretty sure you still have the two most watched UFC PPVs as well as being the coach on the highest rated The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) series, Season 3. So there’s no doubt that you have a huge fan base.
Machida’s manager, Ed Soares, was quoted as saying that he doesn’t think there’s any area where you are better than Lyoto, from striking to on the ground. He said that you were bigger, but not necessarily stronger. I’m assuming you disagree with his assessment. What’s your take on how the two of you measure up?
Tito Ortiz: You know, I really think that Machida is a 185 pounder at 205. I think he’s a lot lighter than most 205 pounders that I fight. I really think that it’s going to come down to pressure — can he handle the pressure, let alone just the fight, but being in front of 16,000 fans and over a million PPV buyers that are going to be watching this fight? There’s going to be a lot of pressure on him.
I have nothing to lose. I’m healthy, my back’s 100 percent. He’s undefeated, he has everything to lose, and I know he doesn’t want to lose. I don’t want to lose, so it’s going to make a great fight.
And with his manager saying the things he says … I mean, who’s he? He manages some Brazilian fighters because they don’t have no management that speak English, I mean, that’s about as far as it goes. Ed Soares is a scumbag. He’s just a leach among the rest of the managements. That’s the way it just happens. And every fighter will find that out, especially with the Brazilian fighters — they’ll find out how much of a leach he really is.
He can say what he wants about me, and it’s fine. Like I say, there is no other fighter in the UFC, no other fighter in mixed martial arts that is like Tito Ortiz, that can mimic myself. And when it’s fight time for Machida, I hope he’s ready. I know he’s training hard. I know he doesn’t want a loss, but I’m gonna give him his first loss.
I’m excited, man, I’m challenged. I’m challenged by Dana White, I’m challenged by Machida, I’m challenged by his management, and I’m challenged by all the naysayers. You know, for me and from this point on it’s all about the positive reinforcement I have from my great fans. And I have some great fans. If it wasn’t for my fans, I wouldn’t be where I am right now, you know. I probably wouldn’t still be fighting if it wasn’t for my fans — the ones who support me and are in love with the way I fight and the intensity that I bring when it’s fight time.
And I’m healthy, that’s the biggest. The key word is health. My body’s very healthy, my back injury’s gone. I really did the core strength with my trainer, Paul Lacanilao, who is a strength coach, who’s really got me strong with my stomach strength and my back strength where I don’t have problems with my back anymore.
It’s been a long time since that’s happened. The last time this has happened was when I fought Vitor Belfort, and I came away with a win on that one. And I’m in the same shoes that I was when I fought Vitor Belfort. I’m fighting a southpaw, it’s the last fight on my contract. And I have nothing to lose, I have everything to gain. So it’s just one of those things that the more positive my outlook on this fight, the better I feel about it, the more excited I feel about it.
We’re doing six six-minute rounds with 30 seconds of rest at 7,000 feet of altitude. So you can only imagine what type of shape I’m in. I haven’t been in this great of shape for a long, long time. I’m excited, like I say, I’ve been challenged. I don’t want to let any of my fans down, and I want to make sure that they know that this fight means the world to me, as I know it means the world to them.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Well, given that Machida isn’t exactly known for finishing fights — I think seven of his 12 fights have gone to a decision, which is pretty much the opposite of you … you’re known for your ground and pound and for finishing fighters via TKO — how do you see this fight developing? Do you think it’s going to be a three-round fight that goes to a decision. Clearly, you’re going to want to try and finish it, but do you think that you’re going to have a problem — frustration-wise — with him trying to keep distance from you?
Tito Ortiz: Well I think that’s the key word there is distance. Can he keep the distance from me? He’s never fought anybody who has put the pressure on him. He’s always sat back and picked his punches, picked his strikes, picked his kicks. It’s not going to be that type of fight.
The way Tito Ortiz fights is I bring it, man, I bring it every time I fight. If it goes to a decision, that means he’s a tough kid. If it gets stopped, as I plan on stopping him, because of the pressure, because of the striking, the ground and pound, and on our feet and everything — it’s just going to be a mixture of everything. We’ll see how tough he really is. We’ll see what type of heart he has (because) I’m going to test it.
He’s an undefeated fighter, he’s ranked 5th in the world. And he’s one of the best fighters right now in the UFC and one of the best fighters in the world. So it’s just going to put me where I need to be, and that’s on top of him.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): In your last fight with Rashad Evans, the fight ended up being a draw, most likely due to the point you were deducted for grabbing hold of the fence to prevent a takedown. Do you regret that decision, or did it happen so quickly that it was difficult to control?
Tito Ortiz: Yeah it happened really quick and it was difficult to control. It was just one of those things that was just reaction, you know, I reacted. I was used to doing it in training, so when it came to fight time, I did it in the fight also. I made the mistake, you know, I was trying. You can’t bag on me for trying, I was trying my ass off. I didn’t want to be taken down.
In that round, I had a guillotine, and I swept him and mounted him, so it still could’ve been a 9-9 round, a tie round. So it’s just one of those things. I look at it as I won the fight. In my mind, I know I won the fight. Rashad has a draw on his record, and I have my first draw on my record, but to me, I felt like I beat Rashad. I dominated the fight, I put on the pressure, I was in his face. The two or three takedowns that he did get, he scored on. But I think I caused as much damage or more than he did. There was just a lot of positions, you know, the takedowns that I had too.
But it was an exciting fight, you know, Rashad’s no pushover. He’s undefeated, and he’s a great fighter. He brought the best out of me, but with me being only 75 percent, not 100 percent, he got a draw out of a 75 percent Tito Ortiz. Can you imagine if I was 100 percent?
Machida’s gonna get 100 percent of Tito Ortiz. So we’re going to see how tough Machida is. And like I said, I’m going to push the pressure, I’m going to push the pace. This is just going to be an old school beatdown.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): I want to talk a bit about your future. You’ve fought just one time outside of the UFC, back in 1998. With as many memorable fights as you’ve been in in the UFC’s history, I would imagine you feel pretty comfortable in the Octagon. You’ve built a huge fan base. But since you could be moving on from the organization after UFC 84, unless of course Dana White steps down, are you concerned at all about finding your comfort level in another organization—especially one that might use a different type of cage or ring, or might not have the same amount of fans packing a venue? How’s your comfort level in that respect?
Tito Ortiz: I think my comfort level will be exactly the same, you know. I’m going to have exactly the same fans. Just because I’m going to go somewhere else, doesn’t mean my fans are going to stay with the UFC. I’ve gotten emails from (all) over — to my MySpace and TitoOrtiz.com and Punishment — from fans going, “No matter where you go, Tito, we’re going to back you.” And I think that’s the most important thing.
Me fighting in an Octagon … I’ve been fighting in a cage for the last 11 years, so I’m very, very comfortable no matter where it’s at. It’s always nice to fight in Las Vegas, but hey, it really doesn’t matter, man, just as long as I’m as competitive as I am now.
I think it’ll spark a new fire underneath me, knowing that there’s a company that’s going to push me, and not really hinder me on my image or talk smack about me, or say how much of a moron I am, or … just negative stuff that’s around me. I want to go somewhere that’s all positive, you know. Where people care about me and people are going to support me like the champion that I am.
I mean, I held the Light Heavyweight World Title for five consecutive times — no other Light Heavyweight has ever done that in UFC history — but yet I get bagged on it because of things like this, because there’s a president who has hatred towards me, who dislikes me, and who doesn’t want to see me as a superstar, and is jealous of me, completely. Just because I’m a smart businessman, and I know what I’m worth, and I know what I deserve. Then they sit there and they hinder my image by talking smack on me.
It bums me out, but I think it really bums out my fans. I want to make sure at the end of this that me and my fans make it to the top of the mountain no matter what.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Two notable UFC Light Heavyweights that you hold wins over are Forrest Griffin and Wanderlei Silva, as well as your draw with Rashad — which I agree had it not been for that one point, I think you won that fight. Do you see these as bargaining chips for you later on down the road, whether it be for you to get back in the UFC or to get one of these fighters, like Griffin or Rashad or Silva, to sign with whatever organization you end up signing with?
Tito Ortiz: I really think that a lot of fighters are going to pay attention and see where I go. I’m gonna break the mold. I’m gonna be the fighter who fights for the fighters’ payment. In the very beginning when Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture made over a million dollars, it wasn’t because they spoke out and said something, it was because I spoke out and said something, and then once I said something, they were like, “Oh, maybe I should say something now.”
Everybody else is doing it now. Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, Randy Couture. I break the mold on everything. When I go somewhere else, I think fighters are going to understand that they are commodities and they gotta be paid for what they’re worth.
Forrest Griffin’s a great fighter, Rashad’s a great fighter, Wanderlei Silva’s a great fighter. But I think they need to break the mold and stop being a puppet of a company. They sit there and say what (the company) wants them to say, they don’t say what they themselves want to say. And I really think it comes down to being businessmen and thinking outside the box.
A lot of fighters say, “Oh, I want to be a superstar, and I want a lot of fans to know who I am.” Well, that’s going to happen no matter what because of the fighting that we do. We’re doing the six days a week, eight hours a day, for nine months out of the year of hard training. Fans are going to see that no matter what.
What I’m really paying attention to is in the future when we do retire. Is there going to be any sort of revenue always coming in, because they’re always going to show our replays. They’re always going to sell DVDs, they’re going to sell video games, they’re going to sell merchandise. And no UFC fighter sees any of that.
I want to break the mold of showing that each one of the fighters are businessmen, and each one of the fighters are their own companies themselves, and they got to understand that. They have to work like that and think like that to make that happen. I’m the person who is breaking outside that mold to have that happen.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): So are you saying that a lot of these fighters who we see on television as the faces of the UFC, do you think that behind the scenes, they are commenting on that type of thing but are just afraid to say it?
Tito Ortiz: Of course they’re commenting on it. There are all kinds of guys … Georges St. Pierre, I know he’s very disgusted with the UFC, but it’s just one of those things where they give him little small things that he thinks are great. He gets a brand new Hummer, like “Wow, I get an awesome new Hummer” (and it) costs 50 grand, and all of a sudden I gotta pay taxes on it, and I gotta pay for gas, and dutta-dutta-duh.
These little small things they give them to make fighters happy because they know they’ve never had those things before. Well let’s think about when fighters have their cars and have their houses, and now all of sudden, they’re like, “Well I want to start paying bills. I want to start paying for all this stuff, because I’m not gonna be able to fight for the rest of my life,” you know.
I can’t be the president of a company and say what happens and say what goes here and what goes there. I want to be a fighter. You got to think outside of the box, and not just think as a fighter, but think as a businessman.
That’s what it really comes down to, because there are other fighters who are screaming as loud as they possibly can … under their own tone. And they can’t say anything, because the UFC holds a thumb over them. If they speak out, they’ll squash ‘em. Just as they did with Randy Couture, they squashed him.
He’s a Heavyweight World Champion — one of the greatest Heavyweight World Champions, and you don’t see him on any UFC stuff, he’s not mentioned on any UFC stuff. His Xtreme Couture line isn’t shown anywhere. His gyms aren’t shown anywhere in the UFC. And that’s how they squash ‘em. The UFC’s a big monster and they’ll squash anyone who tries to speak out.
There’s a lot of guys who don’t have voices as big as mine, and who want to speak out, but they don’t. Tim Sylvia, he kept hush hush and then he left. And he’s getting his $800,000 a fight. And you would never even imagine that in the UFC. But other companies see the gross revenue that they make on a fighter, and they say, “Well maybe if we cut them in on this, they’ll be happy.” And that’s what it’s really about, making the fighters happy.
That’s what I’m going to do when I leave, I’m going to go somewhere where I’m going to cut the fighters in on a part where they’re happy always, and they have nothing to worry about for the future for their families.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Well let’s talk about those future opportunities. You have a loss to Frank Shamrock. How badly do you want to avenge that loss?
Tito Ortiz: I would love to avenge that loss with Frank Shamrock. It kind of bummed me out that he lost to Cung Le. That really kind of bummed me, I expected Frank to beat him with ease. And Cung Le just showed that he’s a tough warrior. He’s great at standup, as everybody’s always known, and Frank never took it to the ground. I think that was just kinda ignorant on Frank’s part.
Frank’s a great fighter … you never know, man, that fight could happen in the future — I would love that fight to happen in the future, and I know a lot of fans who would love that fight. So we’ll see what happens and where I end up going.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): There are very few fighters who have your kind of drawing power. But I can think of two current or future free agents who come close: Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko. I know there is a difference in weight classes between you and them, but that’s never stopped the Russian before, and you’ve fought Couture at 205 in the past. Seeing as how you could be a free agent soon, is there any interest in setting up a mega fight with Fedor or a rematch with Couture?
Tito Ortiz: I would love to do a rematch with Couture. That’d be an awesome fight — it’d be at 205 of course. You gotta understand, I walk around at 215, 212. After drinking as much as possible, I can get my heaviest at 220. But these guys, they walk around 230, 240. And that weight’s pretty heavy. I know Fedor weighs 224, 225 fight time. So he should have no problem making 205. That’d be great, that’d be an awesome fight, I would love to fight him.
To me, it really don’t matter who I fight, man. Just as long as in the long run, the paycheck is paying for my bills, that’s all I care about.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): You appeared on “Celebrity Apprentice.” When you were eliminated from the show, Donald Trump said that he was particularly fond of you and gave your charity an extra $50,000. What I was surprised about was that Trump didn’t do this for any other player in the contest, including Trace Adkins, who took 2nd place overall.
Knowing how business savvy the two of you are, do you and the Donald have an upcoming joint business venture lurking in the wings that we weren’t aware of when you guys taped the show? What was the 50 grand about?
Tito Ortiz: Actually, that 50 grand was just more of him showing respect to me. Showing that I’m an honest businessman, I think. I’m not a cutthroat kind of guy — I could have been, you know, I could have thrown Omarosa underneath the bus, like she did me.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Hell yeah, she did.
Tito Ortiz: But I wasn’t going to be that type of person. That’s just the way I am, man. In the Octagon, I talk shit and I back it up when it’s fight time because it’s a fight. Business-wise, I really think you want to surround yourself with great people, people that you respect, who you will go out of the way for and they’ll go out of the way for you.
(The $50,000) was just Donald Trump showing his character and showing what type of person he really is. And I’m really thankful. St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital — I was trying to raise awareness for them, and I did. We raised over $70,000 dollars for them. I’m very fond of working with children, and for Mr. Trump to donate that much money, it just put bigger smiles on a lot of younger kids’ faces, and that’s what made it worth it.
The whole story, this whole life that I try to live is really about giving back. Yeah, being the badass fighter in the Octagon fighting … I think that’s not really what it’s really about. I think what it’s really about is changing some lives. Put some smiles on some kids’ faces and showing them some self-worth.
My book that just came out, “This is Gonna Hurt” … I hadn’t really had a great life until I started wrestling in high school, and I had a second chance at life … (I was around) drugs, around gangs and so forth. And my mother left my father, and she gave me a second life. I’m very thankful for my mother, she went through a lot of bad things because of my father, and really gave me a second chance by leaving him and bringing me back to Huntington Beach. And I’m very thankful.
So with Mr. Trump donating that money to me, it was just to help with kids. That’s my biggest thing, to help with kids, because I was one of those kids out there who came from a drug-abusive family and lived on the streets and was in gangs, you know, I lived that life before. I just want to make it better for children in the future.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): I don’t want to get in to what you make per fight or anything like that. I know you have stated numerous times that you feel you are underpaid. Given that you have huge drawing power, how much do you think you should get paid per fight by a promoter?
Tito Ortiz: I think it just comes down to percentage. I think it comes down to what we deserve and what we put our lives into. You know, 30 percent, 40 percent of the gross revenue of what they make … that’s fair. You know, 30 percent is perfectly fair.
It’s not a factor of getting paid a bunch of money, it’s just a factor of getting little pieces of everything. Anything that my name’s on, I should get a piece of. DVDs, I should get a piece of. Merchandise, I should get a piece of. They make a video game and I’m in the video game, I should get a piece of it. Because they’re selling it! They’re using my name to sell it! How come I’m not going to get any revenue because of it?
They put all the money up, but I’m putting my ass in the Octagon, and I’m putting my life on the line. I could get seriously injured, you know, paralyzed, my eye poked out. There’s some really serious injuries that can happen in the Octagon, and people don’t take that into consideration. The training, the hard training we put into it.
How much is an eyeball worth? Is it worth a million? Hell no. Is it worth 10 million? Now you’re starting to talk when you’re talking 10, 15 million. I have a back injury. If I have bulging discs and all of a sudden a disc slips and I get paralyzed from the waist down, is that worth a million dollars? Hell no. None of that shit’s worth a million dollars. I want to be able to run with my son when I’m 40 years old and throw a football with him. Be a healthy man. I have to make sure financially that I take care of myself.
It’s a business, it’s strictly a business, and no more than that. Yeah, the fighting’s fun, and it’s all great when your hand’s raised and the tears when you lose, but the biggest thing is it’s all about the family at the very end. When I can sit in my house and not worry about bills because I put my life on the line for 15 years in the Octagon, showing fans how hard I work, and entertaining them.
You know, I’m not asking for more money from the fans at all. I’m asking the company that’s taking all the money from the fans and pocketing it for themselves, how much richer can they really be? How much richer can they get? Us fighters, we put our lives on the line when we go out there and fight. And it’s strictly for entertainment value, and that’s what I try to do when I fight. But I gotta make sure that I’m respected.
I look at the Fertittas, and I respect the Fertittas 1,000 percent. I’m very thankful for Lorenzo Fertitta, I’m very thankful for Frank Fertitta. But they didn’t get to where they are as billionaires by being pushovers, by being sellouts. They didn’t get to where they are by letting people have their name for free. They got where they are by being smart businessmen.
I’m just trying to walk in the same steps as them, by being a smart businessman, and not be taken advantage of as a stupid fighter, because I’m not a stupid fighter. I’m a very intelligent man. I went to college, I got educated. I want to make sure that this fight career I’m doing right now, I want to leave a legacy, knowing that I done right not just for myself but for other fighters who are coming up. And I think that’s the most important thing.
Try and put a price on each one of my fights? I can’t put a price on my fights. What I can do is put a percentage. Knowing that I should be making a certain percentage of what they’re making. That’s the biggest dollar amount I could say.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Can you give us any hints as to what your t-shirt is going to say for the Machida fight?
Tito Ortiz: Yeah, I can tell ya it’s going to be a really, really good one. It’s not going to be nothing towards Dana White, it’s not going to be nothing towards the UFC. But it’s all going to be about my career, that’s for sure. On where I am after this.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): You recently signed a deal with Mickey’s to develop promotions, events and packaging featuring you, as well as in cross-promotional ventures with the Team Punishment clothing line. Can you tell us about how that developed?
Tito Ortiz: They actually approached me. They went to my management, saying, “How can we get Tito for a year?” And I was like, “Oh, Mickey’s, they’re with the UFC.” And (my management) was like, “No, they’re not with the UFC no more. The UFC pretty much pushed them to the curb, and now they signed with Budweiser.” I was like, wow. That’s pretty sad for Mickey’s for putting so much money into the company, and all of a sudden they are just throwing them to the curb. So I think it was more of kinda getting back at the UFC and saying, “No, I’ll sign with Mickey’s.”
Growing up, I’ve always been a Mickey’s drinker. I’ve always drank their 22 ouncers. So I can’t really say that I don’t drink alcohol. That was one of my malt liquors of choice, so why not get free alcohol also?
They’re gonna do a great job of promoting me. I’m excited to work with Mickey’s because they’ve done such a great job helping the UFC get where they are, and vice versa. I’m really excited to be working with the company. They actually came up to my camp last week. We shot a bunch of video that’ll be on Mickeys.com, I believe. I’m really excited to work with them.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Well, Tito, I can’t tell ya how much I appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. It’s a real honor to talk with you. I’ve followed your career, and I’ve listened to a lot of your interviews and a lot of times I don’t think that I really grasped fully where you were coming from. But tonight you’ve shed some good light on fighters in general and what they deserve when it comes to payment from promotions. Lastly, I know you have a ton of fans who frequent MMAmania.com and they’re looking forward to this interview. Do you have any parting words for your fans, or would you like to thank any sponsors?
Tito Ortiz: Well I want to thank all my fans, you know, all the ones who have been there since the very beginning — on May 30, 1997 when I started my career. I didn’t know what I was getting into. I just thought that this was going to be kind of a hobby for me. I didn’t know it was going to be a business for me.
I fought free the first time I competed, because I was an amateur wrestler. It only took me a year and a half to become a world champion. And the more I fought, the more I loved it, the more I understood that there’s a lot of fans who followed me, a lot of fans who see the hard work that I put into training and into the fights. And they respect me for it. The newcomers who have just came on because of The Ultimate Fighter who don’t really understand the very beginning of my career, they’ll learn in time.
I gotta be very thankful to my fans. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. The ones who hopped off the trailer and hopped back on, you know it’s just one of those things that I’m gonna have great fans forever. They’re going to follow me wherever I go because I bring excitement when I fight. That’s just the way I fight — I fight to entertain. I’m not fighting just to win a fight, I fight to entertain. I leave everything on the line always, and that’s the way I’ve always fought.
As far as sponsors, I have to thank Punishment Athletics, one of the best clothing companies in mixed martial arts right now. Trinity Clothing, AMG and Auto Sounds from California. Thanks.
And This is Gonna Hurt is now in bookstores. I know that Chuck Liddell came out with his book, and Matt Hughes came out with his book, and it was all about fighting. This book is about the fight that I’ve gone through in my life — it’s not just my fight career but my life. If it wasn’t for the things I’ve gone through, I wouldn’t be the man I am today.
It’s been challenging. I let everything go. There’s nothing that I held back. That’s why I came up with the title This is Gonna Hurt, because it hurt when I was saying it, and it hurt when I got done with the book. I didn’t hold any punches, man. Everybody wants to know who Tito Ortiz is; read my book and you’ll really find out.
Adam Wagner (MMAmania.com): Well, again, thanks for talking with us, Tito.
Tito Ortiz: Right on, Adam, thank you much. MMAmania, thanks for your support.
149 Comments »
Good interview. I don’t think Tito can stand up to Machia, but he certainly can’t be faulted for selling himself. It’s really tough for me to reconcile my feeling about this guys - is he the stud we saw coaching on TUF 3, or is he just a self-promotion blowhard? Perhaps a little bit of both…
I think Tito’s a good guy at heart.
He’s just crabby some times because Jenna gave him, well, crabs lol. A touch of herpes too I’m guessing. I jest, i jest. She’s totally respectable now that she’s out of porn.
Sure wish I could edit sh*tty spelling after I post…
What a friggin’ windbag that guy is. I felt like Lyoto — I couldn’t finish.
Maybe Tito should just enter the Octagon and talk all third person style until Lyoto jumps the fence and runs away.
Anyway, windbaggery aside, great interview.
Get off his case, Tito is a legend and a good guy. I for one hope he stuffs Machidas face through the mat.
Sorry, no. Tito’s earned my mockery. Did you read the interview? The guy barely has a grip on reality.
Different strokes for different folks i suppose, i read it and thought he came accross really well.
He genuinly wants a better deal for the fighters and is willing to stick his neck on the line to get it.
I think he speaks with honesty (i’m not joking) and integrity.
In terms of the fighting of course he is going to big up his chances against Machida, its part of the hype and the fight game itself.
Oh and his Mrs is JJ so he gets a thumbs up in my book!!!
I wish Tito would do his talking inside the cage!
Tito is completely full of himself. Not only is he trash talking the company, which doesn’t bother me at all, but he’s putting out other Fighter’s supposed dirty laundry, like the bit he was saying about GSP being “disgusted”.
I’d really love to hear GSP’s take on the matter.
MANIA: if you interview GSP in the future, ask him what he thinks about that comment.
Looking forward to TITO being embarrassed in his last Octagon fight. Then maybe he’ll tuck his tail between his legs and go to Elite XC.
Tito was once great for the sport, but I feel like in the last 2 years he’s been nothing but a hinderance for MMA.
i got about half way through this interview and was to digusted to read the rest. excuses for every loss or draw(bad back,75% ready etc.). why not ask him about him not showing up for his boxing match w/dana. i can just imagine the excuses for that one. . he’s lying about gsp being disgusted w/ the ufc. has anyone heard gsp say anything negative about them? me neither. jacob also forgot to mention the fact that dana also gave gsp a $500 grand bonus along w/ the hummer for beating mattt hughes. so i think he can afford the gas and the taxes. tito is a sure-fire hof fighter but is really ending his careeer on a sour note just like his old buddy ken shamrock. adam says that he thinks that tito would have won the dec against rashad if not for the point deduction. no duh! it wouldnt have been a draw then. but titos grabbing of the the fence so desperatley would have caused him to lose most likely.titos face was all messsed up after that fight and rashad didnt have a mark. i thought forrest beat jacob as well. machida just demolished soku who is a big time pressure fighter, so i dont see hoe titos pressure is gonna make machida crumble. tito will be bigger and stronger, so what! cutting all that weight is what has been making him tire out. he should probably be a hw, but knows he would get killed at that weight. i think machida will shut him up once and for all. well maybee not for all, tito will probably never shut up for good.
same here i ust skippeda round to the more interesting questions! im tires of this version pussy hwipped money hungry Tito! i would not mind him at all if he became what he use to be!! i mean how could you get away with a split decision like he did againts forrest and let a b class fighter dog walk you to a draw!! i was cheering for tito in that one..but he doesnt care anymore…he will leave defested from the ufc! go to affliction and argue with monte and then call him dana white #2 then find your way to some other hodge podge org and ask for a million dollar payday!!
I agree one thousand percent to the second power, Tito is done, thats it its over, how can anyone even question this fact? hes fighting MACHIDA!!!! What is he going to do? take him down? HE CANT, soku and nakamora, both world champions in judo, could not take him down, what in the world is tito going to do? he has crappy double leg take downs that dont work 75% of the time. That means that he has to stand with machida, guess what nighty-night tito.
Also, if he took forty percent of the money made on the next paper view, how in the world is everybody else gonna get paid? what a money hogging jerk, he makes 6-7 million a year, and he needs more than that? He needs money after he retires? This guy has reached my last nerve and all the nut huggers on this blog, TITO has never beaten any body, he beat 185ers while he was champ, and he lost to randy, chuck 2wice, forrest, Vitor, gosh this guy could not finish a fight in his life. In my book, there are no points in fighting, you have to finish a fight to win. Or at least destroy the guy for 3 rounds.
well said!
Tito is going to pound Machida
He will get him to the ground with ease…Soku and Nakamura are judo guys….but MMA is all about wrestling takedowns, not judo. How many judo throws do you see vs. single\double leg takedowns? Exactly…not many
Tito is going to win a GnP decision, in 15 minutes he will get MAchida down several times and hold him there….if he can finish the fight is another story, but he will score points
lets break this down for the nuthuggers…
Standup… Machida
Groundgame… Machida(he has more training on the ground than Tito does, look it up)
Clinch… Machida
Heart… Machida
Stamina… Machida
You can argue about the picks but come on, you know he is out classed.
He didn’t want 40 percent all for himself, he wanted 30-40 percent of the total revenue to go toward all the fighters’ salaries. He raises some valid points about fighters having control of their image and likeness, getting royalties from merchandise, etc. It won’t happen until the fighters form a union. I still think Jacob is badly overestimating his own worth as a fighter and his place in the LHW pecking order.
RE: UFCPreview.com. I can see tito taking Machida to the ground but not with ease! he may have a eat a punch or two to secure the takedown
Pretty Sure the cable companies get about 50% so if 40% goes to the fighters than the UFC only gets 10%? Tito is an idiot he is not nearly as popular as he thinks he is. Sure he used to draw a huge card but he’s just not that great of fighter anymore and he’s still getting one of the biggest pay days of anyone but he can go get his ass kicked by Machida then go to some other organization and me and many other fans will not give a shit what he does for the rest of his career.
he is aone trick pony!!! anyone with a decent wrestling game can out sprawl him or keep him at distance…rahsad totally out worked him not in the takedowns but in the scrambles..he doesnt wrestle in mma anymore he just goes for the on trick pony single or double! its one thing to takedown its a whole nother game in the scramble! tito took down randy but randy was able to outscramble him! LMAO!!! your silly man a 3 round fight with machida?!!?!? that how machida wins!!! we will pick him apart!
Word…
Referred to himself in the third person–hallmark of a jackass.
Whenever he talks about Coture, I get the mental image of Randy spanking him in the ring–too funny.
B.W: YOur post just saved me a ton of time because you said almost everything that I wanted to see…What a load of crap! The biigest crap of it all was when he said “he would love to fight Fedor” LMAO You would have to pay Tito like 50 million to set foot in a ring against Fedor….That fight will NEVER happen!..what a joke, all the excuses…just crap. Reading the 1st half of the interview made me sick as well, but I have to admit that the 2nd part of the interview got a little better.
I can agree about all the stuff about being a business man and that fighters should see revenue from products with their names on it. Most of the ta;l about the business side I agree on. Do I think he is even worth the $250,000 a fight that he makes in the UFC now as a FIGHTER? Hell no! He has not fought a top opponent in a long time and he hasnt had a good showing since the 1st Ken Shamrock fight which seemed like ages ago. IMO, as a fighter he is not worth what he is making now. However on the business side of things, Tito Ortiz probably does deserve a lot more money then he makes because he is a huge draw with millions of fans (I am proud to say that I AM NOT ONE OF THEM!!!). So he is worth much more then he makes simply because of all the stupid casual fans, that dont know a real fighter from a WWE superstar, but I can not deny the fact that many people love him, many people hate him, but SO MANY People pay to watch this guy. personally I would be happy to see him leave the UFC. His star power makes it so he has to be paired against decent opponents and its a waste. He isnt a real fighter, all he does is makes excuses. He promises the world and never delivers.
I have heard this interview time and time again. Before every single one of his fights he tells us that for the 1st time he is completely healthy and that he is in the best shape of his life. Then he puts on a lackluster (non-entertaining) performance. He is not the cardio machine he is made out to be. He has gassed early in all his last fights. If he calls dry humping a guy from inside guard with some elbows is entertaining…well he can take that stuff to another organization. After the fight he takes the microphone and tells us all that he re-injured himself in training and he wasnt 100 percent…Its just the same old tired excuse time and time again.
I like him as a business man, but I cant wait to not see him take up space on UFC main cards.
Good interview Adam…its not your fault the guy is dillusional. Only Question I would have liked to see you ask was why he didnt show up to Dana’s boxing match. Good interview, you tried to get some real answers out of him, but I am starting to think that Jacob is starting to actualy believe all the crap he says.
This is the sort of thing that drives me completely nuts about Jacob. In the ring he has a one-dimensional fighting style, basically a larger and less athletic version of Koscheck. His fights in and of themselves are not worth the base pay he demands. He talks tons of trash befire the fight and has plenty of excuses afterward.
Then outside the ring he is working to raise money for good charities and trying to protect fighters’ rights to secure long-term financial stability. I guess I just want him to shut the hell up.
It really makes me wonder about the sanity of some people, when they say someone is a casual fan, or stupid, or doesn’t know anything about mma, or somebody that doesn’t know a real fighter from a wwe star. John I’m going to be nice even though I shouldn’t since you called me stupid. Please define casual, because I’m only a diehard fan of 2 sports, mma and nascar, I am a casual fan of football by my definition. Forrest isn’t a top opponent? I don’t care what you say about Rashad until it can be proved different he is a top opponent.
Please just because someone likes a fighter you don’t, or doesn’t like a fighter you do, control yourself. It’s a well known fact, that people who attack like that are insecure in who they are. It does not make you look tough, but rather brings into question your views simply because of your bias feelings.
From what i understand, Tito didn’t show up to the boxing match with Dana because he wasn’t actually getting the money he wanted for it. He asked for it in his contract, and was given it, but i think props go to Dana for actually trying to make money off of it. Turning it into a full show, great!
So its up to you who’s side you take. He signed up for it, but never agreed to do a show out of it, for pennies i might add. IMO he wanted it, and should have gone through with it, regardless of the money, (you cant demand to be able to beat up your boss in your contract, and then when you can, ask thousands for it)…
Hope this helps.
dana also trained pretty hard for this boxing match. he was sparring in his hotel room for crying out loud, plus look at all the b.s he had to go through w/ the nsac to even make this happen. i know both sides of the story. it was originally supposed to be for charity. i dont know for sure about what happened w/ the money in-between. imo tito didnt take it seriuosly, dana did and tito was afraid of being embarresed. i dont think it was about the money in this case just pride and ego.
yeah, he’s the polar opposite of wandi. now you can see what dana was talking about when he said that he wishes he had 250 wandis. wandi is all about fighting not money. he is a fan too. he said he would buy a front row seat to watch gsp/a.silva and was egging dana on to make this fight. he is a fan of all mma. tito is only a fan of himself and others around him. jacob is a good businessman and promoter of himself and should go to the WWE. your right about his legendary cardio. its overrated. he does have a good chin as well, but thats only cause his head is so big(literally). he’s never gonna be a champ again unless its as a wrestler, not even in elite xc.i hope machida knocks him out cold.
b.w. so in other words you think that fighters should only think about fighting and not money. You also made my point in your post, Wandi. doesn’t worry about money, right up Dana’s alley.
money doesnt hurt, but if fighting comes first, the money will follow. what point is it that you think you made. i dont like tito, but it doesnt cloud my judgemnent on him as a fighter. i call em like i see him. you should take a look at yourself and your posts, your personal dislike for dana or anything ufc has clouded your judgement. they are %90 of all mma according to forbes(dont know if thats entirely true) so to me if you dont like the ufc, you dont like all mma. and dana is the ufc!
First b.w. QI have never once said I don,t like the UFC, go look you’ll never find it. I don,t like Dana, so if not liking Dana means you don,t like the UFC well it is what it is. Tell me where the logic is that if you don’t like UFC you don’t like MMA, thats like saying fat people make up 75% of americans so if you don’t like being fat your not american. No disrespect to overweight people just used as illustration. If you think Dana’s the UFC take all the fights off this next ppv and see how many people watch, and thats how much Dana is he UFC. And you say my post is clouded.
ive never seen you say anything pro or con about any fighter(although i cant say ive read all your posts) just to bash dana or another blogger with whom you disagree with. here’s an easy question, who do you think will win between machida and tito and why. ive posted my stance on this lets hear yours. btw i’mn a big nascar fan as well( probably not as big as you) and this is really gonna piss you off(maybee) but my favourite driver is jeff gordon! can’t argue w/ five championships.
b.w. you may be as big a nascar fan as me and my favorite driver is and will always be Jeff Gordon. Yes thats being honest.
Truthfully, if the fight stays standing, it could very well be a long night for Tito, I don’t think Machida can knock him out, look at how many shots he took from Chuck before going down and we know Chuck can bang. If Tito takes it to the ground I don’t think Machida can handle him, Tito is second to none at GnP.
I don’t mean to bash other bloggers, I’m sure sometimes I do, and for that I apologize. I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion, I just believe that you don’t have to bash a fighter to dislike him, and you don’t have bash a blogger for liking or disliking a fighter that you like or dislike. The word “you” is used as everyone.
finaly we agree on all counts. standing machida will win, on the ground tito. i just dont see tito keeping it on the ground for long. i hope jeff takes the cup this year. i think that would actually make it 5. i got a little ahead of myself. honestly i really wouldnt mind seeing another mma org do well. like dana said ” he cant have them all”, as long as they are for real and not just in it for a quick buck or to piggyback off the ufc success. this is a make or break year for elite xc. they remind me of the football leauge vince mcmahon formed, i think it was the xfl. their first week the ratings were great, the next not so good, after that it was uh-oh and they folded very quickly. the same could hold true for elite. the 1rst show will probably do big #s, but its the next 2 that will make or break them. affliction first card will make or break them imo. i hope affliction succcedes over elite xc. i would also like to see dana do more in japan to try and establish the ufc brand over there. no easy task. a tournament between their great lws vs the ufc lws would be awesome, but probably wishful thinking. im quite long winded arent i.
Word, on Jeff taking the cup, also Iq agree no piggybacking be your own company. Affliction has a great first card, I just hope they haven’t set the bar to high to early. EXC, is stuck until Kimbo either succeeds or fails, with credible opponents. I agree about UFC and Japan, I wish the UFC would do some tournaments that would help work out some rankings. IMO.
I also think this proves that when we stop and talk a little, we realize for the most part we are all pretty decent guys, and can get along even in disagreement.
I think a more apt football comparison would be the old USFL. It was able to sign a lot of great players (Jim Kelly, Reggie White and Herschel Walker to name a few). It had a nice niche and was doing well when it had its season in the spring, and would have continued doing well there. It collapsed when they foolishly tried to move to a fall season and go head to head with the NFL. Shaw can pick off a few fighters here and there, but UFC has so much more depth it’s unreal. That’s why a few injuries or a prison sentence won’t ruin a UFC card, but one injured fighter destroys an EliteXC card. And that’s why they will only have UFC scraps.
KnowItAll: No disrespect intended! Your oppinion is just as valuable as mine or anyone else’s, and I did not mean to come off so confrontational. I dont know if you are new to this site, but anyone familiar with my posts know that its not my style. I hate fighter bashing, and I try my hardest not to engage in it, but When the name Tito Ortiz comes up, I see red like a bull! Most of the time, when I am critical of a fighter, its because I am a fan of theres, and I expect more from them….For example: Cro Cop…
Tito is the 1 fighter I cant refrain myself from bashing everytime his name pops up. I have so much respect for the “Back in the day Tito”, but in the past couple of years, he has been 1 of the most dissapointing stars in the business.
My Beef with tito, all started when he was champ, and he refused to defend his title against the #1 contender Chuck Liddell. He used every excuse under the sun to try and justify “ducking” Liddell. Whats worse, is that he actually fought Chuck twice, but both times were because Chuck had the title and Tito wanted it so he had no choice. Chuck gave him 2 title shots, but Tito refused to ever give him 1. Not defending your title against the #1 contender is a Bitch move, and its not how I see a True champion conducting himself.
Tito’s last good performance was against ken Shamrock in their 1st fight. Since then, he has been TRASH! My biggest beef with tito is, he talks a great game, but NEVER backs it up, instead we have to sit through the same old tired excuses from him after his lackluster performances. He builds up every one of his fights by talking a ton of trash and making it personal, but when its time to fight, he does not deliver. IMO, he is one of the most dissapointing fighters in all of the sport. He is a 1 trick pony, who has an over rated ground game. Seriously, what does his ground game consist of? He shoots for a double leg takedown, sits in his opponents guard for an entire fight and controls the guy and drops elbows. IMO, he is more limited then Sean Sherk, who always gets bashed for being boring. At least Sherk passes guard, he goes from guard to half guard to side mount to mount….Tito hasnt even attempted to pass an opponents guard in years.
My beef with Tito is that he lives in the past. He wants to be treated as a top notch mma fighter, but he does not want to fight against the best fighters and NEVER delivers. Unfortunately his star power makes him overpaid thus the UFC has no choice but to use him in big fights that he does not deserve. Just like the Machida fight…Weather
Ortiz can hang with Machida or not is not the point…He does not deserve a shot at the top 5, undefeated Machida. Over the past couple of years his fights have been just as disapointing as Tim Sylvia’s, but at least Tim fights the top guys…Tito does not.
Even some of his biggest wins were complete BS. He gets credit for beating wanderlie, but he fought like a lil Bitch during that whole fight. He dry humped Wanderlei….and in that fight I saw the biggest COWARD move I have ever seen in mma. Wanderlei Rocked Tito, and what did Tito do….He turned around and Ran away from Wanderlei at full speed from 1 end of the Octagon to the other….I am sorry but I can not respect that!
I can go on and on forever about Tito, but facts are he stopped being a real fighter years ago. I respect him for the fighter he used to be, and for the businessman that he has become, but I will be so happy when he is no longer in the UFC taking up a major slot on fight cards! He will LOOSE to Machida, grab the mic, and do what he always does after a loss…..Make LAME Excuses! I will bet anything that once he looses to Machida, his excuse will be that he re injured himself during training.
IMO, the definition of “Casual fans” are fans of the UFC and not fans of mixed martial arts in general! Casual fans are the ones who think Forrest Griffin, should be fighting for the title! If you dont understand why I am bashing Tito Ortiz, then I probably shouldnt be wasting this much time trying to explain it to you. Most of his performances have been disapointing, and theres always an excuse attached! I think the $250,000 he has been making to fight makes him grossly over paid, but he wants MORE!!!! I will be so happy once he is gone from the UFC and not taking up space on UFC fight cards! If they put him on the undercard, I would not complain. There are about at least 100 UFC fighters that I would rather watch compete then hIm!
Tito will be a WWE wrestler within the next 2 years….just wait and see.
Why shouldn’t Forrest get a title shot? OK, he mightn’t be the most skilled guy, or have the most impressive resume. However, Shogun was going to get a shot at the title, was ranked no.1 at the time, and Forrest subbed him.
You could make a strong case that other guys should get a shot, but I don’t see anything wrong with Forrest getting it.
You sound like a Sherdog-MMA-fan.
So in that case, should Chris Wilson have gotten the next shot at GSP if he had beaten Jon Fitch?
Thanks John. To be honest, I completely forgot all about the boxing match with Dana. When I was given the chance to interview Tito, I thought of a ton of questions I wanted to ask him (embarrassingly enough, the first question I thought of was the one about Trump and the $50K). but the boxing match didn’t even cross my mind. Maybe next time
Adam: No need to appologize, you did a great Job….U covered mostly everything. It had to be frustrating on your part hearing some of the BS answers that Tito gave! As an interviewer I know, you probably dont want to say it, but you had to be cringing in your seat at some of the crap that shot out of his mouth.
Good work…..Interviewing a dillusional fighter cant be an easy Job. Much respect and appreciation to you Adam! I for 1 would have not been able to sit there and listen to all that crap spew out of his mouth…..For example: He would love to fight Fedor…LMFAO…Who is he kidding! The UFC had to drag him to the octagon and Make him fight Chcuk, No way that wanker would ever step up and fight Fedor…. I thought every answer he gave about Fighting related issues was complete crap and not accurate, but as business student I was interested in his views on the business side of things. I do agree with his take on BRANDING issues, but anything he says about fighting is complete crap…
You should have asked him when he will make his WWE debut! Which is exactly where he belongs! lol, just joking….Adam you did a great job, you asked all the important questions, its not your fault that he is answers are dillusional! Great work Adam, keep it up, I am a fan!
thanks john. appreciate the support!
I agree JOHN. B.W. said it perfectly.
What a disgrace for the sport? Excuses and shit-talk, that’s all he’s good for anymore.
What an egotistical ass. Once again, referred to himself in the third person–the calling card for a jackass.
GSP has made if aware to everyone he is not happy with his pay. Especially being a champ and all. he wants Liddell type figures!
No one has every read anything about GSP talking bad about the company. That doesn’t mean that he hasn’t complained to other fighters about the UFC. I don’t think that GSP feels the way Tito does but it doesn’t mean that he hasn’t complained before. You can’t tell me that you haven’t complained about the company you work for. Everyone does it. I do think it was shitty for Tito to say something like that in an interview. Especially if GSP told him that in a personal conversation.
As for the Hummer I can understand what Tito is talking about with paying taxes. If it were me I would tell them to just give me the money because I don’t want the vehicle. I think GSP can buy his own car.
oh yeah, and randy and fedor would both destroy tito.
Randy already did he beat him at ufc 44 and made tito cry
word.
Wow. Great interview, interesting note on GSP. Not sure whether to buy it though.
Couldn’t agree more on the branding issue. They shouldn’t use any fighters name and image for free, on dvd’s, games, anything.
Anyway, regardless of whether you like Tito or not, i guarantee you’ll be watching him fight.
Tito is the man, he tells it like it is when everyone else is too afraid. He;s going to crush Lyoto and move on to be a champion in another organization.
Can you at least tell us how? how is he going to stop the foot work of machida? how is going to take him down? thats what i thought machida wins 10/10 times I have never been more sure about a fight in my life.
This fight is the one that counts, not the next 9. Also Tito was not beat by Forrest, you guys act like he’s the only one who has ever grabbed the fence, show me a fighter who hasn’t. Also since you have never been more sure about a fight in your life, it’ll feel good to smear your guarantee in your face, if I’m wrong you can do the same. You might want to be careful though, we’re talking about mma, where lots of things happen (Georges vs Serra 1) Machida better bring 100% or he will lose.
he will take that bruce lee wanna be down and bow and punk him self to victory
ortiz unanimous desicion
GO Ortiz! u got some fight on your hands! u better be prepared aswell mate, Machida is far from just a fighter.
The only problem I can see GSP having with the UFC is their banning of Affliction clothing.