Tom Atencio rejects Tito Ortiz ‘ground-breaking record contract’ with Affliction MMA claims
By: MMAmaniaAtencio makes some interesting remarks regarding the Tito Ortiz contract negotiations — especially when you look at them side-by-side with what the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” had to say right here. Two wildly different accounts … wonder who is trying to play who here.
(Thanks to MMAmania.com reader ” VNDK8″ for the assist.)
132 Comments »
Nice job Tito! Way to possibly talk yourself out of two jobs in one year. Trump may be your “buddy”, but trust me, money comes before someone he just met.
I don’t think anyone minds that they won’t be seeing Tito fight, although if someone could give me a run down of what Atencio is saying it’d be appreciated. (I’m at work no audio)
Chefdaddy, it does look like Tito is screwing himself out of options? With the loses Affliction took on their first show, paying big money to Tito is not a smart move.
I think they’ll have to pay him a good chunk of change simply for his draw power, but record breaking? Then EVERYBODY would want a similar contract! They might be in a bit of a bind.
Thats the problem, Tito left UFC for greener grass and if he accepts anything less than record breaking he’d look like a donkey. He already looks like one but you get my point. Affliction on the other hand is trying to hide how much money they spent on their first card to hide their incompetence (even though its great for the figheters) so they wouldn’t dream of signing Tito for a record breaking contract. its a stalemate
I agree!
Chefdaddhy, yeah, Tito would only be getting paid for his name anymore. He’s kinda like Matt Hughes, too one-dimensional to really compete with these new fighters and not even really that good at what he’s known for (g&p) anymore. He was already made to look like a jackass by Lyoto Machida, now if he doesn’t get the big paycheck, even worse.
What losses??? I thought Affliction did really well given the circumstances. Have you got figures on the loses JV???
dana white doesn’t need to be talking anymore crap about atencio. dana would probably get his a** kicked by atencio.
I highly doubt that as Atencio is probably into men and hits like a girl. Dana on the other hand actually has boxing experience. Don’t mean to go legit on you but I can’t imagine Atencio being able to fight.
he’s 1-0. dana’s 0-0
Atencio fights? nice, by one and 1-0 I’m assuming you mean boxing?
Its MMA. he beat a guy named David Martinez by decision at total combat 7
bring on Joe Rogan to face Antencio!!!
Right on I think I just gained some respect for Atencio
naaa i bet Dana would KTFO Atencio… easily. Dana can push 315. I’d pay to see that.
He can push 315 on his first set only a couple times. That’s called your max. Not that impressive. Though, that is better than most.
Not impressive (but very respectable) to guys who live at the gym, however it is far, far more than your avg guy walking the streets can lift!
How much you can bench is about 2% of how good a fighter you might be. It doesn’t even take into account flexibility, skill, speed, instinct, and ass muscle means way more in punching (shoulders are good too). All things being equal though, I’d put my money on the guy that presses 315.
espn should make a top 10 list on why you cant blame tito ortiz, if they can make one for the michigan basketball team of the early 1990’s they can for him and i wanna hear it
you can’t blame tito list..
10. weighin tshirts
9. he was a good coach on the Ultimate Fighter
8. ken shamrock brutal finish
7. burial routine
6. running to the top of the arena with the american flag after the vitor fight
5. evan tanner brutal finish
4. beating wanderlei silva
3. chuck knocks everybody out
2. coselling the highest grossing PPV
1. forrest griffin
Kama Kaze that was actually a pretty good top ten list there, I have to say you did well to defend Tito lol
My only rebutal will go against #4. Tito IMO should of lost that fight. Razar sharp split that could of easily went the other.
Then who is to blame for the burial routine????
hhehehehehehe..
dead ken shammy? lol
If they are going to pay boring ol lindland $300,000 than they better sign Tito! I know signing TIto requires Big BUcks and I know that TIto’s FIGHTING Skills arent worth more than $200, but the fact that Tito can sell the crap out of a pay per view makes him worth the big bucks. Brock got all that money from the UFC when he was an unproven Novice for 1 reason and 1 reason only, his DRAWING Power! Tito’s drawing power is undenyable! I cant believe I am talking well about TIto!
For an upstart company like Affliction, TITO is Crucial to their survival in the ppv market. They have to do what it takes to get it done!
Atencio looks like one of them dudes from like a Pigmy Tribe!
THe WHOLE Undercard of Affliction 2 will air on HDNet!
at least brock has won against a reasonable opponent..i do feel you on tito selling power. he needs it cuz if talent was the real draw..hed be broke as hell calling dana up asking for almost retired fighters and tuf finalist on their 2nd win streak. they would be dumb not get tito…their last ppv buy were okay but not enough to cover their expenses. bu then again i can see atencio trying to be legit and not bring it guys with hype only to their name now…i wouldnt give him what he wants neither though.
This video is very interesting. WTF is going on with Affliction? In the last video I saw with Atencio (the one where he couldn’t even remember the names of his main event fighters), recorded on or around the same day Tito opened his big mouth about his “record breaking contract” (you know the one that had Tito’s big head “doing some of the back work also”), Tom told the interviewer that he hadn’t even spoken to Tito and wasn’t aware of anyone from Affliction that had. There simply must be a bigger brain behind this org, because if this is who Affliction is banking on making them a success then, well, they’re doomed. Not only does he appear to be a Dana White Wanna-Be (”my partners and I, first and foremost, love this sport…oh and skulls we also LOVE skulls”) he apparently also thinks that MMA fans are all as dumb as he is. I mean, to try to say that they started their whole org because they were banned from the UFC, when we all know that the rumours were swirling about Affliction starting a fight org well before they were banned from the UFC (not to mention EliteXC)? Dude, get your shit straight, or don’t get in front of a camera.
lol! so true. i remember that vid and he couldnt remember barnetts name and many others. it was laughable. i posted below the same thing that he’s not going to be around for long and as long as he can put on 2 more shows with fedor fighting the winner of arlovski and whathisname? then i’ll be happy!
JOHN. afffliction screwed themselves out of tito the minute they paid sylvia 800k. who knows what tito is asking for? it could be 2-3 mil per fight with his inflated ego. tito is not worth the cost of the even quicker demise of your co.
b.w. – You totally nailed it! Nailed it. They paid an ex-UFC champ almost a mil. Surely, Tito will ask more, or at least as much.
How does wb foot get 800,000G’s just to show up.. and gewt drugged in 36secs?? Where is that line @???? He made more in the fight losing, then he did ever.. winning or retaining the UFC HW Belt.
afflictions overpaying of tim and others (linland,rothwell etc.) has had a negative effect all over the mma world. look at hureta, i’ll bet he saw those payouts and thought “damn why am i being paid so little”. there will be others as well to come out of the woodwork if affliction keeps this up, paying fighters way over their market value and what they can actually afford to pay them. this thing with tito might wake up alot of people and most fighters will realize that they dont have it so bad after all.
b.w. completely agree! IMO job security (UFC) is better than 1 or 2 big paydays.
Couldn’t agree more. I don’t see Affliction lasting very long.
Tito was only making $250,000 to show up to fight at the UFC. The UFC doesnt event want TIto back. EliteXC has no money, so in the end Affliction can get Tito signed to like $400,000 per fight simply because Tito has no where else to go. He has NO LEVERAGE whatsoever! In the end, Tito will be signed to Affliction!
Thats true, Atencio called him out on his loses. Im sure Affliction will sign him, but it wont be ground breaking.
maybee. your analogy makes sense, but will tito be able to swallow his pride after coming out with this grounbreaking contract announcement. tito doesnt need the money, with him and jenna, they both have alot of money. we’ll see.
He has NO CHOICE! Swallow his Pride or Retire from the sport. THe UFC does NOT WANT HIM AT ALL! EliteXC has NO MOney for Tito so in the end he will get low-balled by Affliction and be forced to accept the deal. The only question is how long does he want to play this game and hold out! He should sign ASAP because Affliction is the only fit for him right now.
I promise that he WONT GET ANY GROUNDBREAKING DEAL FROM ANYONE! unless trump decides to pay him out of his very own pocket
(which aint happening)
All day we Bicker/argue and debate a million different topics, but the 1 thing we always all agree on is that Tito is Garbage! Coombaya! lol
lol! so true.
Once Affliction, Elite and all these other fly-by-night promotions go belly up, then guys like Huerta who are thinking of leaving UFC for more money are going to have to think twice. Even if they sign a huge contract there’s no guarantee they get paid before the promoters declare bankruptcy, allowing them to screw over all their creditors, including the fighters. Dana knows this and has all his fighters by the sack.
Tito Jackson shirts! Fucking Sweet!
You we’re banned cause you started a competing org, not the other way around. Its hard to see who’s telling the truth when Tom and Tito both are Bullshater.
i agree. this guy is full of it and wont be around for long, but as long as he comes up with a few more great shows, i wont complain.
I might have bought AA/Fedor. Other than that the only other good fight is Barnett/Fedor. But one good fight on the entire card is not enough to buy a PPV.
i’ll be watching it live, but who says i’ll be buying it? he.he.he.
Pass on the secret b.w. ????
JV i hadnt scrolled down and seen that belfort/linland had been scrapped. i can see where your coming from.
JV. channelsurfing.net
Ive heard of that website before, it lets you see it live for free???
oh yeah. every mma ppv,boxing,wrestling all of it.
WTF! thats bada$$! Thanks for the info.
does channelsurfing show it on the real small screen, or is there a Full screen option? Because I really dont know if I want to pay for UFC 88
it depends,you can put it on large, but its a little more grainy and the audio is late sometimes. the small picture comes in perfect. i only stared to go there to see thomson/melendez cuz i didnt get showtime, but once you start going there it is hard to stop. they have a movie channel there too, that i watched ZOHAN and randys new scorpion movie (part of it) before it came out on video. i also watched cotto /magarito cuz i didnt want to pay $50 for 1 fight and the picture qualty was just okay. i cant imagine it’s gonna last too much longer and if a person can afford it they should def buy the event for the better quality picture. its a good place to go if your budgets a little low though.
good looking!
Yea, my usual sites for mma vids (youtube and dailymotion) just aren’t cuttin it these days. They’ve been crackin down on copyright infringements. I’m anxious to give it a try.
Do they keep an archive of all mma fights?
not that im aware of.
they were banned from the ufc months before they ever even put on a show. when affliction got banned there was only ‘rumors’ that they were gonna start an organization. rumors are just that, rumors.
on sidenote i watched mmalive on espn for the first time and i heard a mania reference in it haha episode 14
dunno if they do that a lot or not
@ randy murders
They mention a number of MMA forums, including MMAMania. It’s great to see the online community getting some love.
no doubt! i truley believe that we, the internet fans, are the backbone of mma.
Tito should go fight in Dream, he’d be huge in Japan, people would love him there.
no one in japan knows who tito ortiz is. Thats why he needs to stick in the states where he can at least sell tickets even if he does suck.
UFC 25 – Ultimate Japan 3, was in Japan where Tito fought Wandy.
I’m sure most avid MMA fans in japan, watch UFCs and thus have heard of Tito.
He is marketable and his flamboyant attitude would be successful there.
You do realize we’re on UFC 88 now right?
Actually Tito is/was a huge draw in Japan. They love the side show antics.
DirtyML – I think you’re right. If Bob Sapp can become an icon (for doing exactly what other than be huge?), then surely Tito Ortiz can. With is antics, dress-up, post-fight dance thing, etc. They’d eat that up. I don’t know why he hasn’t gone that route. It’s a slam-dunk. Maybe they can’t match his salary requirements, or perhaps he wants to remain state-side.
Looks like Jacob has been reading “The Secret”. He seems to be trying to wish himself into greatness. And it’s alot more complicated than just paying him money. Tito wants alot more than money. He wants way more than 300k per fight, ppv %, and he wants to be a promotor/manager himself. Let’s face it- Tito doesn’t have much fight left in him if at all and hasn’t won a fight in 2 years. He is setting himself up for being behind the scenes- that may not be what Afflication is looking for.
They just talked about cutting figher pay, how the hell are they gonna sign a guy that wants millions to show up and fight.
Atencio said in the video that he didnt do that. That it was just rumors? Im thinking he tried that, it backfired and now hes embarrassed so hes saying it didnt happen.
rothwell admitted to taking a paycut. he probably didnt have much choice after the beatdown a.a. gave him, but your right, im sure he tried at 1rst and was shotdown. there’s no pro-athelete on the planet thats gonna take a pay-cut after winning. you should see the video canucklehead brought up. i think it is on mmaopinion.com. it is a must see.
I just went to mmaopinion.com. What was the video about?
go back to there and type in tom atencio on thier search. it will be the 1rst video up. if you cant, then canuckleheads assesment pretty much sums it up. the video is on u-tube as well.
LMAO! This MoFo doesnt even know who is on his card! He said that hes got the #1 mexican fighter? Has anybody heard of that guy? Then he still claims over 100k in PPV buys, when it was shown to only be between 50-85k. Again thanks for the info b.w. that was a good video.
no problem.
Tito’s recent statements that he basically had a deal with Affliction are bizarre to say the least. They make no sense whatsoever. But then again (as he and Jenna will say over and over again) he (Tito) is a great businessman and smart too. It’s unfortunate that both Tito and Randy are hurting their reputations. Does this situation not somewhat reinforce Dana’s opinion of Tito?
It definatley adds credeulity to Dana’s “Tito Ortiz is a F*in moron” argument.
LOL!
Leave it to Tito to completely validate a statement like that.
No one wants to see tito fight anymore. He isnt a fighter anymore, he’s a business man. Affliction is stupid if they sign him to a huge multi fight deal worth millions, he isnt worth the money, plain and simple.
Agreed
Plus TAs point that he hasn’t won recently. He hasn’t beat anyone but Ken Shamrock in years…he should have gotten the win and technically he did beat Rashad Evans, but deducted fence grabs made it a draw.
he might just have to take the less pay now but if he does i see him going back to the ufc
I think you can bank on the fact that Tito will never fight in the UFC again. He opened his fat mouth one too many times. No amount of his groveling will get him back in there.
So long Jacob! See you on Celebrity Rehab in about 10 years! LOL.
Jenna looks like she will be in celebrity rehab within 10 months
good interview, wish the interviewer would’ve asked him about the changes atencio promised for the second show, and about the poor production of the first show. I thought it was quite good to hear someone not swear every other sentence for a change… (now I’m not hating on DW, but it’s good to have a VP that talks with substance instead of ignôrânce sometimes).
I agree Linx.
and she didnt ask anything about elite also banning afflictions clothes, not that anyone besides myself would care, but as far as tito goes, they dont need him. he’s right this card coming up stands on its own, if it stands the way it is scheduled, and tito wont make that big a difference.
Tito should do backyard fights in El Monte, CA ala Kimbo.
He ego is getting the best of him. Maybe if he toned down the rhetoric, he could get a job.
He “used” to fill seats. That was then…This is now.
Has anyone seen TitoOrtiz’08Baby, or whatever his name is?
Not since Machida did his job.
I wonder what would have happened if Tito could’ve finished Machida with that arm bar/triangle choke….what a difference an inch or second makes
Very true!
Tito vs. Thiago Silva
Tito vs. Sokoju
Tito vs. Rampage
Tito vs. Wanderlei
Dana should realize that there are quite a few intresting matchups for Tito. Love him or hate him he is a fighter. joe silva has been disappointing to me.There are so many potential blockbutster matchup they are overlooking.
to be honest the only fight I’d like to see would be the wandy vs tito fight, not because I think it would be competitive, I just want wandy to beat the c*rap out of tito and get his revenge. Their first fight should have gone wandy’s way in my opinion.
linx, I will never forget Tito vs. Wanderlei when Tito turned his back from Wanderlei, and Ran as fast as he could away from wandy to the other end of the cage! What a COWARD! All I remember is wanderlei chasing him to the other end of the cage!
only thing TIto did in that fight was close his eyes and swing/connect and momentarily dropped wandy! I am so mad that Tito holds a win over wandy! But that was b4 wandy was any good. Now a days Tito would piss his pants being in the same Octagon as the axe murderer!
yeah, and ppl say machida runs lol, if they want to know what running means, they should watch the tito vs wandy fight LOL.
Tito ran faster then Kalib Starnes….It was really pathetic! Lmao just thinking about it! Tito straight up turned his back and sprinted away from wanderlei….I will NEVER forget it! F***in COWARD!!!!
wtf? o yea what a coward, running from only: WANDERLEI SILVA! cmon john, what do you suggest he do? take it like Jardine? lol
LMAO, seriously though, that was one of the funniest things I ever seen. He really did turn his back and ran… I don’t know Kama Kaze, he could have just stepped back or circled… but he sprinted… speedy gonzalez style!
HAHA! sounds funny as fock though. i swear he was throwing punches while backpedaling. ima look it up first thing when i get home.
Kama, I promise you that he turned his back and Jetted to the other end of the cage with Wandy chasing him!
oooo nice find. after getting stunned in the nose. look like he snorted some horse radish too. HAHAHAHAlol;;k! good 1.
I realize that many feel Tito’s wins have been very close ie.Wandy, Forrest, the draw with Rashad but they were wins none-the-less
It must stand for something that he has a win over the current LHW champ no? If Rashad somehow gets by Chuck (which I don’t think he will), all of a sudden Tito doesn’t look so bad as there are many, many good matchups. He lost to Chuck and Machida, 2 fighter I think most LHW’s on the planet would also lose to.
Its also funny to hear people call Tito washed up when he is in fact the same age if not younger than Chuck, A. Silva, Wandy, Jardine, Franklin, Henderson, Babalu etc. all of which are far from washed up
I think when we say ‘washed up’ it has nothing to do with age, but their performances in their last couple of fights. ie ortiz hasn’t looked good in a very long time, all the other fighters you mentioned however, have.
THERE ARE NO INTERESTING FIGHTS FOR TITO IN THE UFC!!!!!
Tito does not belong in the UFC. he is an entertainer not a REAL fighter and 205 division is about Real Fighters! NO ROOM FOR TITO IN THE UFC. UFC is for real fighters only!
Tito is still young and tough enough to be a force. His problem is, he wants to be a business man and fighter at the same time. Thats what Dana means when he says Tito doesnt want to be a fighter.
Regardless if he doesn’t know his role and thinks he’s a promoter and not a fighter, Tito can fight. Having wins over Wandy, Forrest, and Rashad, its a travesty that he’s not top 10. Stylisticly, he’d murder Jardine about as bad as Wandy did. Another thing to think about is how hard it is to beat up somebody running away from you & throwing little cheapshots. He did almost armbar Machida. Lets not forget that. Trust me, I hate him just like you guys but he never lost to anybody weak so I say yes, he’s still relevant.
Preach! kama kaze.
lol JV, why are we defending tito again?
It’s a shame he’s not top ten? did I hear that right? who did Jacob beat to make him top ten? (don’t say wandy, that was 8 years ago, belfort has always been overrated and is not a top fighter, and forrest I still see it as being overrated also).
you can make the same arguement about Machida…aside from Tito who isn’t a top ten, and an overrated Soko, or Franklin at 205 who has he beaten to earn a top five spot
yes, i know it doesn’t sound right to read or hear…
rashad is 9 on sherhog, 10 on wamma
forrest is 1 on sherhog, 1 on wamma
and yes, tito would rape jardine.
Problem is that I am not so sure that Soko is over rated. I think Machida is that good that it made soko look bad.
I respect all your opinions, but I cant sit here and listen to this crap about TIto being top 10….Its Friday, you guys must be messed up already!
Jardine’s jits is better then most people think.
yOU cant be ranked in the top 10 because you were good 8 years ago! THis is just stupid of me to even engage in this ridiculous debate!
john, i know you know all the good fighters but when people mess wit you at the eagles game, and it comes down to come down, i would recommend using the tito moves. o and if you get lit this weekend and get stuck on your favorite top10 LHW rankings you’re going to realize…. lol. yea sure we can drop this debate. it wont matter in a year cuz vera, spider and franklin are entering the division.
One thing that Tito could do to help himself is to join an actual camp…Big Bear is all good yet I think a change in training and training partners would help him
P.S Good discussions with you guys…from a long time MMAJunkie guy I think I’m switchin teams
This is beyond a shadow of a doubt the best site to discuss MMA.
Damn straight. Tell him!
U know how u know that this is the best site? Besides all the knowledge I drop on here (lol), on this site we always get new bloggers who say they just transfered from Sherdog or Junkie and this is the best, but I doubt that you will ever see anyone on Junkie or Sherdog saying that they are coming from Mania! Mania retains its bloggers, while all the guys from the other sitres eventually Migrate over here anyway!
This is where its at, and the only place to pick my genius MMA Brain on a daily Basis!
Junkie seems to be more arguing and name calling then mature discussing….in MMA anybody can beat anybody on any given night (for the most part), and thats what I like to discuss…on Junkie you just seem to spend all your time defending your points of view rather than considering someone else might be right
not to mention this site has the best comment format by far. most of the others you dont even know who your talking to.
Agreed. The format at MMAMania is the best around and the discussion is intelligent. The regulars are also quite welcoming to new commenters (tip of the hat to b.w.) as long as there is some thought behind said comments.
Now Mania just has to find a way to vote for/rank the comments like reddit, so that we can see the smartest/funniest comments at the top of the comments section. That way we can see just how brilliant the rest of the Mania bloggers think john is.
I get my respect on here from anyone that matters. and the ones that spend their lives hating on me, its a form of flattery. YOU know how many guys comment under my name just to attack me on a weekly basis? When I dont think someone knows what they are doing, I just dont bother them…..BUt everyone likes to take their shots at the top dog! lOL tEASIN, LOL, kIND OF..lmao!
I like the idea of a blogger rating but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. The biggest bother to me is the moderation but my comments eventually get put up and normally when they are moderated I’m pretty heated so it saves me from looking like a jack.
Tito sucks he just needs to put those big lips back on jenna’s ass and start his own mma org.
That guy seemed pretty cool and laid back.
All the heavey wieghts he said ummmmmm, Barnet, Rizzo… washed up, Rothwell….. Over Rated, they have two!!! Fedor and Arloski, thats it, and Andrei is maybe…maybe top three in the world fighting right now as fedor and nogeura are 1, 2 but rand could change that if he stopped being a baby and start fighteing again
MMA can survive without ‘Tito’ Ortiz easily.
He needs to realize that and get to work.
Change your game for once in a decade!!!
Its bad business to give Tito some huge contract because although he’s got drawing power its not enough to cover what he thinks he’s worth.