Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz was in Sunrise, Fla., this weekend to attend all of the festivities for Elite XC: “Heat,” attending the official weigh in and sitting cageside during the fights.
If you were watching the event on CBS or in attendance at the BankAtlantic Center, in fact, you were probably wondering the reason you kept seeing “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy.”
Well, according to Ortiz, he’s close to finally ending his search for a post-UFC employer and is about “a week away” from inking a deal with Elite XC.
The timing couldn’t be better for the organization. After the company’s biggest attraction — Kimbo Slice — lost in 14 seconds to replacement fighter Seth Petruzelli on Saturday night, the promotion may be in need of a new “go-to” guy.
And who better than the man half responsible for the highest grossing pay-per-view (PPV) in UFC history?
If Tito does indeed sign on with Pro Elite, however, he won’t be making his debut for the promotion until sometime next year. That’s because he’s having surgery on his back this week, which will keep him out of action for some time.
In 2005-2006. UFC middleweight fighter Nate Quarry underwent the same surgery to his spine and he was held out of competition for six months. Ortiz could be facing a similar road to recovery and it may be a few months into 2009 before we see him in on an Elite XC card.
He is still a big draw and can probably attract the casual fans just as well as Slice. But the fact still remains that he hasn’t won a fight in two years … and that was against a 42-year-old Ken Shamrock.
His last notable win he recorded was against current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin in April of 2006 before he was the division leader.
And even that win wasn’t without controversy.
It’s not a stretch to think Tito’s back issues could keep him out until at least April of next year. If that’s the case, by the time he actually competes under the Elite XC banner, it will have been three years since he won a fight against a credible opponent.
So the question is can Tito Ortiz still compete at a high level in this sport? It sounds like he has a lot stacked against him. Then again, Elite XC isn’t exactly known for putting its stars against anybody dangerous.
Unless you still think Ken Shamrock is “The World’s Most Dangerous Man.”
Nonetheless, there are some decent fights for Ortiz in Elite XC if he does in fact sign on. A rematch with Frank Shamrock or a light heavyweight showdown with Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante are just two examples.
Even a fight against Kimbo could be a PPV-worthy match. Regardless of skill level, that fight would more than likely sell big.
71 Comments »
Elite this is the best thing that happened to you all since this organization took operation…tito is just the first of many to come there will be lots more to follow.
I’d comment but I cant stop laughing.
For a guy who can’t stop laughing, you sure have a lot to say about an organization that you can’t stop laughing at.
See the irony?
Being that I was refering to the comment that I posted a brief reply under, I dont see the irony.
You took the words right out of my mouth!
tito is going to sign with the ufc… he is one of those who just likes to flirt and duck out
I don’t think he ducked out of J.J.
lol, no way elite canafford tito, he’ll bankrupt them on his own…unless….affliction elite and strikeforce all merge!
Well, they still have to hire him coz Kimbo showed he had no slice according to younger shammy. They need a new draw. Maybe they could feed him to Feijao. I wanna see Tito try to fend off some vicious muay thai.
Wow, this guy impresses me SOOOOOO much. Last I heard, he was going to set a record contract with Affliction. Surely, it couldn’t be that they decided he wasn’t worth it. Maybe it’s a mega-million dollar bidding war between Elite and Affliction. Yeah, that’s it! I predict he doesn’t sign, and in two months time, we hear “Tito close to signing deal with Alabama State Fair”, where he will be in sideshow freaks for “World’s biggest head, biggest ego, and self proclaimed Best Businessman” all in one.
Great idea: sign a guy who hasn’t won his last 3 fights right before he goes in for back surgury. Another great move by Elite.
Um….I’d have to think they are “waiting a week” until the surgery is over.
One would think (rolls eyes).
LMFAO!!!!
Still it doesnt make sense. Tito is done. I’m sorry if you feel Elite is a great organization, being that its $60 million in the hole and the majority of their talent sucks and wouldn’t be able to pull 50,000 PPV buys. Sounds like a soundly run operation to me. Also, I’m sure he will be able to tell in a week if the surgery did help his back, so why not sign him when he wont even be able to train? Keep rolling your eyes. You should change your screen name to ‘in denial.’
By the time he returns to fighting, Elite will have closed operations and be selling their video tape library to Mark Cuban, haha.
Someone explain it for me–if Jacob signs now, does he get a regular paycheck, like a lawyer on retainer and then a larger paycheck for fights? Or does he just get paid when he fights?
If it’s only when he fights, sign away. One in three chance he never fights again anyway but the name will help them get additional sponsors.
What do you recommend then? Seems like you have no sense of the business world. Huge signing for XC Elite.
Who is he going to fight? After Cavalcante dismantles him, who is left for him to fight in Elite XC? Kimbo? Seth Petruzelli? Frank or Ken Shamrock? Do you think Elite signing Ortiz to some lucrative undeserving contract is going to get them out of the hole they are in? Just take a deep breath and think rationally for a minute.
The signing of Tito Ortiz (if they actually do get the deal done) couldn’t happen at a better time for EliteXC. Thier bankable star has been proven to be nothing like what they were promoting him to be. The main fight that is always discussed when the topic of Tito and Elite comes up is a fight with Frank Shamrock. Most of you may not remember, but when Frank first came to the UFC, he won his first 4 fights in the first round, and then want on to submit Tito due to strikes in his 5th fight. PLUS Tito is larger than Frank. Especially if they were to meet now in EliteXC. Tito walks around at like least 225 and Frank probably around 200. This will give Tito a signifigant size advantage, but not necessarily a strength advantage. Frank is very strong. There is no way that Tito could get to MW, so Frank would have to fight at LHW. Rumors of Feijao vs Diabate are saying that it may be for the LHW title, in otherwords, Feijao will be the LHW champ. Feijao against the winner of Tito/Frank would be a very good fight that I would love to see. Rafael Calvancante really hasn’t been tested much at all since coming to EliteXC. This would be his first BIG fight.
Agreed but i don’t think Tito would have anything for Feijao. Feijao is pretty much a lil Nog and would only need to improve his wrestling which is still good enough to nullify Tito. Feijao takes this in the clinch at the end of Rd 2.
Fejao will DESTROY tito, but I would still like to see it!
Undercard fighter Aaron Rosa (Seth P’s original opponent) trains with Tito, and Ortiz would undoubtedly have been in Rosa’s corner if he had fought. Ortiz attended the weigh in with Rosa, and is a part of his traveling entourage whenever Rosa fights. So, yes Tito may have been “attending all of the festivities” this past weekend, but he was at EliteXC in order to corner his fighter. (And, admittedly, to bask in the limelight.)
hey tito you’re not intimidating anymore like you’re used to.
he’s really look like very hunger for a big $ contract the way he looks in the pic above
Yeah… Feed him Feijao and let him finish the Tito glitz in embarrassing fashion… Like Elite XC is ever going to kill a money cow that easily… right…
Respect, my thoughts exactly!
I did not like his purple suit on saturday night. I think him and Elton John borrow each others clothes
Truth Lucas!!!! That was pretty fruity gettup
I may be the only one but im disappointed tito is no longer in the ufc, although he may not be the force he once was, he is a draw. And my previous posts regarding my disappointment at the lack of big fights in the uk could have been partially solved with the ufc bulking the uk cards with exciting guys like tito!! The uk fans would love his attitude and the show he puts on.
He may not be a title contender but he would make cards that are not that interesting, all of a sudden interesting. its ok for the us fans as you get loads of big fights and title fights all year round, we however get main events like bisping v leben? i like the fight but its no main event!! UFC should have signed tito for this reason alone in my opinion?!!!!
no you’re not the only one.. ppl do not understand the star he is cause they’re personal feelings or something towards Tito are getting in the way and that’s ok for some fans to think, but not for a businessman like Dana White! Tito Ortiz was the main event at UFC 74 even though he wasn’t and he was more than half responsible for the UFC’s biggest PPV ever.. he set a record when he came back to fight Forrest also, and he set a record when he fought Ken on Spike TV! bring Tito back so he can put Wanderlei to sleep since he is heing so incredibly overrated for beating Jardine!
excuse me i meant UFC 84 against Machida..
Finally someone who knows that Tito draws crowds and sells ppv’s. All of you Tito haters that comment online just add to the hype and his popularity. This is fine with Tito and whomever he ends up working for. Was I the only one to notice the the fight was sponsored by Affliction and Andre Arlovski, who fought Sat., is an Affliction fighter? Dana will be scrambling to get high profile fighters once Affliction and Elite XC merge.
A draw - definitely but can Elite afford Tito right now and he’s not as good a fighter anymore so he might get exposed harder than slice if they hype him a legit fighter/Former champ. But they don’t have a choice but to sign him i guess. I personally wanted him at affliction, he could have really given Lil Nog’s career a boost.
Maybe we will see another Tito vs Shamrock. lol
God forbid
Tito is done, let him talk all the crap he wants the only thing he’s good at is overpowering some one and going to the G N P. the only reason people tuned in to his fights with chuck was to see this bum get knocked out, i did and had a blast watching him get pummeld. MMA evolved past tito and matt huges type fighters a long time ago.
And you will tune in again…..hence the reason Tito is a good signing.
Love him or hate him……you’ll watch him fight.
yes he will.. and swizz ur boy Liddell is more than done too and alot of other fighters if you say that Tito is.. maybe he’s not the best but most of it all came down to Dana disliking Tito and matched him up with opponents that had the style to beat him while he’s being nice to the fighters he likes.. If there’s no crowd there’s no show Tito knows that and is a expert at getting it done!
Who Cares?
It is true that Tito of now is not the Tito of old, but think about who he has been losing to in the UFC, compared to who he will meet in “Elite”XC. Frank Shamrock can obviously make it a fight, but who else, unless you go to the HWs?
It would not surprise me if they set up Tito against Seth, except that by the time Tito is healthy again, Seth’s star may well have dropped.
at what point did i say he wasnt passed his best?? i said to bulk up poor cards for the likes of the uk ufc fans!!!
No one should be asking if Tito can hold up his end of great fights in the future. Of course he can. Tito has a win against Forrest, a draw against Rashad, and a respectable decision loss against Machida where he was always coming forward during the fight. Why would anyone (Mania) ask, even rhetorically, if Tito is up to it? We should be asking instead why the cipher Kimbo was EVER positioned as any promotion’s main event. LOL.
Signing Tito would be a huge step up for EliteXC. Tito may have a loud mouth, but he is a legitimately great fighter. He’ll come through, win or lose, in every fight. Kimbo has always been a joke and will always be a joke. The sooner he gets relegated to the undercard, the better.
that win over forrest was questionable he won off his name being bigger the takedown that won him the third round didnt even help him he never advanced position and forrest got right up. the fight with rashad ill give him credit but when he fought any experienced contending fighters he lost
chuck TWICE by brutal beatdowns
randy beat him by straight ass whoopin
and lyoto damn near knocked him out yeah tito came forward but did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING i like the man but he deserves less then anyone at this point…
elite xc cant afford to pay tito anyway at this point he has 3 options go to japan,affliction,or shutup and put dana whites balls in his mouth like chuck
Please….
He lost to Chuck (like everyone else did at that point in time).
Randy (like everyone else did, except Chuck)
He beat Forrest 29/28……get over it. Unless, of course, you think that getting up from a takedown means more than the actual takedown…….and that’s just f#ckin’ stupid, quite frankly.
Handled Rashad easily, until the fence grab deduction. Haters say “he wouldn’t have won if he didn’t grab the fence”….well, wtf did Rashad do to deserve the victory, besides….um, one punch?
Hate all you want, but he has a victory over the UFC LHW champ, and a draw against the #1 contender. Who else has that in the UFC right now? Chuck…no. Randy?….no. Tito?…yes.
He’s still relevant….get over it.
You make some valid points. I just don’t like Tito’s lack of ability to finish a fight and his selfish attitude.
you love tito, we get it
well that is one thing that i don’t like.. If you listen to Tito’s interviews he says it himself that he likes to go 3 rounds because he thinks it is more exciting than finishing the fight in the earlier rounds.. He almost finished Machida with a submission so he’s dangerous on his back too and i love that!
First of all you need to go watch replays of all those fights.Tito really won all 3 rds in the Forrest fight,there was no question.Chuck v Tito 1 ,Chuck pokes Tito in the eye and launches after him.Chuck v Tito 2 ,Tito won the 2nd round ,and tried to stand with Chuck and got caught.Machida ran most of the fight ,he whipped Tito in the first ,but even he admitted that he felt like he was going to die,in the triangle choke Tito put him in.Tito straight up beat Rashad ,but got deducted a point for grabbing the fence .Rashad also grabbed the fence twice in that fight ,but was not docked the point.Yes, Randy whipped Tito no question asked .Long story short he is not done ,tell me who has came nearly as close as Tito to beating Machida,he is the only one to blemish Rashad’s record.He beat the champ ,but he is a has been right
Quoted for truth.
….and I’m not even a Tito fan….just so you know.
Truth.
—That’s my line. Go find another one, biter.
Quoted for truth.
CORRECTION : Go find an original line !!!
Oh, you got a patent on it lol.
Quoted for truth.
Actually, it would be a copyright. Patents are for inventions.
I completely agree scott.. Tito in fact could get back to a title shot in the UFC if Dana gives him fights with Wanderlei, Jardine and someone else just like Chuck was almost getting a title shot for beating Wanderlei and then Evans..
Tell me honestly ,you think that Tito wouldn’t beat most of the people still in the lhw division in UFC,Houston Alexander ,Irvin,Jardine ,Silva etc.He is still deserving of big fights.People on here think he is a bum ,you think[so do I]that exc is crappy .But you don’t think Tito can compete come on do you really hate his attitude that bad.You either love him or hate him ,like the Yankees ,but should they go to the minor league because they didn’t make the playoffs
Alexander - Tito would take him down easily and win.
Irvin - Same fight as Alexander.
Jardine - If Tito could get him down before Jardine utilized leg kicks….same fight as Alexander and Irvin.
Silva - Although Silva is way better than the first time they fought…Tito still beat him, so it’s not a stretch to think Tito would be very competitive in the fight.
Tito ortiz is so ugly.
Yeah he looks like a cartoon
but he is dating a girl way hotter then you will ever get, granted a porn star but still really hot. Not to mention I’m sure he gets the occasional threesome. Major cool points earned.
Threesomes are good.
JJKID, I recommend a visit to the eye doctor. Jenna looks very rough these days. From 50 yards she’s hot, but her face is about two more plastic surgeries away from looking like the Joker (the Ledger version).
I guess your wife must be a super model. I’d like to see the girls you date. You must be a stud. She is only the most successful porn star ever. I guess we just like ugly girls. Granted she isn’t the hottest girl in the world but she is very rich and still sexy. Plus gave up porn for him. She gets alot of cool points. i wish i was a stud like Bobc.
Don’t take it so personally–I didn’t mean to insult your idol.
I never said she wasn’t once attractive or that I wouldn’t have hit that back in the day. However, my rating criteria for a woman doesn’t include getting nailed by thousands of guys on video, so her being a porn star doesn’t affect my view of her.
I just suspect that without all the makeup, she isn’t all that attractive anymore. I’ve seen a few pictures and I think she’s going to resemble joan rivers soon.
Clearly I’m not the only one who thinks this:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Is-Jenna-Jameson-Over-for-Good-61765.shtml
Oh, and my wife is very good looking (but I’m biased).
JJKID, would you really want to mary someone who has slept with 1000 guys. i sure wouldnt that is what mahes her ugly
you did, your wife just lied to you.
Once Affliction and Elite XC merge, plus whoever else the merge with (and its going to happen) they will have more then enough star power to compete with the UFC. Kimbo losing was (in the long run)the best thing that could have happened. It brings another name to Elite XC because the casual fan never heard of Seth Petruzelli before saturday. now you have a rematch, a shamrock match and by that time Tito is healed and ready to go. Throw in Afflictions big names and you have a decent card. And if i had my way WEC would merge with them. At that point they would have more STAR POWER then UFC. yes they are loosing money but most businesses due at first. if managed right they are bigger then UFC in 5 years. to help CBS needs to run there own version of the ultimate fighter to bring more names to fill there fight card.
JJKID, you are the typical idiot MMA. You have no idea about money. Elite will be out of business soon. They are bleeding money and their golden boy just got exposed. Affliction also has major financial problems. Elite has $60 million in debt. How on earth can they merge? Who is going to take care of that debt? It just doesn’t disappear.
There is no competition for Dana and UFC. Get over it.
JJKID, Elite will be out of business soon. They are bleeding money and their golden boy just got exposed. Affliction also has major financial problems. Elite has $60 million in debt. How on earth can they merge? Who is going to take care of that debt? It just doesn’t disappear.
There is no competition for Dana and UFC. Get over it.
Thanx for being a member of the reality based community.
I cannot see EXC ever being bigger than UFC,look at the roster ,yeah it is getting better ,their stars are either old or not really stars.When Tito joins Their best fighters will be people who was in UFC(Lawler,Diaz,Arlovski,and Tito).Then look at how Jared Shaw acted during the Kimbo fight,I really don’t care for Dana White ,but he has never done that when Chuck ,Hughes,GSP,BJ Penn,Randy lost or when Tito would win.Dana understands it is a sport ,and it is a business and you can’t run it depending on 1 nobody.Also they are in debt ,AFFLICTION is losing money,and UFC has already gone threw these type of problems ,luckily not going against some company that was trying to run them out of business,like UFC is going to do to all of these organization.Affliction cannot even put on an event without UFC going head to head with it.What is going to save affliction is their clothing line .Which I beleive ,UFC will eventually partner back up with affliction,start allowing their fighters to be sponsered by Affliction again which is all that Affliction wants anyway
I think tito and his old lady both seem kind of used up. You can only abuse your body for so long, fighting or f#cking, then you can’t do it no more. Back Surgery too? ouch!