Tag: tito ortiz

Tito Ortiz coming out of retirement for Combate Americas

Posted on by Josh Nason

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz is coming out of retirement…again.

The 44-year-old signed a deal with Combate Americas, the promotion co-founded by UFC co-founder Campbell McLaren, while he was cageside at the company’s Friday night event.

Ortiz was last seen in action for the much-maligned November triology fight against Chuck Liddell for Golden Boy Promotions, a bout he won via first round knockout.

After a long career in the UFC, he came out of retirement after a two-year absence for Bellator and ran up a 3-1 record over three years. He retired again after a first round submission win over Chael Sonnen in January 2017 before returning for the Liddell fight.

McLaren didn’t announce when Ortiz’s debut fight would be or against who. The promotion currently has a deal with DAZN, home of Bellator MMA and many boxing events.

Combate Americas has made some headlines with recent signings that include former WWE star and former fighter Alberto el Patron last October and former Lucha Underground champion Sexy Star in February.

Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz III live results, Tom Lawlor’s return

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Preview by Josh Nason

Tonight’s Golden Boy Promotions MMA debut features a main event with plenty of name value but whether that value translates into PPV buys is anyone’s guess as in the main event, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell returns after a near nine year retirement against longtime rival Tito Ortiz, he of two retirements.

The two fought twice in the UFC with Liddell gaining wins in both fights with finishes both times. However, it’s been 12 years since they last fought. Liddell hasn’t been active since June 2010 while Ortiz retired for the second time after a January 2017 win over Chael Sonnen. Of note, the 48-year-old Liddell lost five of his last six pre-retirement.

In the co-main event, Filthy Four Daily co-host Tom Lawlor returns to action after more than two years away against prospect Deron Winn. While in the UFC, Lawlor was suspended by USADA for a failed drug test and was released from his contract several months ago. Winn is a member of AKA.

Follow along with the results from the main and co-main event below.

**********

Main card got started at 9 pm eastern. Todd Grisham, Rashad Evans and Frank Mir are the announce team and all I have to say about them is that they make most WWE announce teams sound good. 

In the opening bout, former Bellator middleweight Jay Silva (12-12), fighting at heavyweight here, scored a 3rd round technical submission win over Oscar Cota (10-2)

Next up, in another 3rd round stoppage, James Barnes (11-3) submitted former UFC fighter Albert Morales (7-5) in a bantamweight fight. 

In a 140 lb catchweight bout, Ricky Palacios (11-1), who missed weight and was in terrible shape for the fight, had a first round TKO win over 4 fight UFC vet Walel Watson (14-12)

Next up is another catchweight fight, at 160 lbs, as former TUF winner Efrain Escudero takes on the recently cut Gleison Tibau. The two have a combined 40 UFC fights between them and they went the full 15 minutes in a pretty terrible fight. I scored it 29-28 Tibau, as did Frank Mir and all 3 judges. Gleison Tibau (33-14) beats Efrain Escudero (30-14)

Tom Lawlor (10-6-0-1) vs. Deron Winn (4-0)

Filthy Tom did a Taichi ring entrance, lip synching Lana Del Ray’s “Born to Die”, while wearing a necktie over his T-shirt. The commentators put over his connection to pro wrestling and embracing the entertainment side of the fight game, comparing him to Muhammed Ali and Conor McGregor. 

Winn is an AKA fighter with all 4 of his wins coming via first round stoppage and all in under 2 minutes. He’s got a similar look to Daniel Cormier. Short and stocky, but powerful. Mike Beltran, aka the Ox Baker looking ref is the official for the bout.

Winn moves in for a takedown 1 minute in but Lawlor defends. Both land hard punches at 1:15. Lawlor with a cut under his left eye at the 2 minute mark. Both guys keeping their distance. Total strikes landed are 6-5 at the half-way mark of the round. 

Lawlor cut under his left eye now as well at the 2:45 mark. Winn controlling the pace, which could be the difference in a fairly close round, although he is landing the harder strikes as well. Nice punch exchange at 4:15. Lawlor bleeding pretty heavily now. 10-9 Winn

Winn stuns Lawlor with the first punch of the 2nd, dropping him to a knee but Lawlor fires back with a nice shot. Nice punch combo from Lawlor at 45 seconds. Lawlor starting to time the punches and land counters at 1:30. Nice punch exchange at 1:45 that Lawlor may have gotten the best of. 

Both guys land hard shots at 2:00 and Lawlor mocks Winn afterward. Lawlor with a nice punch combo at 2:15. Total strikes landed in round 2 are 13-8 for Lawlor through 3 minutes. Nice punch exchange with both guys landing hard again. Lawlor with another cut over his left eye that’s bleeding pretty heavily. 

Lawlor with a nice punch combo at 3:30. Winn answers back with one at 3:45. Winn backs up Lawlor with an overhand right at 4:15. 10-9 Lawlor, 19-9 overall

Lawlor poked in the eye at the start of the round, as he had at the end of the 2nd but only takes a few seconds. Winn gets a takedown 30 seconds in. Lawlor to his feet but Winn grabs a front choke. Lawlor escapes at 1:15. Winn with another takedown and moves right into side control. Total strikes landed now 40-25 and Lawlor has advantages in all 3 rounds. Lawlor to his feet at 2:00. 

Nice punch excahnge at 3:00. Winn with a takedown attempt and Lawlor grabs a guillotine on the way down. Winn loses his mouthpiece. Winn escapes the choke and in top position at 3:30. Lawlor landing elbows to the head from his back at 4:00. Ref warns them to work at 4:45. Winn landing hammer fists as the fight ends. 10-9 Winn, 29-28 Winn overall

Official result – Deron Winn (5-0) by unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

Weird that the first two rounds were all standing and Lawlor outstruck Winn in both rounds, including over a 2 to 1 margin in the 2nd round, and the judges gave Winn all 3 rounds. 

Winn cut a good promo and put over Lawlor as a tough vet but said that he, himself, is a future star and people should remember the day they saw him first. Frank Mir asked him if he’d be going for a title in his next fight and Winn just looked at Oscar De La Hoya at cageside and said “I’m a free agent, just let me know”. 

Chuck Liddell (21-8) vs. Tito Ortiz (19-12-1) III

Tito Ortiz out to a dubbed version of “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit. As we wait for the main event, Filthy Tom just tweeted out this:

Don’t make me sad, don’t make me cry Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough I don’t know why Keep making me laugh, Let’s go get high The road is long, we carry on Try to have fun in the meantime (lyrics from the song he was lip syncing to in his entrance)

Joe Martinez is doing his usual stellar job of announcing here, which is about the best thing on this show. Ortiz loudly booed during the ring intros. Liddell cheered by the fans in attendance, which include Mickey Rourke. Herb Dean is the ref. 

Both guys keeping their distance early. Tito throwing some kicks from distance. Liddell lands a punch combo at 1:15. Tito smiling at him. Both guys miss badly on a punch exchange at 2:00. Ortiz knocks down Liddell with a short shot at 2:45 but lets him back up. 

Chuck starting to throw leg kicks but he’s backing up a lot. Tito almost falls on his face after missing a punch at 3:45. Rashad calls it a “great fight”. It’s not. Both guys land some solid punches at 4:15. Tito lands a hard punch and Chuck goes down like a rock. 

Official result – Tito Ortiz (20-12-1) by knockout (punch) at 4:24

Tito does a Ric Flair “WOOOO” and thanked his son Jacob for the motivation he needed to beat Chuck. He said the gameplan was to box Liddell and that there was no way he was gonna stop him after 8 years away. He then thanked Liddell for taking the fight and giving him a chance to get his win back essentially. Liddell came over and offered him a handshake and Tito said that he’s a true champion. 

Liddell says he got in great shape to come back but he made a mistake and it is what it is. He says he has no excuses and that he just got caught. He says he’s going to have to sit back and think about his future. Hopefully he realizes this game has passed him by. 

Tito then said that he hopes Chuck fights again and that he himself is the best fighter he’s ever been and that Liddell gave him a good fight. He then pleaded with other fighters out there to come fight for Golden Boy promotions because they’re starting something big here. 

Overall, this production had a lot of issues they need to fix if this will be an ongoing thing. 

‘Filthy’ Tom Lawlor may return to action on Liddell-Ortiz III undercard

Posted on by Josh Nason

More than two years after his last fight, former UFC fighter and Filthy Four Daily co-host Tom Lawlor is considering returning to professional fighting action on the undercard of a high-profile fight featuring two bitter rivals.

The 35-year-old is mulling over a contract to face Daron Winn on the undercard of Chuck Liddell-Tito Ortiz III on Saturday, November 24th, the first show put on by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. Lawlor said the fight isn’t a done deal yet.

Lawlor (10-6-0-1) was last in action dropping a close decision to Corey Anderson at UFC 196 in March 2016. In November of that year, he was suspended by USADA due to an out of competiton test failure for Ostarine, a failure Lawlor has denied since it happened. Lawlor was released from the UFC in mid-August, but has been a presence on the indie wrestling scene since his suspension.

Winn (4-0) began his pro career in 2017 and has first round finishes in all of his fights. He was part of the Bellator 199 undercard earlier this year. 

The full PPV card as of now:

– Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz III

– Kenneth Bergh vs. Jorge Gonzalez

– Gleison Tibau vs. Efrain Escudero

– Walel Watson vs. Ricardo Palacios

– Jay Silva vs. Oscar Cota

Lawlor will be on this week’s Filthy Four Daily with co-host Bryan Alvarez, available for subscribers.

Daily Update: WWE notes, Ortiz/Liddell, James Storm/MLW

Posted on by Bryan Rose

THE ROUND-UP

THE LATEST NEWS

THE LATEST AUDIO

F4W NEWSLETTER: Figure Four Weekly: Looking at Shawn Michaels potential return

While retirements in professional wrestling are almost always temporary, the direction that WWE went in on last Monday’s episode of Raw was still genuinely surprising. What seemed like it would be a by-the-numbers segment with Shawn Michaels promoting Triple H and The Undertaker’s match at WWE Super Show-Down, which is being billed as the last time they’ll ever face each other, turned into a full-blown tease of Michaels coming out of retirement.

WON NEWSLETTER: September 10, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: All In reviewed, HBK to return, more

The story of All In is the focus of this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Take the most detailed look at the business and ramifications of what is one of the most unique major events in pro wrestling history.

Examine the business of the show, the realities of the popularity level, the lessons of the show, the behind the scenes story of the NWA title promotion, wrestling vs. sports entertainment, the timing issues, the last famous show with a similar timing issue, the controversy regarding the Joey Ryan angle, and the story behind Chris Jericho being there.

Look at the Shawn Michaels-Undertaker segment, where things stand today about going forward, famous retirement stips and the angle on Raw leading to everything, as well as more on the show in Australia coming up next month.

Find out about Daniel Bryan’s WWE status, update Dave Bautista and his thoughts on wrestling again, notes on a taped December Raw show, Kevin Owens quitting, Evolution PPV business notes, Toni Storm update, new WWE signee proposes to girlfriend on stage right before coming to Orlando, NXT major star to Evolve, and Big Cass talks what got him fired.

Read notes on NOAH’s big show at Sumo Hall featuring Hideo Itami’s return to the promotion against Naomichi Marufuji.

ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected]. 

Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.)

If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.

THURSDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Dave Bautista has yet to be invited to the 1000th episode of SmackDown. He tweeted: “Surprise surprise!! I wasn’t invited! And it’s in my hometown.! Guess by now I shouldn’t be shocked anymore.”
  • 21st Century Fox CFO John Nallen spoke to The Wrap about SmackDown coming to FOX in 2019: “It’s a 50 to 52-week-a-year sport with no repeats. It’s a new novella every week. For us to have that kind of appointment programming, that audience, every week of the year, is a really unique opportunity for us.”
  • WWE released a press release today announcing The World of The Rock, a comprehensive visual novel of The Rock’s WWE career. It will be out on October 2nd for $24.99, and will be published by DK.
  • A collection featuring the “biggest losers” in WWE history will reportedly be coming to the WWE Network on Monday. Curt Hawkins will be the host.
  • Roman Reigns will be appearing on ESPN’s College Gameday as their guest game predictor at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday morning.
  • Triple H is sending a custom WWE championship title to Jack Etienne, CEO of the London Spitfire who won the Overwatch League’s first finals.
  • Brie Bella spoke to Yahoo Sports about returning to the ring after giving birth last year. She also responded to the reaction to her botched suicide dive from Raw: “With any type of physical body change, it changes so much. Even last week on Raw when I did the suicide dive and it was less momentum than I should have had, I forgot that I’m 10 pounds heavier than what I was. Gravity doesn’t lie. That was a little different for me. I don’t mind if I fail or if I succeed. No matter what, I want to look back with no regrets. If I fail, last week for example, I went to sleep at night and I was kind of bummed out, but I learned something about myself. I learned where my body is at, where I am at.”
  • Ahead of him guest refereeing Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman at Hell in a Cell on Sunday, Mick Foley appeared on Busted Open Radio and said he hopes that he’ll get involved in the match in some way.
  • Washington City Paper spoke to the Velveteen Dream about his background, his work prior to WWE and becoming the Velveteen Dream.
  • Kassius Ohno (formerly known as Chris Hero) posted a tweet yesterday marking his 20th anniversary in pro wrestling.
  • Aiden English has started a YouTube show based on whiskey.

Pro Wrestling

  • Despite debuting at the last set of tapings, PWInsider is reporting that James Storm is already done with MLW. They also noted that MLW tried to book a show at Center Stage in Atlanta but were “told that the attempt was dropped at the request of another promotion using the venue.”
  • Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Brookes has been added to Revolution Pro Wrestling’s Global Wars UK show at Brixton Recreation Centre on October 14.
  • Minoru Suzuki vs. Timothy Thatcher has been signed for Over the Top Wrestling’s Fourth Year Anniversary show. WALTER will also defend the OTT World title against Will Ospreay.
  • Impact Wrestling issued a press release saying that they have signed an agreement with COMDA Advertising Connections ahead of Bound for Glory.
  • Hart Foundation vs. Rich Swann, ACH and a mystery partner has been added to MLW’s television taping on October 4.
  • Dave Meltzer made a brief appearance on this week’s Art of Wrestling podcast with Colt Cabana, which covers Revolution Pro Wrestling’s TV tapings and Wrestling MediaCon. Dave’s appearance starts at 29:48.
  • Congratulations to Shane Strickland, who became engaged yesterday.

UFC/MMA

  • According to Brett Okamoto, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz will be holding a press conference for their upcoming fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this Friday at 10 a.m..
  • Golden Boy Promotions has also released the poster for Liddell vs. Ortiz.
  • Melvin Guillard has been arrested in relation to him attacking people at a bar last week. He is also facing domestic violence charges for allegedly attacking his girlfriend back in April. In regards to the bar fight, he was charged with 2nd and 3rd degree assault, and is currently being held on $5,000 cash bond.
  • ESPN is reporting that Michael Chiesa is moving up to welterweight and is hoping for a bout in that weight class for UFC 232.
  • BJ Penn vs. Ryan Hall has been officially announced for UFC 232. The PPV is taking place at the T-Mobline Arena in Las Vegas on December 29.
  • FloCombat is reporting that a Gilbert Melendez vs. Arnold Allen bout is also being targeted for UFC 232.
  • Alistair Overeem talked to ESPN about moving to a new gym, as well as realizing that that end of his career is near. I’m 38 years old, and that’s important to note,” he said. “I fully realize the end of my career is coming. It’s just coming. You can’t fight forever. I’ve had a beautiful career. Twenty-one years … crazy. Twenty-one years of fighting. The end is coming, but I can still do this right now. And I can still go all in.”
  • DAZN, who is already set to stream Bellator content, has also signed a deal with Combate Americas to bring 13 fight nights a year to the distribution service. Their deal will start this weekend with a card from Phoenix, Arizona starting at 7 p.m. PT.
  • Bellator has signed bantamweight Weber Almeida to a multi-fight deal. He is a training partner of Lyoto Machida, who also recently signed with the promotion.
  • Alexander Shlemenko vs. Anatoly Tokov is set for Bellator 208.

Daily Professional Wrestling History: WCW Fall Brawl 1998

CONTACT INFORMATION

Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz 3 date and location announced

Posted on by Josh Nason

The third fight in the rivalry between former UFC light heavyweight champions Chuck Lidell and Tito Ortiz has a date and a location: Saturday, November 24th at the Forum in Los Angeles, CA.

ESPN’s Brett Okamoto first reported the news after speaking with Golden Boy Promotions’ head Oscar De La Hoya. The event is his first foray into MMA after years as a boxing promoter following his successful run as a pro boxer.

The show will be a PPV, but a cost, undercard, and event logistics have yet to be announced other that the fight will be in a cage.

In his talk with De La Hoya, the former champion said the Golden Boy MMA pay structure will be different than other promotions and that Liddell and Ortiz “will be making a hell of a lot more money than they have with anybody else. They’ll participate in revenue from PPV, gate and everything else that comes in. This will be the most lucrative fight of their careers.”

The 48-year-old Liddell hasn’t fought since 2010 when he retired from the UFC after being knocked out in three straight fights. The 43-year-old Ortiz retired for the second time after defeating Chael Sonnen at Bellator 170 in January 2017. In their previous two fights, Liddell stopped Ortiz by second round KO and third TKO, respectively.

Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz III official for Oscar De La Hoya’s new promotion

Posted on by Josh Nason

Despite both men retiring, the lure of one more go in MMA was enough to bring both Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz out of retirement one more time.

In a fight that had been rumored for quite some time, the former UFC light heavyweight champions will battle for a third time, but the battleground won’t be the UFC, Bellator, or even Japan. Rather, it will be the main event for Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions’ first MMA pay-per-view event.

ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was first to report the news Monday.

The date and venue were not announced, but is expected to be announced soon for later this year. When announcing his intentions to return to MMA, Liddell speculated California would the location if they could get a deal done. The fight will be held inside a cage and is expected to be at light heavyweight.

The 48-year-old Liddell last fought in June 2010 in a knockout loss to Rich Franklin, his third straight defeat and final MMA/UFC fight. He retired at the urging of Dana White and worked for the organization, but was released following WME-IMG’s purchase of the company. 

This will be the second time the 43-year-old Ortiz has come out of retirement. After leaving the UFC in 2012, he returned two years later for Bellator and went 3-1 before calling it quits in January 2017 after a submission over Chael Sonnen.

The two former teammates first fought in April 2004, a fight Liddell won via second round KO. They rematched in December 2006, a fight Liddell won by third round TKO in a defense of his light heavyweight title.

Chuck Liddell announces he will fight again

Posted on by Josh Nason

Chuck Liddell, former UFC light heavyweight champion and one of the few MMA stars to break through in pop culture, announced on Monday’s ‘The MMA Hour’ that he will return to fighting.

The 48-year-old last competed at UFC 115 in June 2010, losing via first round KO to Rich Franklin. He lost five of his last six fights in the UFC, the last three by knockout or technical knockout.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Liddell confirmed that he’s talked to boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya about rekindling his feud with Tito Ortiz in a promotion the boxing champion has recently discussed. He said no movement has been made recently on that front, but that if it’s not Ortiz, he will fight someone either from his past or another veteran.

Ortiz said recently that he’s coming out of retirement specifically for the Liddell fight. Liddell said he hopes the fight would be in California or Las Vegas.

He said that in addition to De La Hoya, he plans on talking to Bellator and that he is interested in a fight with Chael Sonnen. He didn’t rule out the UFC, but doubted that Dana White would be interested given his past comments.

He said he would like to come back for 1-2 fights and then get a shot at Jon Jones. 

Along with Matt Hughes, Liddell was a UFC “ambassador” up until December 2016 when the two were released after WME-IMG bought the company.

Bellator 170 does big numbers for Tito Ortiz vs. Chael Sonnen

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Bellator MMA had its third biggest TV audience in history on Saturday night for Bellator 170, which featured Tito Ortiz scoring a first round submission victory in the final fight of his career over the debuting Chael Sonnen.

The show averaged 1.374 million viewers on Spike TV, peaking at 1.85 million for the Ortiz vs. Sonnen main event.

Saturday was the biggest audience for Bellator since last February’s show that featured a double main event of Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000, which set the company record at 1.964 million.

The only other Bellator show aside from that to beat Saturday’s mark was the Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock fight in June 2015, which did 1.58 million viewers. The fourth biggest Bellator rating in company history was also an Ortiz fight, his November 2014 bout with Stephan Bonnar that had an audience of 1.24 million.

There was no big sports competition on cable, which no doubt helped the rating, and the show finished second for the night in the 18-49 demo with a 0.55 rating. It was first in the male 18-49 demo on all of cable.

Bellator is back on Spike TV this Friday with Bellator 171, headlined by former UFC fighter Melvin Guillard making his welterweight debut against Chidi Njokuani.

JNPO: Sean Grande on Tito vs. Chael, Superfly Snuka, and the last 18 months

Posted on by Josh Nason

It’s a weekend of big personalities on big stages here in the United States and MMA wasn’t about to be left in the dust on this inauguration weekend.

Former UFC superstars Chael Sonnen and Tito Ortiz will do battle in Los Angeles, CA, Saturday at Bellator 170, and who better to talk about that show than the man who will be calling the action cageside?

Bellator MMA & Boston Celtics play-by-play man Sean Grande dropped by Josh Nason’s Punch-Out for a 45-minute conversation that hit on the following topics and more:

– The nostalgic feel of Ortiz vs. Sonnen, and how this fight is different than other “fun” fights the promotion has had

– Sean’s first 18 months in the promotion and what he’s learned

– Some surprises that are in store for those watching Saturday, exclusive to JNPO listeners

– Sean’s thoughts on Jimmy Snuka, the Royal Rumble, and more.

Click below to listen:

Right click save

October 4, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWF Unforgiven and UFC 22 reviews, tons more

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The workload stemming from increasing the television demands of the WWF started to show through on 9/26 with a disappointing Unforgiven PPV show.

The show featured some sluggish performances inside the ring, mental errors outside and weak crowd heat except for the main event before a crowd of 15,779, a few thousand shy of capacity, paying $505,477 and another $93,006 in merchandise at the Charlotte Coliseum.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley left the ring as WWF champion for a second time after a six-pack match which also included Kane, Mankind, Rock, Big Show and Davey Boy Smith, and had Steve Austin at ringside as an enforcer. Austin, who did color commentary most of the match, got physical in the finish, beating up some referees, counting the pinfall of Helmsley over Rock, largely due to a chair shot by Smith, and then made the attempt to send the crowd home happy by giving HHH a stunner.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

Chael Sonnen to debut against Tito Ortiz at Bellator 170

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Chael Sonnen has an opponent for his Bellator debut.

It was announced on Tuesday night’s edition of SportsCenter that Sonnen would make his debut for the company against Tito Ortiz in the main event of Bellator 170 on January 21st at The Forum in Inglewood, CA.

After completing a two-year suspension for failing multiple drug tests, Sonnen announced last month that he was returning to mixed martial arts and had signed with Bellator. Sonnen had mentioned Ortiz as a possible opponent for his debut fight, framing it as “The Bad Guy vs. The Bad Boy.”

Sonnen’s last fight was in November 2013 at UFC 167, where he concluded his UFC career in a loss to Rashad Evans.

Ortiz, formerly a longtime mainstay in the UFC, has had three fights since signing with Bellator in 2013. He began his career in the promotion with wins against Alexander Shlemenko and Stephan Bonnar before losing his latest fight against Liam McGeary over a year ago. 

Interview: Tito Ortiz talks his loss, Fedor and Jon Jones

Posted on by F4W Staff

The following is from Submission Radio

On getting caught in the reverse triangle and losing to Liam McGeary

“I made a mistake. I will never make that mistake again. I haven’t been submitted since 1998 and I won’t ever let that happen again. I was so mad at myself. We worked so hard in training. I mean, I put so much in into that fight, I mean so much. Twelve weeks I put into it. So much triangle defences, reverse triangle defences, arm lock defences, like everything. And Liam was just a little longer, a little faster, a little step ahead of me, and in the last two seconds of the fight I made mistake (laughs). And I’m like, ‘damn. Damn to me’. But you know what? If I’m gonna lose to anybody, like I said, I’ll lose to the champ.”

If retirement crossed Tito’s mind during the post-fight speech at Bellator Dynamite

“Never. No. I have one more fight. I make really, really, really, really good money and I love it. This is fun, I like to fight, and I don’t know, I fulfil everything that is given to me. I had a contract with four fights on it, I’m gonna have one more fight to finish up four fights and I’ll fulfil it. There was no idea of retiring at all. It would be nice. Maybe it is time, but I think one more good fight. My body’s right, my mind’s right, everything’s just firing on all cylinders and I like the way life is right now, and it’s fun again to do it. Like I said, I lost to the champion. It wasn’t like I lost to a nobody. I look back on it, and should I have picked an easier fight? Should I have fought a Kimbo, or a Ken Shamrock, or a Frank Shamrock? No. I fought the best man and he was better than me that night. But it wasn’t like I got dominated. Wasn’t like he was gonna knock me unconscious. No, I fought him and I made a mistake.”

On if this loss to Liam was one of Tito’s toughest losses in years

“It was one of the toughest losses in years, ’cause I put so much into it and everything at home was so perfect, and I felt like I was gonna win. It was hard, it was really hard. It took a couple of weeks, you know, it took all the way until now. I took a couple of weeks to kind of lick my wounds and understand that things happen for a reason. I think I feel better after a loss than I would if I won. It’d be nice to win, but still I gotta be challenged in my life like this to understand that just ’cause everything is perfect, don’t mean that life is going to end up perfect. But I can make it as perfect as possible for my kids and my family, and that’s number one. And so long as I’m happy doing it, that makes most sense. But I took it hard, I took it really hard. But I just…I already got back into the gym, I started doing weights and speed bag work. So I wanna keep my shape, I want to compete again, and I don’t know – does that spring Shamrock fight happen. I mean, do one of those other super-fights happen where someone wants to watch it? ‘Cause I mean, I’m not going to get my title shot anymore. I have one more fight on my contract, so let’s make a spectacle of it and let’s get  somebody that I can kill almost.”

On what his Motivation would be for his next fight, considering he won’t be getting another title shot

“I guess draw the fight out and make it 15 minutes of just pure punishment and entertain the fans that go watch it. Let them all go out and see a beating unfold in front of them.”

On who Tito will pick for his last fight

“I don’t know, I guess I have to sit down with Scott Coker and, I mean, possibly just make the fans pick the fighter. Let the fans choose. Somebody that they want to see a spectacle, somebody that will just ‘wow’ the fans. I think that’s what it comes down to. I don’t know, maybe they can do a vote and let the fans pick who I fight next.”

On if Tito will fight Fedor in Japan on NYE

“Not on New Year’s Eve, no. I would love to. I just gotta go in and get some little, light surgical work done, I guess you could say. I gotta go get a bone shaved down. So I’ll be healed by next year. But I’m going to enjoy Christmas, I’m going to enjoy Thanksgiving, I’m going to enjoy New Year’s, I’m going to enjoy my birthday for the first time in a long, long, long time. I miss missing those times, and right now my kids are six years old and I want to enjoy the holidays with my children. I think that’s the number one thing for me right now, is to be a Dad and to be happy. New Years Eve, I’ll be having a cold beer in my hand, saying “happy new year’s” to my family, instead of going out and trying to kill somebody. It sound a lot funner to me (laugh). I’ve been putting a lot of work in over a last few years, so I think it’s time to take a little break.”

On how Tito sees the fight between him and Fedor going and what advantages he holds over him

“Wrestling of course. On our feet, he’s a little older. He’s not the young guy who throws super fast now. I think in the wrestling area. Him going for submissions, and they’re not crisp for submissions. So just try and punish him. But of course if we fought each other, it’d be at light heavyweight. I mean I’ve always fought at Light Heavyweight. There’s no reason to go . I think my weight class, when I’m in the best shape possible is 205, and that’s what I’ll to fight at. But you know, I think my wrestling will keep it at par. I know the fight on New Year’s, I’ve heard of a few opponents, so it will be a question of if he can handle the competitors he competes against.”

Tito on if Fedor is one of the best of all time

“Well, one of the best of all time? Of course. You know, there’s ‘one of’. I mean ‘one of’ is how many? Ten? I mean, you put the number on that and that’s the number. But the best of all time? No way. Pound for pound, the best of all time? No. He fought a lot of guys that were great at their time and his time, but you gotta go for all time, for everybody he’s competed against. You know, in Japan they did give him a lot of ‘gimme fights’. Of course it’s Japan and they want to do spectacle fights, where it’s a completely one sided match. But he did beat a lot of good guys. You can’t take that away from him. And he’s one of probably the biggest names in MMA. Fedor has dominated so much and so many other competitors, but the greatest of all time? No. One of? Yes. He’s one of the greatest of all time. Yes. You gotta give him that. He’s a great, great fighter.”

On who is the greatest pound for pound fighter

“Well if Jon Jones can get his shit together, I think it’d be Jon Jones for sure. As a fighter, that guy is amazing. I mean he has to be an adult and stop being a kid”

On the disappointing TV ratings that Bellator 142: Dynamite drew

“I think you can’t go head up (against) Stanford and USC. I think that was a bad one, there was a big upset here in the states for football. I mean there was over eight million viewers on that television. So eight million people watching that sport, you know, a lot of people watch football. I mean, that’s plain and simple. A lot of people watch football. And I think Bellator or Spike and whoever was doing the PR for it could’ve promoted it a little bit better. I did all my own PR. I did pretty much more than fifty percent of it. And for a fighter to do fifty percent of the PR for an event, somebody needs to step their game up. But hey, Bellator’s still learning, they’re getting better. But to compete against the football, that just makes a big difference.”

Tito shares his thoughts on the NSAC’s suspension of Nick Diaz

“You know, as (far as) Nick Diaz having his third offence – I guess when you say ‘three times, shame on you’, and this is a complete shame on him on this one for his third time. But for five years? I think that’s getting a little drastic. I mean, the guy has a license to smoke marijuana.”

“In my eyes, I don’t see it as a stimulant to make you a better fighter. I’m not saying this is ok to do, or anything like that, but five years is a little drastic. And I see Jon Jones just get a slap on the wrist from getting a felony and wrecking into a car, or wrecking into a girl who was pregnant and (has) 72 public appearances at a ‘Boys and Girls’ club and 18 months probation. I just scratch my head about that, going ‘this is crazy’. And there’s so many other instances that happen. I mean, as far as Anderson Silva. He only gets popped for a year for doing steroids, which is an enhancement drug for mixed martials. It just doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with it. I’m glad it’s never been a problem that I’ve had. So I just gotta sit back and let the athletic commission do their job. I don’t agree with it, but I sure don’t agree with any athlete using any type of drugs, whether it does help you or doesn’t, during training, during fights.”

On if Cybrog can get down to 135 lbs to fight Ronda Rousey

“Well if Ronda ever wants to fight. Cris told Ronda she’d cut down to 135 to fight and Ronda won’t do it. So she said she wants to get more fights under her belt. So they keep feeding 135-pounders to Ronda and Cris is just (gonna) keep dominating at 140-145, until Ronda finally says ‘ok, we’ll fight’. So we’re just waiting for Ronda to step up.”

If Tito gives Holly Holm a shot against Ronda

“Submission in two minutes.”

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