After a long and mostly successful career with the UFC, it appears that he will be moving his 15-5-1 carer record and offensive post-fight shirts elsewhere.
Ortiz's career has been filled with some great fights and some boring ones, but there is no denying that he was a major part of the UFC, and even in some of its dark times, the posterboy of the octagon.
He has a big fan base and is entertaining when on camera. I admit I thought he could be a little over-the-top at times, but gained a whole new level of respect for him after seeing him as a coach The Ultimate Fighter reality show and the behind-the-scenes shows that have shown what a dedicated athlete he is. He trains hard and has helped a lot of fighters with their training and advancement in the sport.
He became a clothing entrepeneur for his line of Punishment Athetics and has consistently been a top lightheavyweight contender and as even the champ for some time.
In a recent interview with mmaweekly.com, Tito Ortiz has touched on maybe the most touchy subject in professional sports, money.
It has long been said in the UFC that if you perfom and pack people in the arena seats and in front of televisions, the UFC rewards you handily.
But newer fighters and combatants that don't have the appeal whether it is their fighting style and/or personality, their pay reflects that.
Ortiz has long been at odds with the UFC execs over money and for a couple years, had reasons why not to fight Chuck Liddell. Whether the reason are valid or not, only he truly knows and the fans, media and MMA insiders will have their own opinions.
Ortiz has been good for the sport overall but I feel he went somewhat over the line in the recent interview, stating that "I think Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell should be thanking me from three years ago when I spoke out and they started getting paid more money, and I started making more money. That's what it's really about, focusing on fighters of the future, not just being paid low sums like some of the undercard guys are getting."
There is no doubt that he is true to MMA and martial arts, but three of his five losses are against those two fighters (2 KO's vs. Liddell, five-round decision loss to Couture). And there has been a fights of his that have been just boring. Liddell and Couture have much better resumes that Ortiz, they were gonna be fine.
I love MMA and will watch about any form of combat sport, but one thing I hate is stalling during fights. Or lay-and-pray is another term used for wrestlers that take fights down and basically control their opponents body for the match.
The level of competition over the last few years has increased drastically, and it has almost seemed like Tito hasn't. He is still a great athlete, fighter and coach, but for a while now with the exception of his target practice on Ken Shamrock's face, his ring appeal has diminished.
And with the UFC becoming more popular by the day, only the best fighters (That can work out deals with the UFC Fedor Emelianenko, Joachim Hansen, Gilbert Melendez, Takanori Gomi....................) will remain on their roster. It has recently been reported that they will cut 25 percent of people under contract, and many cuts have already been made.
So this seems sort of like a battle of attrition and that the Ortiz era is coming to an end with his last fight coming up against Lyoto Machida (more to come).
So from an MMA fan, good luck Tito and we hope to see your vicious ground-and-pound and takedowns return to form if not in the octagon, somewhere else.
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