MMA Fighter Bios: TITO ORTIZ
TITO ORTIZ
BORN: Santa Ana, California
6’2, light heavyweight
A fighter who loves to talk the talk, but a good 75% of times during his career would walk the walk. Every time Ortiz was defeated after becoming UFC champion, it was to 3 of the greatest fighters and UFC champs of all-time, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell and Lyoto Machida.
Tito is the youngest of four sons born to a Mexican-American father and a European-American mother, and his mixed heritage is reflected in his ring entrances as he bears both Mexican and American flags.[4]
Making his debut at UFC 13 in 1997, Ortiz just needed 31 seconds to dispatch of Wes Albritton in an alternate bout. After Enson Inoue could not compete in the tournament due to injury, Ortiz was selected to fight Guy Mezger in the lightweight final. Ortiz lost the via submission, but was clear a star was about to be born. Ortiz came back strong in the UFC by defeating Jerry Bohlander at UFC 18 avengin his loss to Mezger at UFC 19.
After losing a grueling bout via Frank Shamrock in 1999 for the then middleweight (199 pound) title, Ortiz was selected to fight for the new 205 pound light heavyweight class belt against Wanderlei Silva. The loss to Shamrock caused Ortiz to vow conditioning would not be factor ever again in his fight career, and he came back strong against Silva for 25 hard minutes of fighting. Ortiz won via decision after a 5 round bout and become the new UFC lightweight champ. Ortiz defended his belt 5 times by defeating Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ken Shamrock.
Ortiz ran into a rough patch in his career when he took on two of the toughest 205ers of all time in Couture and Liddell back to back. Against Couture he lost a 5 round decision after being taken down several times and pounded on by Couture. “The Iceman” brought a barrage of punches towards Ortiz in a grudge match that saw Ortiz being KOd in the second round.
Nonetheless, Ortiz marched on forward and came back to defeat Patrick Cote at UFC 50 and Vitor Belfort at UFC 51. Ortiz kept his winning streak going by defeating the very popular and game Forrest Griffin, after a very close and entertaining bout. Ken Shamrock was once again thrown into the mix to fight Ortiz after the two went head to head as coaches on the UFC reality series “The Ultimate Fighter.” Ortiz won the first bout via TKO but Shamrock argued the stoppage was too early and another bout between the two was setup. In the next bout Ortiz displayed some brutal ground and pound and left not an ounce of controversy to remain in anyone’s head as he knocked out Shamrock in devastating fashion on the ground.
Against Liddell for the second time, Ortiz would do well until Liddell took over in round 3 and finished off Ortiz with strikes. Ortiz would draw against Rashad Evans, in looked to be a victory for Ortiz until he was deducted a point for grabbing onto the fence to avoid a takedown. Once again Ortiz would suffer defeat, this time at the hands of Lyoto Machida, but not before coming real close to securing a triangle choke win right at the buzzer of round 3.
Ortiz is one of the most loved and hated fighters in the game. He draws attention, gets reactions from fans, fighters and promoters. He has had one of the most heated and antagonistic of relationships with UFC president Dana White, but both have put their bad blood aside and renewed their friendship and are once again working together. A savvy businessman with his Punishment Athletics clothing line, and ability to draw attention and garner the most buck for his work, Ortiz is one of the most charismatic and intriguing figures in the game. Extremely kind to fans and Huntington Beach Bad Boy faithful, and extremely mean and malicious to opponents in the cage, Ortiz is a very multidimensional individual in the fight game. He act, sell fights, create and promote apparel; he’s a great jack of many trades, but master of one—fighting.
ORTIZ FACTS
· Only one of Ortiz’s 5 wins as champion went to decision—versus Vladimir Matyushenko
· Ortiz has TKOd Ken Shamrock 3 times
· Ortiz is 2-1 in 5 round fights which have gone the distance—beat Matyushenko and Silva, lost to Couture
· 53% of his wins are via KO or TKO
· He is 2-0 in split decision—defeated Griffin and Belfort
ACTING CHOPS
Cradle 2 the Grave
Venice Underground
The Crow: Wicked Prayer
The Dog Problem
Episode of “”Numb3rs” (TV)
Zombie Strippers!
