Tito Ortiz
From OTMWiki
| Tito Ortiz | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Nickname | Huntington Beach Bad Boy |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Born | January 23, 1975 |
| Fighting out of | Huntington Beach, California |
| Town of birth | Huntington Beach, California |
| Fighting style | Wrestling (Ground-and-Pound) |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Wins | 14 |
| By knockout | |
| By submission | |
| Losses | 4 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | |
Jacob "Tito" Ortiz (born January 23, 1975) is a participant of the sport of mixed martial arts, or 'MMA'. Ortiz's career has been mostly within the UFC organization. A former Light-Heavyweight UFC champion, Ortiz has become one of the sport's most shining stars, headlining several Pay Per View championship undercards, and appearing on the covers of various magazines, such as Black Belt Magazine. He is a native of Huntington Beach, California. Tito Ortiz is recognized as a charismatic, if controversial and highly-criticized fighter.
Contents |
Career
Ortiz began his martial arts career as a wrestler in his sophomore year of high school. Under coach Paul Herrera, Ortiz would place 4th in the state high school championships as a senior. Following high school, Ortiz continued his wrestling career winning a California state junior college title for Golden West College. Following his stint at Golden West, Ortiz wrestled at Cal State Bakersfield. While never a full-time starter, Ortiz did gain significant experience training with future NCAA and world champion Stephen Neal.
His mixed martial arts debut was at UFC 13 in 1997. He beat Wes Albittron on the tournament's first round by referee stoppage due to a barrage of punches, but lost in the next round to Guy Mezger in a bout that he was dominating early on. The Mezger match showed the potential Ortiz had for dominating his opponents with control and hard, sharp elbows (ground and pound).
After returning with two victories, including one against Jerry Bohlander, Ortiz dominated a rematch with Mezger. This time, the game but much smaller Mezger was out-wrestled, with Ortiz winning by TKO due to strikes. After winning the fight, Ortiz put on a t-shirt that read "Gay Mezger Is My Bitch" and gave the assembled Lion's Den, with whom Mezger trained, the finger. Thus began both his rivalry with the Lion's Den and his custom of wearing t-shirts that belittled his opponent after victories.
In 1999 Ortiz fought Frank Shamrock for the UFC Middleweight (200 pound) title at UFC 22, losing via submission due to strikes. Following the victory, Shamrock retired and vacated the championship. The Middleweight title was renamed the Light Heavyweight title and Ortiz was chosen along with Wanderlei Silva as the top contenders. Their title fight at UFC 25 left Ortiz the champion via unanimous decision. Ortiz would successfully defend the belt five times in the following three years, defeating Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko and Lion's Den head Ken Shamrock, who had held a grudge with Ortiz since the Mezger incident.
When it was time for Chuck Liddell, a rising Light Heavyweight star in the UFC and seemingly perennial #1 contender, to get his title shot, Ortiz began a hiatus from defenses. Ortiz had previously publicly challenged Liddell but now remarked that he and Liddell were friends and claimed a pact was made stating that they would never fight one another. Ortiz also expressed dissatisfaction with his contract with the UFC and they could not come to terms. An exasperated UFC management created an Interim Light Heavyweight Title to finally coax Ortiz to a fight. Ortiz finally agreed to fight with new Interim Light Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture, who had defeated Liddell for the interim title, at UFC 44 in September 2003. Couture, who many felt was near retirement, won via unanimous decision.
Ortiz afterwards finally faced Chuck Liddell atUFC 47 and lost by second round knockout. After a split decision over Vitor Belfort at UFC 51 in February 2005, contract issues left Ortiz on bad terms with the UFC and its president Dana White, (who incidentally was his former business manager).
During this time away from the UFC, Ortiz was offered deals with several promotions, including PRIDE Fighting Championships and the Don King-backed World Fighting Alliance, but none came to fruition. Ortiz dabbled in professional wrestling with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling for a time (see below).
Surprisingly, in November 2005, Dana White announced that Ortiz and his still-bitter rival Ken Shamrock would be coaches for the next The Ultimate Fighter reality TV series, which premiered in April 2006. Ortiz also publicly confirmed he had signed a three-fight deal with the UFC which included a three-round boxing sparring session with Dana White.[1] Ortiz's first fight under the new deal occurred at UFC 59 on April 15 2006 against previous The Ultimate Fighter winner Forrest Griffin, which Tito won by split decision. The second fight will be against Ken Shamrock at UFC 61 on July 8, 2006. If Ortiz wins both fights, he will get a shot at a UFC title, presumably the Light Heavyweight title currently held by Chuck Liddell.[2]
Professional wrestling career
In May 2005, Ortiz followed in the footsteps of rival Ken Shamrock when he agreed to appear with the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
On May 15, 2005 at TNA Hard Justice Ortiz served as special guest referee in the NWA World Heavyweight Championship title match between Jeff Jarrett and A.J. Styles at the behest of Director of Authority Dusty Rhodes. Ortiz played a large role in the buildup to the match as well as the outcome, in which he (kayfabe) knocked out Jeff Jarrett with a right hook after Jarrett shoved him. This allowed Styles to hit his Spiral Tap for the pinfall victory and claim the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Jarrett.
Ortiz returned to wrestling to once again referee an NWA World Heavyweight Championship match in October 2005. His appearance was at TNA Bound For Glory at the behest of Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko for the match intended to be between Jeff Jarrett and Kevin Nash. Ortiz played an even bigger role in the buildup of the match this time, attacking both men on an episode of TNA iMPACT! when they brawled prior to their scheduled match.
Nash had to withdraw from the match after suffering chest pains the previous night, so TNA management inserted Rhino into the fold after he won a ten man gauntlet match. Ortiz maintained order with some success, preventing interference from multiple sources but failing to prevent Jarrett from cheating. Rhino won the match (his third of the night) and the title, but Ortiz left the ring immediately after the match as a brawl ensued involving Jarrett, Rhino, Team Canada, Team 3D, The 3Live Kru, and America's Most Wanted.
Acting career
Ortiz has roles in several feature films, most notably Cradle 2 the Grave and the controversial Turkish film Valley of the Wolves: Iraq.
MMA Record
13 wins - 4 losses - 0 draw
| Date | Outcome | Opponent | Event | Details |
| 04/15/2006 | Win | Forrest Griffin | UFC 59 - Reality Check | Decision (Split) |
| 02/06/2005 | Win | Vitor Belfort | UFC 51 - Super Saturday | Decision (Split) |
| 10/22/2004 | Win | Patrick Cote | UFC 50 - The War of '04 | Decision (Unanimous) |
| 04/02/2004 | Loss | Chuck Liddell | UFC 47 - It's On | KO (Punches) |
| 09/26/2003 | Loss | Randy Couture | UFC 44 - Undisputed | Decision (Unanimous) |
| 11/22/2002 | Win | Ken Shamrock | UFC 40 - Vendetta | Submission (Fatigue) |
| 09/28/2001 | Win | Vladimir Matyushenko | UFC 33 - Victory in Vegas | Decision (Unanimous) |
| 06/29/2001 | Win | Elvis Sinosic | UFC 32 - Showdown in the Meadowlands | TKO (Cut) |
| 02/23/2001 | Win | Evan Tanner | UFC 30 - Battle on the Boardwalk | KO (Slam) |
| 12/16/2000 | Win | Yuki Kondo | UFC 29 - Defense of the Belts | Submission (Neck Crank) |
| 04/14/2000 | Win | Wanderlei Silva | UFC 25 - Ultimate Japan 3 | Decision |
| 09/24/1999 | Loss | Frank Shamrock | UFC 22 - There Can Be Only One Champion | Submission (Strikes) |
| 03/05/1999 | Win | Guy Mezger | UFC 19 - Ultimate Young Guns | TKO (Strikes) |
| 01/08/1999 | Win | Jerry Bohlander | UFC 18 - Road to the Heavyweight Title | TKO (Strikes) |
| 12/08/1998 | Win | Jeremy Screeton | WCNHBC - West Coast NHB Championships 1 | Submission (Strikes) |
| 05/30/1997 | Loss | Guy Mezger | UFC 13 - The Ultimate Force | Submission (Guillotine Choke) |
| 05/30/1997 | Win | Wes Albritton | UFC 13 - The Ultimate Force | TKO (Strikes) |
- TitoOrtiz.com. Retrieved April 7, 2006.
Championships and accomplishments
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- 2002 Feud of the Year (vs Ken Shamrock)
