This upcoming holiday weekend MMA fans were supposed to be watching the UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones take on the ageless wonder Dan Henderson in the UFC 151 main event. Instead MMA fans witnessed the shocking cancellation of the event after Dan Henderson became injured and Jon Jones declined a fight.
Tito Ortiz is a lot of things. He’s brash, cocky, determined, a champion, an icon and now, going into UFC 148, a UFC Hall of Famer. From flipping Shamrock the bird, to Tito is in the house, to Dana is my Bitch, Tito has run the gamut of UFC emotions and realities during his 15 year tenure with the UFC. As that tenure comes to a close, let’s look back at the polarizing moments that made you love Tito Ortiz, and others love to hate him.
The knockout, it’s a fan favorite and something every fighter loves to do yet doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of it as the same time. A knockout is a violent thing of beauty for one fighter but an ungraceful disappointment for the one lying on the canvas wondering what just happened. Lucky for them there is that little thing called replay and they’ll be seeing it over and over again.
Mixed Martial Arts legend and former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz appears ready to hang them up. Having just one fight remaining on his current contract Ortiz has requested to end his career with a third bout against either Chuck Liddell or Forrest Griffin in July. Since the “Iceman” has already retired, that just leaves Ortiz with a rubber match against Griffin.
The 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter ends tonight with the final two semifinal bouts in the first season to feature bantamweights and featherweights. For only the second time in series history the coaches will square off at the finale this Saturday alongside their fighters.
If legendary PRIDE superstar Wanderlei Silva wants to continue fighting for the UFC he needs to stay awake inside of the Octagon this Saturday Night. His UFC career has been a combination of impressive hard-fought decision losses (vs. Liddell, Franklin) and 1st Round knockout losses (Rampage, Leben) with a win or two sprinkled in between (Jardine, Bisping).
This weekend will be one of the biggest fights of the year in Las Vegas and will not take place in any type of octagon or cage setting. Undefeated (41-0; 25 KO, 16 Dec) Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. will be defending his WBC welterweight championship against “Vicious” Victor Ortiz (29-2-2; 22 KO) and given the history of the pay per view purchases generated by Mayweather, the argument that boxing is the more lucrative sport with a dedicated following could be echoed if sales are like anything past in comparison to UFC ppv purchases.
In 2002, the UFC’s top contender at Light Heavyweight, Chuck Liddell, was set for his title shot against then champion Tito Ortiz. Tito chose this time to settle a beef with Ken Shamrock and Liddell was left in waiting. Chuck Liddell is a fighter and fighter’s fight so Liddell took on a very dangerous opponent in Renato “Babalu” Sobral instead of waiting around.
