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| UFC veteran Tito Ortiz |
Philadelphia, PA - Once upon a time Tito Ortiz was one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts.
The former UFC light heavyweight kingpin was every bit the trailblazer as a Randy Couture or Chuck Liddell and by 2006, the charismatic Huntington Beach Bad Boy had exploded into one of the biggest pay-per-view draws in the world for his bouts with Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Ken Shamrock.
Back problems took their toll, however, and when Ortiz stepped into the Octagon against rising star Ryan Bader on July 2 in Las Vegas, he hadn't tasted victory since topping a then-lightly-regarded Shamrock in October of '06.
Bader, meanwhile, had won 13 fights over that span and figured to use Ortiz as a speed bump on his way to the top of the division.
UFC president Dana White made it known before the bout that another loss for Ortiz would be his swan song in the UFC. He entered the cage as a guy best known for being the boyfriend of former porn starlet Jenna Jameson and an 11-2 underdog
For at least for one night Ortiz found the Fountain of Youth, knocking Bader down before clamping on a guillotine at 1:56 of Round 1 for the stunning upset.
Now, just over a month later, Ortiz is back in the main event picture as he gets set to tangle with Rashad Evans on August 6 in UFC 133 at Wells Fargo Center, a rematch of their draw from July of 2007.
Ortiz got the shot when Penn State product Phil Davis bowed out with a knee injury and White's first choice as a replacement, Lyoto Machida, was nixed after asking for "Anderson Silva" money.
Ortiz questioned taking the fight on such short notice but came around after thinking things out.
"You're in great shape. I never got touched. Sparring's been great, my wrestling's been really good. I'm strong. I have no injuries. My back and my neck have been awesome," Ortiz said on a recent conference call.
"It took me a minute to think about it. Of course I sat and I talked to Jenna. I talked to my training partners, I talked to my coach, and we kind of just sat down and said, let's do this. Here's an opportunity that we're never going to have again."
Another win over Evans, who hasn't fought in over a year due to knee and hand injuries, and Ortiz would certainly propel himself right back into the championship picture, a completely improbable idea just two months ago.
In fact, the main incentive for Ortiz to get right back into the cage, was main event money and the lure of that title shot somewhere down the line.
The 2007 meeting between Ortiz and Evans was a rather dull affair carried by Ortiz's presence and charisma. The California native won the first round thanks to an early a takedown but did little damage.
In the second frame, Evans, a former Michigan State wrestling star, was the aggressor and went for several takedowns that Ortiz blocked by grabbing the cage. Referee John McCarthy warned Ortiz to stop and eventually docked him a point when he used the technique again.
The deduction cost Ortiz the decision and he and Evans went on divergent paths. Tito kept losing and just over a year later, Evans was the UFC lightweight champ after knocking out Griffin.
For whatever its worth Ortiz has often complained about injuries after losses but before the next bout came along he would claim to be "injury free for the first time since 2003."
What's known is that Ortiz did undergo back and neck surgeries and against Bader, he finally did look healthy and called the fight an "out of body experience."
"I've got those things healed. I talked to (William Smith) who did the surgeries. I have no doubt of anything anymore. And there's no doubt in my injuries at all," Ortiz said. "I don't question my shots. I don't question my
take-down defense. I don't question anything anymore. And I think that's doing the right physical therapy and having the best surgeon possible in the world who did my surgeries. I just gained confidence."
Of course Ortiz can't seem to escape some kind of controversy and was involved in a recent car accident that left his Rolls Royce Phantom with some serious front end damage.
He never thought of pulling out of the bout with Evans, however.
"No, not even a doubt," Ortiz said. "You've got to understand, I did the Long Beach Grand Prix and I crashed four times. I was hitting walls ... On my honeymoon in my first marriage I got hit by a bus doing 30, and I fought and defended my world title against Yuki Kondo literally four months later. Stuff like that doesn't hurt me. I think what hurts is just the repetition of training."
Photos of the wreck quickly surfaced and looked bad but Ortiz said he suffered "zero" physical effects" from it.
"I rear-ended somebody," he explained. "It was a mistake on my part. I probably shouldn't have been paying attention to what I was paying attention to, and I looked up and -- bam -- I hit someone. And it was an expensive car. It was my bad. I was really, really bummed about it, but at the same time it can be paid for."
Healthy or not, Ortiz will enter the cage Saturday. He hopes to exit with another victory and relevance among the UFC light heavyweights.
Evans is expecting to have his hands full.
"I think [Ortiz] is going to try to come out a little bit aggressive," Evans said. "He's believing in himself a little more. He's got his win a couple months ago so he's still riding off that momentum, but he's feeling good. His
body's feeling good so he said so. I expect to see Tito Ortiz reenergized and ready to in there and put up a good fight."
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