Tito Ortiz: Dana White and Joe Silva wanted me to retire after UFC 121
Posted on June 21, 2011, 03:37 AM by Anton Gurevich"Dana White and Joe Silva [the UFC's matchmaker] told me they wanted me to retire, but I knew I still had the fight inside me. I pretty much begged for my job, to show how much I want to fight, but I still have it in my heart to compete, to fight. I told them I want to still fight against the top guys, I want to put on a show. I've just turned 36, but when they put me against the top guys, I think I can still compete. Too bad people don't pay attention to the major details. I've competed against the top guys and gone on to win world championships. I'm not getting submitted or knocked out...I'm making little mistakes where I should be submitting guys. I thought I beat Forrest Griffin 2 to 1 the second time. But it was what it was. I made some mistakes against Hamill. I didn't respect his takedown. The UFC called me after that fight and said ‘we want you to retire.' I was shocked, I thought they were kidding around. I took it as they didn't want to pay me, to give me what I'm worth. I'm competing against the top guys and I'm not getting dominated. So, next month, I'll be fighting one of the top guys in the world again, ranked in the top 3, and I'm going to show how much I'm really worth." - The Telegraph via MMAMania.com.
Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz will face TUF 8 Winner Ryan "Darth" Bader as part of the main card action of UFC 132 on July 2nd. Ortiz will look to get his second "W" since the triumph over Ken Shamrock on October 10th of 2006. Since then, Ortiz is 0-1-4 inside the Octagon, losing to three UFC Light Heavyweight Champions in Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin and Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida. Tito Ortiz is currently 15-8-1 in his professional MMA career, with 8 TKO/KO and 2 Submission victories on his record.
Photo: UFC Dana White, left, watches as Tito Ortiz congratulates Chuck Liddell after the post fight press conference for Ultimate Fighting Champion Championship UFC 66 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on December 30, 2006. Photo credit: Francis Specker
Comments
Bader is top 3?
Tito looks like he's crying in the picture.
Tito should cut down to 185 the guys at 205 are to strong for him and his fighting style would match up great at 185. In the end it took guys like him to get this thing kicked off
lol at tito cutting down. you do know hes one of the biggest lhw's out there dont you? not too mention hes 36, a little late.
if he would of won his last he would of been fighting for a title
people will hate on tito for this im sure, and i agree baders nowhere near top 3, but can anyone honestly say titos looked particularly bad in his last few fights? i thought he did well against hammil foir a while, the fight with forrest was very close and obviously machida was untouchable when they fought....i would prefer he fought someone lower down the ladder, but i still expect him to be competitive with bader
TITO IS SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! , he doesnt deserve to get paid that much for the shit fights he puts.
You're gonna tune in to see him get his ass kicked though right? Tito still sells tickets for the old school fans and people that want to see him get dominated. That's why he gets paid what he does. And it's the reason why they "asked him to retire" rather than just calling and saying, "Hey bitch! You haven't won a single fight in your last five. Get the hell out of the UFC!"
Dana doesn't let fighters stay if they lose three in a row, and he personally doesn't care for Tito. Why is he still here? Because Tito sells tickets.
damn why dont tito just get someone not in top 10, work his way up. like a kyle kingsbbury. bader is a beast, and he is coming off a loss to the no 1 guy in the division. titos pep talk is convincing, but so are all his other ones. fight mark coleman
Agree 100%, off course he's losing, but it's because his just getting better guys every time he fights, which is bizarre. Same thing happenned to Brandon Vera.
I honestly think Joe Silva set this up to retire Tito. Think about it. A beast like Bader runs through him like nothing, at least they hope he does, and makes him look like at his age he can't compete anymore. If they wanted him out before, they'll kick his ass out now.
They don't give him build up fights because it would be insulting to the legacy tito has made for himself in the ufc. tito used to be one of the top guys in the world and his name helped build the ufc. they just think he deserves to retire fighting the best like he always has.
Yup spot on that's exactly what this looks like to me too...UFC setting Tito up for retirement. Sorry, but all Tito had was wrestling, and unfortunately his calibre just isnt good enough anymore.
Ok, maybe he's not getting finished by his opponents, but he aint winning either. And @ 36 with a rebuilt spine, does he really honestly believe he'll be champ again? I dont see Bader losing this fight.
Looking at the last few guys Tito is facing its as if hes winning fights.
He should be moving down the card and fighting lower ranked guys with names e.g. Rich Franklin or Brandon Vera.
Brandon Vera maybe but I don't think he would do too hot against Franklin - he'd get beat on the feet and unlikely he'd get the fight to the floor.
Yeah but at least a fight against Franklin would be more competitive than against Bader.
attention whores never retire even when he gets cut hes still gonna be doing some crazy shit just to get a little recognition
Well Tito is about to get his biggest smashing to date and it really feels like he was just given this fight so he had to retire after he gets knocked out. Bader is a better version of Mat Hamil in every possible way and it is not going to be pretty.
Also Tito maybe its about time you stop living on past achievements especially when you weren't even a top 5 fighter when you were the UFC champ since all the best fighters were in Pride at the time.
Tito was not a top 5 fighter in his prime?.. Cut the crap dude !! Tito was a BEAST !!
he will loose badly but frankly I gonna miss him cause lets be honest bigmouths like him make this sport even more entertaining
F what he's talking about, he needs to look at his record & see when his last win was.
If the threat of "early retirement" doesn't create a winning edge, nothing will.
The UFC Team are highly tactical communicators. I think the threat works on a number of levels.
1. Tito has to go for broke - leaving nothing but the blood and broken body of Bader in the cage.
2. He seems to have a huge ego, this threat may add the edge he thinks he needs.
3. The fans anticipate this fight as potentially Tito's last - this improves PPV.
I seriously doubt that Tito can win, I think this is a good comeback fight for Bader and should help boost his confidence if he can retire this former champ.
Personally, I will be happy to see the back of Tito as I believe he is in the way of the younger fighters making their mark.
Everyone is counting Tito out (including myself) Tito is too old now he has not improve and I don't think anyone in the LHW division is seriously looking at Tito as a step up in competition. BUT what if he wins? Bader's stock will take a serious plunged right now he is just outside the mix but if he loses then it is a possibility that this could be the last time we hear Baders name for a long time. But if Tito loses then I think he should retire and I hope he does not take a beating in this fight, loud mouth, a$$h0l3, jerk off or what ever he was a great competitor and deserve a little credit for helping build the UFC name.
EVERYONE wants you to retire, get the drift? You are washed up, and done. You were once a great champion, a GREAT champion, but now you just make an ASS out of yourself every time you open your mouth. Once Bader humiliates you maybe you will finally get the picture and go away. Do porn or something, but stop fighting and pretending to be the next big thing.
Great suggestion about Tito doing porn.
Perhaps his screen name could be Tits Out Ortiz.
I like Tito for what he's done (or at least tried to do) for fighter's rights. His rant about Dana White's money problems was really eye opening. And he's an idiot, I'm willing to admit that, but if I saw him retire I'd feel gutted.
And no, I'm not making this post simply to cry out for fighter's rights, I'm just saying it's no secret Dana and the Fertitas want him out the door.
Bader's gonna do to him what Hamill did to him, and it'll be the last we see of Tito. Just like Jardine and Liddell. It's a shame, really, but that's the way it goes. He's like Dan Hardy, he'll never say "Maybe I'm just not that good". And we'll see him leaving the UFC before we see him on the undercard.
They want him gone, we all do. So Joe puts him aginst a guy everyone knows he will lose to. If Tito still wants to fight he should go to a different company like Dream or Bellator. Ya he won't get paid as much but shit he's just gonna lose in the UFC like Keith did.
Wait until the UFC eventually swallows up the Strikeforce fighters ... your gonna see alot of retirement fights im afraid.
anyone who picks tito to win is ****ing retarded
yeah i hope so i can't ****ing stand ortiz anymore he is a pioneer of the sport but just keeps getting his ass kicked and he's with the biggest horr of all time goddamn tito what were you thinking he could have found a nice little blonde freak who hasn't been pounded by hundreds and hundreds if not a thousand dif guys Nasty
still talkin about the forrest griffin fight huh. tsk tsk tsk when will ye learn you didnt beat griffin.
I think there is still a place for Tito in the UFC.
He is one of the elite few fighters who I enjoy seeing get their as$es kicked
1st of all i thought he edged Forrest out too... 2nd.. Bader is a tough cookie all odds are against Tito in this one.. but i'm going for the major major major major upset.. i mean just for the F**K of it !! I want to see him WIN... just for the whole media circus that will come with it.. and so we can hear him talk more shit for the next 2 years... :-D hey it's all about entertainment and a good dose of WHOOP ass.. who gives a flyin' F**CK who gets whooped? as long as someone gets knocked or Chocked the f**k out i'm GOOD !!!