The Huntington Beach Bad Boy: Thirteen Years of Tito Ortiz
Frpm the early days in the Octagon to pornstar drama on Twitter, we take a look at one of the UFC's most storied fighters.
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May 1, 2010
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Chuck Liddell
While Ortiz held the light heavyweight division in an iron grip, a strong contender was lurking. His former training partner Chuck Liddell was racking up win after win with strong punching power. And the whispers coming out of California said Ortiz couldn't take Liddell to the mat in training. That would make a Liddell fight very dangerous for the Huntington Beach Bad Boy. Liddell knocked Ortiz out at UFC 44 and the company had more than a new champion-the had a new standard bearer and poster boy for the entire sport.
Shamrock Rematch
Ortiz would have one final moment in the sun, a second chance to beat up poor Ken Shamrock. And then a third. Allow me to explain. The two men were tapped to coach the third season of The Ultimate Fighter. The show drew the best ratings P.K. (pre Kimbo) in the show's history and the subsequent fight drew more pay per view buyers than any UFC event in history. Unfortunately, the fight was stopped early. Despite Ortiz's dominance, Shamrock had a case that he could have made a miracle comeback. So, Dana White had a brilliant solution: give the fans a third fight, but do it on free television instead of pay per view. Everyone was a winner-except Shamrock of course.
The Future
Ortiz would go on to lose a second time to Liddell, a show that drew more PPV buys than any in history. The build up was perfect and fans could really sense that the two former buddies, both ex-clients of UFC President Dana White, really didn't like each other. Ortiz was slightly more competitive this time around, but Chuck's anti-wrestling was clearly Tito's kryptonite. Ortiz was done as a championship level fighter. From there it was maximizing name recognition, collecting every paycheck he could, Donald Trumping, and whatever this week has been. It's been a wild ride for Ortiz and MMA fans, and with Jenna changing her tune, it looks like the journey is far from over. Will we get that third Liddell fight after all? Will he go to Strikeforce to fight Frank Shamrock a second time? Will he be found dead, surrounded by shell casings and prescription medication? Anything is possible. And that my friends, is why we love Tito Ortiz.
