The relationship between former UFC light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz, and adult actress Jenna Jameson had a warm, gooey, paparazzi explosion all over TMZ earlier this week.
I know what you're thinking, that married--pardon, "spousal" life between a cage fighter and a porn starlet is destined for failure (if there was a market to bet on celebrity relationships falling apart then I am sure Goldman Sachs had placed a bet--pardon, a derivative hedge investment thingy on this one going nuclear) but Tito and Jenna appeared to be making this new age former porn star, beatable fighter relationship work. The couple even had twins together and, in even a greater expression of love, Tito bought Jenna an iPad.
So, what went wrong between the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" and the "Pop Shot Queen" (that last one is a real nickname, right?).
As of this moment here is what we know: Tito Ortiz was arrested at 11:34am on Monday morning for "suspicion of domestic violence". TMZ was on hand for the perp walk and caught Ortiz wearing an Army PT jacket covering the handcuffed fighter.
TMZ also caught a tearful Jenna Jameson who said she will press charges.
At 4:30pm Ortiz posted a $25,000 bail. Tito later held a press conference where he alleged that Jenna is addicted to Oxycontin and relapsed, which predicated the "situation".
For Jenna's part she has said that she had a "torn rotator cuff," which turned into "several torn ligaments" from being thrown "into the bathtub". Finally Jameson told KCAL-TV News that Ortiz "didn't beat" her and that they simply had a heated argument where things escalated. Then Jenna played the Rhianna card saying, "I know I did the right thing and after watching what happened to Rihanna, I knew that I had to call the police." Jameson said. "I'm just going to work on my relationship with him and hope it works out." Jameson did file a temporary restraining order against Ortiz and is open toward reconciliation. Tito and Jenna share a home together and last year Jenna gave birth to twins.
"The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" previously served time back in 1998 after pleading guilty to charges of "battery with serious bodily injury." Ortiz's status within the UFC may be in danger as Dana White told TMZ, "We're gonna be fair, but we could cut him."
How does the arrest and possible legal actions affect this season of The Ultimate Fighter? As of the moment, not at all, but that doesn't mean it won't.
For a moment, consider that the UFC blatantly lied for weeks about the upcoming Chuck Liddell-Rich Franklin fight at UFC 115 in order to avoid spoiling the reality show that was suppose to pit Liddell vs. Ortiz. Then the company proceeded to spoil the show only two episodes in. Ironically, viewership increased afterwards.
Viewers know that at some point this season Tito Ortiz will leave the show for some reason and be replaced by Rich Franklin. This all happens within the context of cryptic tweets from Ortiz and Jameson who at one pointed told her Twitter followers that she had a miscarriage. Tito even ends up in the hospital requiring fluids and recently looked emaciated.
All of these events have to be related is some form, right? At the very least there will be the assumption of interconnectivity.
Thus, we could see Ortiz, Jameson or parties close to either one divulge information to investigators regarding the mysterious withdrawal from the reality show. Considering that there are six weeks left in the entire show there's a fair amount of time for more to come out. Perhaps it would be better for the UFC to come out and say what happened to Ortiz. It will add context to the alleged incident while potentially shielding their fighter who's invariably attached to their brand. Ratings would probably jump, like they did before, though they will have to get around those non-disclosure agreements. That's what sworn affidavits are for.
One thing is for sure, TUF 11 got a lot more interesting.
