The People’s Champ retired Saturday night, after crushing Chael Sonnen in the first round of the main event of Bellator 170. It ends one of the great careers in the sport’s history.
Tito’s first professional fight was vs. Wes Albritton at UFC 13 in May of 1997. He had a sponsorship from Spanky’s XXX playhouse on his shorts, and walked out in an UnderGround tee shirt vs. Guy Mezger in March of 1999. By April of 2000 he was the UFC light heavyweight champion.
Ortiz was the brightest star in the sport during its darkest hours. When the PPVs were averaging 50,000 buys, Tito fights over and over broke 100,000, proving the sport could be viable. His rematch with Chuck Liddell at UFC 66 in 2006 was the first card to break 1,000,000 buys, proving the sport could be rich.
He argued fiercely and often bitterly with UFC president Dana White over compensation, an issue that has not gone away. And he was entrepreneurial, founding his own apparel brand – Punishment Athletics and running a gym, among other endeavors.
Ortiz was not getting younger and lost a series of close fights, leaving a deceptively poor record. From 2006 to 2012, he went just 1-7-1. That could have been it, how he went out. However, Tito moved to Bellator MMA and found his career reborn.
First, he crushed then middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko. Next, he took a Split Decision over fellow UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar. He failed to beat then light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary but bounced back with a win Saturday night.
Tonight was a dream, tonight was like a movie, said Ortiz, as transcribed by Dave Doyle for MMA Fighting. It didn’t even seem real.
I started in this as an amateur, that was with the other company I competed with, UFC. As an amateur, I made no money, I fought for free. That was the beginning of my career. I fought for free. All my friends thought, ‘You’re crazy.’ I said I want to compete, I want to see how good I can be in this sport. A year and a half later, I was the champion.
From a kid being on the street with parents who at the time didn’t want to be parents, and the things I went through, I’ve been very lucky to be able to do what I’ve been through. It’s a dream.
That’s the way a person’s career should end. At the top of the world, how I feel right now, I can’t even talk right now because it’s like I want to accept it. I walked away at the right time, in the right place, and I was respected the right way. This was the way it should have been when I left the UFC. Everything in this world happens for a reason.
And Tito and White appear to be reconciled, with the UFC boss reaching out after the Bellator win.
“He actually sent my girlfriend a text message,” said Ortiz to ESPN, as transcribed by Adam Guillen Jr. for MMA Mania. “She used to work for UFC and they always talk back and forth. When I first signed with Bellator, Dana sent me focus mitts with his face on it and said, ‘If this doesn’t motivate you, nothing will.’ So I guess it’s that love/hate relationship we have toward each other. But, thank you Dana for the text, saying that’s the way I should go out, on top. I mean, I love the guy, he was my first manager. I always just fought for what I wanted for my career. No hard feelings, I’ve grown up a lot over the last four years, and I’ve done a lot of things business-wise for my future. I’ve made mistakes before and I will never make those mistakes again.”
It is particularly great to hear that Ortiz has prepared for his future financially, something that is tragically rare in combat sports.
Thank you Tito Ortiz. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
