Always the brunt of jokes in the mixed martial arts sphere, ex-UFC star Tito Ortiz has once more come under fire for a recent stark admission on his career.
Ortiz, a former undisputed light heavyweight champion in the promotion, called time on his combat sports career back in 2019. Headlining a Combate Americas event, Ortiz took on former WWE star Alberto Del Rio, finishing the Pride FC alum with a first-round knockout win in their Texas main event.
Ortin is probably best known for his issues with long-time UFC CEO, Dana White — whom he was even linked to fight on one occasion decades ago — White even served as Ortiz’s manager in the past during his early Octagon stint.
Often known for his misspeaks and gaffes when it comes to his public appearances, Ortiz made quite the stark admission during an interview this week.
Boldly claiming he had never competed for free during his entire career, Ortiz then staggeringly revealed he actually fought without payment before — all within the same conversation.
“At the end of the day, I’m trying to feed my kids man, and I’m not doing anything for free,” Ortiz told the Overdogs Podcast.
“And so that fight against Dana (White), I wasn’t gonna do it for free. People say well you should do free. It’s like, no, I have never fought one fight in my life for free unless it was in the schoolyard or in a park,” he added.
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White claims Ortiz tried to destroy the UFC
White made some rather sizeable claims about Ortiz — as well as former two-weight champion, Randy Couture, with whom he also seems to have a bee in his bonnet over.
Even going as far as to claim he was hoping Chuck Liddell knocked out Ortiz during their historic three-fight rivalry, White claimed Ortiz attempted his level best to bury the UFC during his pomp.
“Tito Ortiz… when him and Chuck fought,” White told BigBoy TV, “As the promoter, you’re not supposed to have a rooting interest. I couldn’t f*cking wait to see Chuck whoop his a*s. A hundred percent.”
He then claimed that at a time when it was critical for the company’s survival that everyone was on the same page, White claimed that Ortiz and Corture tried to destroy the UFC.
“Two of the worst guys to ever f*cking deal with,” the UFC boss exclaimed.
