Tito Ortiz

Tito Ortiz

Tito Ortiz (* 23. January 1975 as Jacob Christopher Ortiz ) is an American mixed martial arts fighter . His match record amounts to 18 wins, eleven defeats and one draw (as of July 1, 2015).

MMA career

Beginnings

Tito Ortiz grew up in the California city of Huntington Beach . He started in high school with rings and led this sport at the College. His first contact with MMA was as a sparring partner for Tank Abbott, who was preparing his return to the ring in September 1996. In May 1997 Ortiz took part in his first MMA tournament, the UFC 13 - The Ultimate Force of the organizers Ultimate Fighting Championship . In his first fight he defeated Wes Albritton after half a minute by TKO. In his second fight, which he played as a substitute for Enson Inoue, he had to give up after three minutes against the veteran Guy Mezger from Team Lion's Den .

After this first experience Tito Ortiz denied a fight for the small organizer West Coast NHB Championships in December 1998 , in which he forced Jeremy Screeton to give up. He returned to the UFC in January 1999, defeating Mezger's training partner Jerry Bohlander by TKO. At UFC 19 in March there was a rematch with Mezger, which Mezger lost to TKO. As with Bohlander, Ortiz put on a T-shirt after the fight with a spell on it that insulted his opponent. This particularly angered Lion's Den founder Ken Shamrock , with whom there was almost a fight after the fight. In his next fight, Ortiz was to face Ken Shamrock's brother Frank for the UFC Middleweight Title at UFC 22 in September . Ortiz was defeated in the fourth round and Frank Shamrock then resigned as a champion from the UFC.

UFC Middleweight Champion

Then Tito Ortiz fought in April 2000 at UFC 25 , which took place in Japan, against Wanderlei Silva for the UFC Middleweight Title, which had become vacant after Shamrock's resignation . As a Pride fighter, Silva was limited by the stricter rules of the UFC and lost on points. Ortiz was thus UFC Middleweight Champion , a title that was then converted into the UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion .

Ortiz had to defend his title for the first time in December. Yuki Kondo had to give up in the first round against him. His next opponent, Evan Tanner , was knocked out by Ortiz in half a minute in February 2001. He then defeated Elvis Sinosic at UFC 32 by TKO and Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC 33 on points. The next fight was scheduled for November 2002 at UFC 40 against Ken Shamrock. It should be one of the UFC events with the highest PPV sales . Ortiz won by TKO in the third round.

Loss of title and further career

Ortiz did not contest a fight for almost a year. It was only at UFC 44 in September 2003 that he faced Randy Couture in a title fight. Couture dominated and won on points, Ortiz had to give up his title. He played his next fight against Chuck Liddell , who knocked him out at UFC 47 in April 2004 in the second round. His next two fights, in October 2004 against Patrick Côté and in February 2005 against Vitor Belfort , he won on points.

After a break from the UFC , Ortiz took part in the third season of The Ultimate Fighter as coach and opponent of Ken Shamrock . In April 2006 at UFC 59 he played again an MMA fight in which he defeated Forrest Griffin on points. In July 2006 he played again against Ken Shamrock and won by TKO in the first round and the rematch that took place in October ended in the same way. In December Ortiz lost again to Chuck Liddell, this time by TKO.

In July 2007 Ortiz faced Rashad Evans . The fight, in which Ortiz repeatedly held on to the edge of the ring, was scored as a draw. He played his next fight in May 2008 against Lyoto Machida . After losing points, Ortiz announced that he would not renew his expiring contract and would no longer fight in the UFC in the future . Nevertheless, he signed again with the UFC after a break . He lost to Forrest Griffin on points at UFC 106 in November 2009. For the eleventh season of The Ultimate Figher he was hired again as a coach, this time as an opponent of Chuck Liddell. At UFC 121 in October, he then lost to Matt Hamill on points.

Trivia

In mid-March 2017, Ortiz played at the main event of the PokerStars Championship in Panama , a poker tournament with a $ 5,300 buy-in. There he took 22nd place for over $ 16,000 in prize money.

Private

From 2006 to 2013 Tito Ortiz was in a relationship with the former porn actress Jenna Jameson and has two children with her. He also has a son from a previous marriage.

Ortiz made a brief appearance in the 2008 film, Zombie Strippers , in which his wife played a leading role.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Jeremy Wall: UFC's Ultimate Warriors: The Top 10. ECW PRESS, 2005, ISBN 1-55022-691-6
2. ↑ foxnews.com - Tito Ortiz, Jenna Jameson Engage in He-Said, She-Said Battle Following Domestic Dispute
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Tito Ortiz in the Sherdog database (English)
4. ↑ sidereel.com - The Ultimate Fighter Season 3
5. ↑ Monday Morning Reverie: True Champions , Sherdog.com
6. ↑ mmaweekly.com - ORTIZ CONFIRMS HE WILL NOT RETURN TO UFC ( Memento from January 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
7. ↑ ultimatefighter.com - Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz
8. ↑ Tito Ortiz in the Hendon Mob Poker Database, accessed on March 19, 2017 (English)
9. ^ Las Vegas Sun - Tito Ortiz set to end hiatus, return to where he belongs