Tito Ortiz is planning to call it a career once and for all with one final grudge match.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight champion revealed yesterday (Mon., Oct. 10, 2022) that his final mixed martial arts (MMA) bout will go down in Feb. 2023. Under the Freedom Fight Night banner, Ortiz says he’ll rematch his final Bellator rival, Chael Sonnen.
“I’ll be competing my one last time in the beginning of February, Tito Ortiz versus Chael Sonnen No. 2 will be happening for Freedom Fight Night,” Ortiz told The Adam Carolla Show. “I’m excited, I’m really excited. In MMA, not boxing, at 205 [pounds].”
Ortiz versus Sonnen 1 went down at Bellator 170 in Jan. 2017. The bout was Sonnen’s debut in the promotion and, unfortunately for him, was his first defeat, succumbing to a first round rear-naked choke submission. Despite the result and Sonnen’s 2019 retirement, the trash talk and occasional banter have only continued since.
For “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” Ortiz, 47, followed up the victory with two more in MMA, defeating Chuck Liddell and Alberto Del Rio. He most recently suffered a first round knockout against Anderson Silva in a Sept. 2021 boxing match (watch highlights).
Sonnen, 45, has remained around the combat sports world with his YouTube channel and analyst roles, whether for UFC or Bellator. Recently, “The American Gangster” even hosted a series of press conferences between the aforementioned Silva and his upcoming boxing opponent, Jake Paul.
No signs of wanting to return to action have been shown by Sonnen in life after fighting. However, if there’s one fight he surely would return for, it would be a shot at redemption against Ortiz.