With Tito Ortiz’s upcoming fight against Ryan Bader at UFC 132 in July and the fact that he is most certainly in the twilight of his career, it seems like an appropriate time to examine whether or not he deserves a spot in the UFC’s hall of fame.
Unlike other sports, there is no national panel to judge whether or not someone’s credentials are worthy of admittance and it is left mostly up to Dana White to decide who is granted entry. This, along with White’s famous temper, makes the process rather arbitrary.
Prominent fighters like Frank Shamrock, who deserve entry, will most likely never be let in. White’s notorious temper and desire to have things done his way have led to unfair treatment of other fighters as well.
When Randy Couture had his issues with Zuffa, the UFC simply stopped mentioning Couture on their broadcasts as if they were trying to erase him from their history. Also, when several AKA fighters like Jon Fitch initially refused to sign over their rights to the UFC, they were cut from the organization albeit temporarily.
So as one can see, the process itself may not be the fairest and the longstanding feud between Ortiz and White may preclude Ortiz from being admitted to the hall of fame. However, there is a legitimate question as to whether or not Ortiz possesses the credentials to even be admitted into the hall even if the process was unbiased.
Several journalists, such as Kevin Iole, claim that Ortiz should most certainly be let in based off of the fact that he defended the light heavyweight title five times and held the championship for over three years. However, everyone knows numbers can be deceiving and a closer look at Ortiz’s resume shows why.
Ortiz boasts a career record of 15-8-1 and a UFC record of 14-8-1. He won the UFC light heavyweight belt at UFC 25 in April of 2000 against Wanderlei Silva and then defended it five times until he lost to Randy Couture at UFC 44 in September of 2003. His five defenses were against Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ken Shamrock.
Matyushenko, Sinosic and Kondo are serviceable fighters but really fall under the category of career journeymen and Ken Shamrock was well past his prime. His most impressive title defense was most likely Evan Tanner but even that is somewhat questionable since Tanner eventually dropped down to middleweight.
Iole’s other argument is that Ortiz held the title for over three years. However, this argument is easily debunked when one notes that Ortiz refused to fight Chuck Liddell and the UFC eventually had to create an interim title which Liddell and Couture fought for at UFC 43.
When determining whether or not someone deserves entry into the UFC hall of fame, several things must be evaluated. Whether or not they were able to win a title and how long they defended it, their ability to perform under pressure, longevity and the willingness to challenge themselves and fight any and all contenders.
While Ortiz did win and defend his title, he has failed time after time to deliver in big fights, he does not have the career longevity or the ability to still remain relevant like other fighters such as Couture and Matt Hughes, and his refusal to fight Liddell casts a dark stain on his character and career.
Ortiz’s failure to deliver in big fights is the biggest reason that he doesn’t deserve to go to the hall of fame. Great champions step up in big fights and Ortiz simply hasn’t been up to the challenge. He lost his first title shot to Frank Shamrock at UFC 22, he lost the unification match with Randy Couture at UFC 44, and lost both title fights with Chuck Liddell.
Ortiz’s 14 UFC wins also begin to look less impressive when one notes that three of them came against a washed up Ken Shamrock. He has also failed to remain relevant after losing his title and was never able to successfully rebound.
Fighters like Matt Hughes, Georges St-Pierre, Randy Couture, and B.J Penn all rebounded to win back their titles or even win titles in other weight classes. Even today Matt Hughes is still able to win fights and even fighters like Rich Franklin are still able to put on good fights and can continue on as gatekeepers.
It should also be noted that Ortiz’s last two victories were both over Ken Shamrock and his win before that was the controversial victory over Forrest Griffin at UFC 59. Ortiz’s last clear-cut win was over Vitor Belfort at UFC 51 in 2005.
While Ortiz was charismatic and brought the UFC much needed attention, it is very questionable if his career resume is enough to get him admitted to the hall of fame. He has failed to deliver in the biggest fights of his career, he was so hesitant to fight Chuck Liddell that the UFC needed to create an interim belt to remedy the situation, and he has failed to show the longevity of other great fighters.
While Ortiz may have been very good, he was not great and the hall of fame is for the greatest—not the very good.
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