LAS VEGAS — After his victory over Alexander Shlemenko last weekend at Bellator 120, Tito Ortiz proclaimed that he no longer wants to be a part of the UFC Hall of Fame.
“UFC, take me off your list,” Ortiz said. “Take me off your Hall of Fame.”
Thursday, UFC president Dana White said he’s in no rush to honor the former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion’s request one way or another.
“Who gives a s— what Tito wants?” White said when asked by MMAFighting.com about Ortiz’s request. “Does anybody really give a s— what Tito wants?”
Ortiz was inducted into the UFC Hall in July, 2012, on the morning of his UFC 148 loss to Forrest Griffin. That was announced as Ortiz’s retirement fight, a retirement Ortiz ended Saturday, when he submitted Shlemenko, Bellator’s middleweight champion, in short order.
“Good for Tito,” White continued. “Let him stay over in Viacom MMA and make some money and try and stay relevant. I don’t care what Tito wants.”
White did stop to note, however, that Ortiz seemed pretty honored by the induction the day it actually went down.
“It’s just sort of a way to honor the guys who have been here, and the way that we’ve done it, the guys who have been here since we’ve owned [the UFC], other than [Mark] Coleman and Royce [Gracie],” he said. “Everybody’s honored, and Tito was all pumped up the day he went in. He showed up with his white suit and his white shirt and his white tie.”