Esther Lin
There’s a lot of that “smoke” going around.
UFC hall of famer, Tito Ortiz, is feeling pretty good about himself after scoring a knockout win over fading legend, Chuck Liddell, back in October (watch it). Good enough to take on the world, or at least reigning UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.
And “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” wouldn’t come up lame in the big spot, like the “shorter” Daniel Cormier.
Now king of the heavyweight division, “DC” laid an egg in two separate 205-pound title attempts against the nearly-invincible “Bones,” probably because he failed to follow the Ortiz blueprint.
“Jon Jones is long and lengthy. I’m going to get in the inside and try to overpower some of the positions,” Ortiz, 44, told the Domenick Nati Show (via Bloody Elbow). “I think I would do a lot better against Jon Jones than Daniel Cormier, because Cormier is just a shorter guy (with) bigger legs, bigger torso. If I have a camp like I did the last one of 18 weeks, 100 percent.”
While his self confidence is admirable, Jones has already fought — and defeated — longer, rangier opponents who were aggressive, got on the inside, and tried to overpower him. “Bones” just seems to have an answer for everything, both offensively and defensively.
Ortiz (20-12-1) has more pressing concerns at the moment. The former Bellator MMA headliner will make his Combate Americas debut against pro wrestling icon and former PRIDE combatant, Alberto Del Rio, later this year.