Since getting into politics, Tito Ortiz has been sucked into several scandals. But this one could result in trouble with the law.
The extra scrutiny former UFC champion turned political player Tito Ortiz has received since being elected mayor pro-tem of Huntington Beach hasn’t exactly been helping his reputation.
Those following the sport have known for decades that Tito is verbally dyslexic at best and downright moronic at worst. But his complete cluelessness is being elevated to a national level lately after he was elected to public office in the November 2020 election with a whopping 34,901 votes, more than any other city councilor in the region.
Since being elected, Tito has faced a whole lot of hate from people who aren’t a fan of his anti-mask anti-lockdown stance, which goes along with a good dose of Trump-supporting rhetoric and a big ol dash of Q-Anon related quackery.
All of that led the the city council attempting to oust him in January, but Ortiz survived the coup to continue being a thorn in the side of city officials hoping to meet in person without an unmasked person breathing all up in their chamber.
Huntington Beach Mayor Pro Tem Tito Ortiz responds to the unemployment controversy pic.twitter.com/6JeJfsy0Tb
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) May 6, 2021
Good for Tito surviving that, but now he faces a tougher challenge: someone discovered he recently filed for unemployment in February of 2021 … despite still being employed by the city of Huntington Beach. Council members receive a paycheck of $800 every two weeks. Not much to someone like Ortiz, but still enough to not qualify for unemployment.
https://t.co/3maZzVNzWE pic.twitter.com/ZLkTMYp39K
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) May 4, 2021
“It’s my understanding that city council members are not eligible for unemployment, particularly when they are receiving their full salary,” Huntington Beach mayor Kim Carr told NBC LA.
Ortiz’s non-political endeavors include a gym and his clothing company, Punishment Athletics. His most recent fight purse came via a Golden Boy Promotions fight with Chuck Liddell in November of 2018 that saw Ortiz KO Liddell in the first round. Ortiz earned a disclosed $200,000 for the fight plus undisclosed PPV bonuses.