Pornographic actress Jenna Jameson went after former UFC champion Tito Ortiz via Twitter on Thursday, accusing the MMA legend of a history of drug abuse.
Naturally, Ortiz is refuting his ex-wife’s claims, but he also states that Jameson did more damage to their family than he ever did.
During an in-depth interview with MMA Junkie, Ortiz spoke candidly and at-length about his destructive relationship with the former porn star and Playboy model, stating that Jameson “ruined” his life and his fighting career.
Moreover, Ortiz also says that Jameson refuses to be a part of her children’s lives, leaving him to carry the weight of their feud alone:
I’m just trying to do the right thing and take care of my kids and do what’s right and not hurt my kids’ future. She’s doing that already by going on the Internet and saying that I have drug abuse and I faked drug tests for the UFC and this and that. Whatever. I worked hard. I had been a world champion before I even knew the chick. Since I’ve been with the girl, I’ve tried to help her, and I went outside my box to try and help. She ruined me. What, I won two fights since I was with her and lost seven?
I went through so much drama. All my fans know all the problems I had with her during my fights. It seems like every time that I had a fight coming up, she was getting a DUI or she was on the Internet or she was partying and just kind of ruining me mentally before my fights. I had enough with her, and I walked away, and I took full custody of the kids. For her to say that I keep her from seeing her kids is B.S. I give her the opportunity, and she flakes. She doesn’t show up.
According to TMZ and various other sources, Ortiz and Jameson began a relationship in mid-2006, around the same time that Ortiz was rebuilding his UFC career after back-to-back losses against Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell.
Right after losing the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, Ortiz quickly surged back with a 5-0 winning streak against Patrick Cote, Vitor Belfort, Forrest Griffin and Ken Shamrock (whom Ortiz bested twice in a row).
But from 2007 to 2010—the same time frame that made up the bulk of Ortiz’s domestic partnership with Jameson—”The People’s Champ” never won a single fight, suffering a horrendous 0-4-1 slide that edged him toward temporary retirement.
By the time Ortiz and Jameson had split in mid-2011, Ortiz re-entered the Octagon for UFC 132, facing off against top-ranked Ultimate Fighter veteran Ryan Bader.
Shockingly, Ortiz defeated Bader in an “Upset of the Year” performance, stunning the younger, stronger fighter with powerful strikes and a quick guillotine choke submission—less than two minutes into the first round of their bout.
Ortiz has notably never tested positive for steroids, performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) or any other type of illegal substance, despite a career marked with various injuries, something that he says he endured while supporting his family:
“[Jameson] accused me of drug use,” Ortiz said. “I’ve been in the UFC for 15 years. I’ve taken drug tests at every single one of my fights. I take them months before my fight, a month before my fight, right before my fight, after the fight. She can try to bash me as much as possible, but it is what it is. When someone has a problem like she does, she can’t help herself. I tried for seven years to help her. Right now, it’s just about my children.
“I’m here every single day supporting my kids. She had an opportunity to see her kids, and all of a sudden, she calls the monitor saying she can’t do it today. I don’t understand it. I don’t want to bash her. I work hard for my children. That’s it. I tried to help somebody who doesn’t want to be helped. That’s it. She can sit here and bash me all she wants on social media. Her fans can believe her. But I’m going to court right now.”
Jameson’s tirade on Twitter hasn’t ended at current publishing time, though, with the troubled starlet continuing to post photos of various painkillers and medicines that she claims Ortiz used to cheat several UFC drug testing screens.
So far, no illegal substances have been shown, with the photos showing legal, nonsteroidal drugs such as prescription ibuprofen.
Perhaps the presence of painkillers isn’t terribly surprisingly, though, since Ortiz has been competing in MMA since May 1997.
For her part, Jameson’s own life has been highlighted by heavy substance abuse and criminal offenses.
Aside from three misdemeanor counts in July 2012 including a DUI arrest (via Huffington Post), Jameson has recently been charged with battery and assault as recently as this past April (via The Daily Mail) for beating her assistant with a “brass knuckle” iPhone case.
Ortiz continues to maintain none of Jameson’s accusations are true, with the two currently engaged in a custody battle over their twin four-year-old sons, Jesse and Journey—and there doesn’t seem to be any timetable for the end of their legal struggle.
McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania and The L.A. Times.
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