In July, the legendary Tito Ortiz was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. This distinguished honor came shortly before his final fight before hanging up the gloves for good: a rubber match against good-natured rival Forrest Griffin.
Before the fight, Ortiz announced that his time as an active fighter had come to an end, and that a bout with Forrest was exactly what he wanted to close his career.
However, Ortiz has shown disapproval with his final appearance. The fight was a decision loss that was a very bitter pill for “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” to swallow. In an interview with BloodyElbow.com, Ortiz talked about the final time he waited for judges to reveal their verdict.
What Forrest did was really disrespectful. What I thought was going to happen was that my hand was going to get raised, and when it didn’t, he just added to that feeling of being bummed out from the loss. It’s like he went to smear it in, and it was a damper on the whole night, because I think my fans deserved more than that.
Not only does he feel like he did enough to earn the decision, but Ortiz has displayed disgust with Forrest Griffin for utilizing testosterone replacement treatment unbeknownst to his opponent.
The BloodyElbow.com interview also revealed Tito’s thoughts on a potential return to the Octagon.
Right now, I’m only four weeks out of neck surgery, and then I have to get the ACL surgery. I still need to recover from that before I start thinking about anything, and if I’ll compete again. You never know, I may come out of retirement. It’s all about how my body recovers.
At 37 years old, it’s unlikely that “The People’s Champion” would be able to get back into any sort of shape that resembles his physical prime, but it is understandable why he would be thinking about coming back to end his legendary career on a high note.
When asked about what fight he dreams of taking, Ortiz wasted little time in naming the man who defeated him in 1999’s Fight of the Year: Frank Shamrock.
What do you think? Would the UFC be smart to book a post-retirement battle between Ortiz and the seemingly-shunned Frank Shamrock? Is the fight possible? If so, is it something that you want to see?
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