Former UFC light heavyweight titleholder turned local politician, Tito ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ Ortiz has reacted to recent claims that he was delivering poisonous food to the less fortunate in his hometown over the holiday season.
A member of the Huntington Beach city council, hometown favourite, Ortiz was elected to office during a November election in the Californian city.
The 45-year-old professional mixed martial arts veteran recently took to the streets to deliver food packages to members of the public in Huntington Beach, with a rather unsavoury interaction with a member of the public ultimately requiring police intervention.
A mask-less Ortiz who attended the charity event detailed how a person using a loudspeaker had claimed that he was handing out food which was poisonous during the event.
“People are going ‘What’s going on?’ and there’s a guy with a loudspeaker, telling people in Spanish that I’m poisoning them,” Ortiz said on his official social media. “I’m trying to give them poison food. Don’t accept food from me. All my fans know how much I give back during Christmas time and for him to do that is embarrassing.“
A UFC Hall of Fame inductee back in 2012 as part of the ‘pioneer wing’, Ortiz who holds a professional mixed martial arts record of 21-12 most recently featured at Combate Americas 51 — headlining in a December 2019 submission win over Alberto El Patron, also known as Alberto Del Rio.
Ortiz claimed the undisputed UFC light heavyweight championship back at UFC 25 in April 2000 with a unanimous decision win over the dangerous, Wanderlei Silva — before scoring five straight successful title defences.
Riding a three-fight rise, Ortiz holds a rear-naked choke win over former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger, Chael Sonnen, before rounding out his trilogy with fellow former titleholder, Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell at an Oscar De La Hoya promoted Golden Boy Promotion’s mixed martial arts event back in November of 2018. With his first-round knockout win, Ortiz salvaged his lone victory against the renowned striker over three meetings.