In the Ultimate Fighting Championship, if a fighter’s losses begin to pile up, he will most likely be shown the door.
For most fighters, three losses is enough to earn you a pink slip and a spot in the unemployment line.
However, this is not the case for former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz.
Ortiz, clearly past his prime, has not won any of his previous five fights. His last victory came back in October of 2006 when he defeated Ken Shamrock to end their bitter rivalry.
Four of those five fights came against fighters who would wear UFC gold at one point in their career in Rashad Evans, Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, and Forrest Griffin.
Only Liddell has the privilege of saying he finished the Huntington Beach Bad Boy.
Ortiz’s most recent fight was against collegiate wrestler and student of his Matt Hamill at UFC 121.
This was a fight that Ortiz could have won. However, he underestimated Hamill’s wrestling skills, which lead to an underwhelming performance on Ortiz’s part and another unanimous decision loss.
According to ESPN.com, after the fight, Ortiz was asked to call it quits.
“The UFC called me after that fight and said ‘we want you to retire’. I was shocked,” said Ortiz.
“I thought they were kidding around. I took it as they didn’t want to pay me, to give me what I’m worth.”
Ortiz would go on to say that he pleaded with both UFC matchmaker Joe Silva and president Dana White for one more chance to show that he was healthy and could still compete at the highest level.
“I pretty much begged for my job, to show how much I want to fight, but I still have it in my heart to compete, to fight. I told them I want to still fight against the top guys, I want to put on a show.”
As mentioned earlier, Ortiz has battled with some of the top fighters in the light heavyweight division and to his credit, he has not been dominated.
But, a fighter who hasn’t won in almost five years and is still employed with the UFC is unheard of in the fight world.
Ortiz has been one of the main reason’s for the UFC’s growth over the years as a sport, but a legend status can only go so far, just ask Chuck Liddell.
Dana White has stated several times that a loss to Ryan Bader at UFC 132 will spell the end of the line for the 36-year old former champ.
With so much on the line, Ortiz seems ready to go.
“Next month I’ll be fighting one of the top guys in the world again, ranked in the top three, and I’m going to show how much I’m really worth. I’ve put in a great eight weeks in camp for Ryan Bader. I’m healthy and ready to compete.”
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