Filed under: UFC, NewsTORONTO — When you get to be a fighter of Tito Ortiz’s age and stature, there’s really no escaping these kinds of questions. Not for long, anyway. People see you fighting into your mid-30s with mixed success and they want to know…
TORONTO — When you get to be a fighter of Tito Ortiz‘s age and stature, there’s really no escaping these kinds of questions. Not for long, anyway. People see you fighting into your mid-30s with mixed success and they want to know, how long can he keep this up? Perhaps what they really want to know is, how long does he think he can keep this up?
In other words, it’s the kind of question where you don’t necessarily expect an honest or even realistic answer. Maybe that’s why Ortiz’s response at Wednesday’s UFC 140 open workouts was so surprising.
“May 30, 2012,” he told reporters. At first it sounded like a joke. As if he was getting intentionally overly specific to mock the idea that something like this could be planned. After all, May 30 is a Wednesday. Is he going to end his career with a sparring session?
Then he kept going, and it became clear: Tito is serious about this.
“That’ll be 15 years,” Ortiz said of the May 30th mark. “15 years has been my goal. I make it to 15 years, that’d be my second fight, finishing this contract, maybe it’s time to hang up the gloves, walk away while I’m still healthy. I don’t want to get any more surgeries. I have three boys. I have a family to take care of. I’ve made enough money to take care of my family now.”
And when you think about it, that’s the reasonable response. If anything, maybe it’s too reasonable. After some of his contemporaries have been dragged kicking and screaming from the sport, who would have guessed that Ortiz would be the level-headed one to set a date? Who would have guessed that Ortiz would be the one to realize about himself exactly what others have said of guys like Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva?
“What else do I got to prove?” Ortiz said. “I don’t have to prove anything else in this MMA world.”
But then, it’s one thing to set a date, and another thing entirely to keep it. Fighters think retirement sounds difficult in theory, but it’s nothing compared to the real thing. Many a pugilist has hung up the gloves, only to take them down and put them back on when the rocking chair didn’t prove to be as satisfying as they thought.
Ortiz says the date is “set in stone in my own mind,” and you have to admit he has some good reasons. The surgeries have piled up lately, his neck is an almost constant concern, and there’s the very real chance that he might stick around too long and do something to himself that cannot be undone. As he explained, he’d like to be able to play catch with his boys somewhere down the line, rather than grinding every last ounce of usefulness out of his body in pursuit of a paycheck he doesn’t really need at this point.
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He doesn’t expect retirement to come easy, he said, “but I don’t want to disrespect the sport. I don’t want to stay over my welcome. I want to make sure I walk away healthy. It’s a family decision for me.”
He even has an idea of how he’d like to go out between now and May 30 of next year, regardless of how Saturday night’s fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira turns out.
“My last fight I would love to be against Forrest [Griffin],” he said. “I think I deserve that. I beat him the first time. The second time we fought, I beat him and they gave it to him. Let’s do three of a kind.”
What, you thought just because he was leaving, he was going to stop being “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy”? He might have the self-awareness to see for himself when the ride is over, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to start acting like the sport’s elder statesman just yet.
But you have to give him credit — or at least you will if actually sticks to his own plan. So many of his peers haven’t been able to recognize the end for what it is, even when it’s staring them in the face. Ortiz could go on, but that doesn’t mean he has to. Not after the time he’s put in, and the toll it’s already taken on him.
“15 years is a long time,” he said. “To get up and do what I do every single day for 15 years, it’s hard.”
After that long, waking up on the morning of May 31 and figuring out what to do next might not be so easy either.
Filed under: UFCWill Jon Jones continue his domination of the light heavyweight division, or will Lyoto Machida get the belt back? Can Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira avenge his loss to Frank Mir? Will Tito Ortiz continue his surprising career resurgence, or …
We’ll answer those questions and more as we predict the winners at UFC 140.
What: UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida
When: Saturday, the Facebook stream begins at 5:45 PM ET, the Ion televised card starts at 7 and the pay-per-view starts at 9.
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto
Predictions on the five pay-per-view fights below.
Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida With a win, Jones would put a bow on what may have been the best year any fighter has ever had in the UFC: Jones has already destroyed Ryan Bader, Shogun Rua and Rampage Jackson in 2011, and adding Lyoto Machida to that list would be an incredible feat.
Machida, however, may be the light heavyweight whose style is the trickiest for Jones to handle. Machida is so elusive that Jones is going to have a hard time getting to him even with his decided reach advantage, and Machida is such a good counter-striker that Jones is going to have to be careful not to get too fancy. Machida has frustrated a lot of great fighters, and it wouldn’t shock me to see him win a decision.
But Jones has been so dominant of late that I simply can’t pick against him. If Jones is able to take Machida down he should be able to use his superior strength to bully him on the ground, and even if the fight remains standing, Jones is eventually going to tag Machida the way Shogun Rua did. Of all the light heavyweights in the world, I give Machida the best chance of beating Jones. But right now I’d pick Jones over anyone. Pick: Jones
Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Mir has made no secret that he’s a little annoyed that he even has to give Nogueira a rematch, three years after Mir won by TKO. And Mir really doesn’t like the fact that Nogueira and his supporters have suggested that an illness prior to the last fight is the reason Nogueira won.
This time around there should be no excuses, and the fight should go more or less the way the last one did: Mir will get the better of Nogueira standing, and he won’t even try to engage Nogueira on the ground. Nogueira did earn a solid win over Brendan Schaub in August, but to the extent that these two have changed since the last time they fought, I think Mir has become bigger and stronger while Nogueira has become older and slower. Pick: Mir
Tito Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogério Nogueira A year ago Ortiz was largely written off as washed up, but he deserves a lot of credit for persevering: He beat Ryan Bader soundly and then fought a good fight in a losing effort against Rashad Evans. And the mere fact that Ortiz is now preparing to fight for the third time in less than six months, after fighting only once a year every year from 2007 to 2010, says a lot about how much healthier he is after his recovery from back surgery.
Nogueira, on the other hand, is on a two-fight losing streak and hasn’t had a really strong performance since he TKO’d Luiz Cane more than two years ago. If either one of these guys has looked washed up recently, it’s Little Nog.
However, in this particular matchup Nogueira’s boxing is going to carry the day: Nogueira should be able to keep Ortiz at range and batter him with punches, and eventually Nogueira will wear Ortiz down enough to win by TKO. Pick: Nogueira
Claude Patrick vs. Brian Ebersole Patrick is 3-0 since signing with the UFC lat year, and if he can win this one he’ll start to make some noise in the welterweight division. But Ebersole, who’s been fighting for 11 years, is much more experienced than Patrick and has a more versatile ground game, and should be able to win a decision. Pick: Ebersole
Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung My pick for fight of the night, Hominick vs. Jung has all the makings to be one of those fights that makes you lean forward, clench your fists and stare in awe of the intensity of the action. Hominick will have the hometown crowd on his side in Toronto, just as he did the last time he fought, when he lost to Jose Aldo at UFC 129, but in that fight it was a Rocky-like crowd, cheering him because he simply wouldn’t quit no matter how much punishment he took. In this fight, Hominick will be the better striker in the cage, and he should be able to out-land Jung and win convincingly. Pick: Hominick
Certified hottie Corissa Furr of Fighting Famous was recently able to score an interview with the mixed martial artist formerly known as “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” Tito Ortiz, in the midst of training for his upcoming bout with Antonio Rogerio Nogueria at UFC 140. Ortiz was quick to correct Furr when introduced as such, claiming to have taken on a more positive, Sanchezian outlook on life, in order to show that “through hard work and dedication you can achieve anything in this life.” Though this kind of mentality can do wonders for the soul, be wary Tito, it can reek havoc on one’s appearance.
Tito goes on to state that he “doesn’t even talk trash to fighters anymore.” Some of you will likely find yourself scratching your head after reading and/or hearing this statement, and rightfully so, considering the shit storm of verbal warfare Ortiz came at Rashad Evans with before his last fight in the UFC. But that was like, 4 months ago, you guys. Time has a way of changing people. So while you’re at it Tito, go ahead check the whole flinch test at the weigh-ins off that list of as well.
We’ll try and decipher the enigma-wrapped-riddle that is Ortiz’s syntax after the jump.
Certified hottie Corissa Furr of Fighting Famous was recently able to score an interview with the mixed martial artist formerly known as “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” Tito Ortiz, in the midst of training for his upcoming bout with Antonio Rogerio Nogueria at UFC 140. Ortiz was quick to correct Furr when introduced as such, claiming to have taken on a more positive, Sanchezian outlook on life, in order to show that “through hard work and dedication you can achieve anything in this life.” Though this kind of mentality can do wonders for the soul, be wary Tito, it can reek havoc on one’s appearance.
Tito goes on to state that he “doesn’t even talk trash to fighters anymore.” Some of you will likely find yourself scratching your head after reading and/or hearing this statement, and rightfully so, considering the shit storm of verbal warfare Ortiz came at Rashad Evans with before his last fight in the UFC. But that was like, 4 months ago, you guys. Time has a way of changing people. So while you’re at it Tito, go ahead check the whole flinch test at the weigh-ins off that list of as well.
Some highlights:
On the UFC on FOX deal: “Just to see that Dana White and Lorenzo Fertita have worked so hard to get UFC where it is, giving us fighters an opportunity to fight on a main stage as Fox…and Fox picking us up, I’m very thankful.” (Oh, how the tides have turned.)
On his positive attitude: “I took a lot from my own book, I’ve been through so much hard stuff through my life and I’ve kind of seen the positive note of, ‘you surround yourself with great people and positive people and great things turn out from that,’ and I think I learned that on myself.”
On fighting three times in a year: “I’ve gone through major surgeries [and] been able to get back in the gym and push myself in training. I’m excited. I just want to get in the cage again. After fighting Ryan Bader and beating him and then coming in against Rashad *looks to camera* who had 14 months to prepare for it, and it shows why he’s the number one contender. I put on a great fight. I almost caught him in a submission, he defended it well, and now I’m fighting little Nog…my hands are full but I plan on getting my hands raised.”
On fighting in front of Canadians for the first time: “I heard its crazy in Toronto and I can’t wait for it. I have great support through my Canadian fans who go to *website plug* *clothing company plug*…and I’m very thankful for my Canadian fans, so they get to see me live in Toronto.”
On Pride vs. UFC and fighting Shogun: “Now that we’re all together, I think it don’t matter about the past, it’s all about the future of fighting the best. Little Nog is one of the best, Shogun IS one of the best…Time will come for everything, I think, and I think right now it’s just December 10th.”
On possibly becoming “Comeback Fighter of the Year”: “I don’t know, I think beating Bader already showed I was the comeback fighter of the year. I never went anywhere, I just got through some major surgeries and any other athlete would have quit…I got Submission of the Night against Ryan Bader, I got Fight of the Night against Rashad Evans, let’s try to get knockout of the night against little Nog.”
Once in a while, a singular talent will arise and utterly dominate this sport. He comes out of nowhere, immediately starts whipping top-ranked fighters with years’ more experience, and leaves both fans and his opponents in awe of his abilities. Jon Jones is that guy right now. And nobody knows how fleeting that moment is better than Lyoto Machida, whose invincible aura (and “era“) went up in smoke as quickly as it arrived.
That’s what gives Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida such a great storyline for their meeting on December 10th in Toronto. Besides Machida’s unorthodox style, which could be an effective counter to Bones’s own funky attacks, the Dragon stands as a living reminder that nobody is invincible — seriously, not even Jon Jones — and defeat is simply a matter of running into the wrong guy on the wrong night.
Once in a while, a singular talent will arise and utterly dominate this sport. He comes out of nowhere, immediately starts whipping top-ranked fighters with years’ more experience, and leaves both fans and his opponents in awe of his abilities. Jon Jones is that guy right now. And nobody knows how fleeting that moment is better than Lyoto Machida, whose invincible aura (and “era“) went up in smoke as quickly as it arrived.
That’s what gives Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida such a great storyline for their meeting on December 10th in Toronto. Besides Machida’s unorthodox style, which could be an effective counter to Bones’s own funky attacks, the Dragon stands as a living reminder that nobody is invincible — seriously, not even Jon Jones — and defeat is simply a matter of running into the wrong guy on the wrong night.
Supporting the light-heavyweight title fight at UFC 140 are two matches featuring former UFC champions from America (Frank Mir and Tito Ortiz) trying to hold the line against a pair of battle-weathered Brazilian twins who made their names halfway around the world. It’ll be the second meeting between Mir and Minotauro, and aside from the struggling Lil’ Nog, the other three fighters have shown brief flashes in recent fights that their glory days might not be over yet. So who will add another highlight to their legendary resumes, and who will continue to fade back into history?
Semi-related, below: Jon Jones gets in some cross-gender sparring with Team Jackson camp-mate Holly Holm, the prettier half of the third toughest couple in MMA.
Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin is just coming off successful shoulder surgery, but now comes the hard part, as he told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour.
Franklin, who said he was told that he wouldn’t even be able to run for three more weeks, is now wondering how he’s going to cope with the limited physical activity.
“I had surgery six days ago, and it’s already driving me crazy,” he said, adding that, at least for the moment, “rehab is my job.”
But Franklin, who said he’s hoping to return in late May or June of 2012, seems a tad unsure about where he fits in with the current UFC. The organization hasn’t seemed anxious to see him return to middleweight, and yet at 205 pounds he finds himself undersized on fight night, he told Helwani.
“If you look at the pictures of Forrest [Griffin] and I squaring off at the weigh-ins, we look almost the same size. And then if you look at the two of us squaring off in the middle of the Octagon, pre-fight, he outweighed me by probably about 25 pounds, and I’m going to run into this type of problem in the weight class. It’s just, the weight class is full of big guys.”
And yet, Franklin has continued to fight wherever the UFC wants him because, as he explained, “I’ve been quote-unquote the company man. There have been magazine articles written about me calling me that. …I’ve always been the guy that has taken whatever fight they’ve asked me to take.”
According to Franklin, he found out exactly three weeks before his scheduled fight with Nogueira that the Brazilian was injured and the UFC wanted to move Gustafsson up to replace him.
“At the time I was like, well who is this guy? I don’t know. So my manager, Monte Cox, said Joe Silva’s going to send you over some tapes so you can at least see this guy and check it out. I said all right.”
The following afternoon, Franklin said, he told his manager he’d take the fight, even though “there was nothing really appealing about the fight, and I basically told my manager that.”
But, due to what Franklin described as a “communication breakdown” brought on by the stress of an injury-riddled fight card, the UFC opted instead to pull Franklin from the event altogether. By itself, it might not have been so bad, but Franklin was irked by the implication that he’d ducked a fighter like Gustafsson, he said.
“I listened to the interview that you did with Dana, and was a bit disappointed…I’ll be honest with you, I was a bit disappointed listening to that, because the tone of the interview between you and Dana almost sounded like that. I thought, first of all, I’ve never ducked any other opponent in my life.”
In fact, Franklin said, the only time he’s ever said no to the UFC was when he was asked to fight Reese Andy, who had recently been a training partner of his. Aside from that, he said, he always agreed to whatever the UFC offered, and at whatever weight, which is why “for that kind of stuff to come out and to question, I guess, my motives or my character or whatever, it was very upsetting to me.”
Following the UFC 133 incident, Franklin said he sat down with UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta to discuss the fallout from the situation and his feelings on White’s comments.
“That feeling of family, it’s dissipated a little bit,” Franklin said. “It’s not the same as it used to be when I first starting fighting for the UFC, and I basically told Lorenzo that. I said, ‘Hey, I feel like sometimes you guys don’t really have my back,’ and he told me that they’d been really busy with the FOX deal and all that kind of stuff.”
After that conversation, Franklin said, he and the UFC “were all on the same page,” and there was even talk of a bout with Tito Ortiz in November, which Franklin said he was “definitely open to and interested in.”
Unfortunately, his shoulder surgery scuttled those hopes, leaving him focused only on rehab and getting back to fighting shape for now. As for the weight class he’ll compete in and the opponent he might face when he returns, Franklin said he’s content to leave that up to the UFC.
“If the UFC said something to me about fighting at middleweight again, I’d be great with that,” he said, though he clarified that he’s not about to request anything specific along those lines. “…If they’re not going to let me work toward a title, in the meantime as long as I can just work at putting on exciting fights and that stuff, then I’m good with doing that.”
Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin is just coming off successful shoulder surgery, but now comes the hard part, as he told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour.
Franklin, who said he was told that he wouldn’t even be able to run for three more weeks, is now wondering how he’s going to cope with the limited physical activity.
“I had surgery six days ago, and it’s already driving me crazy,” he said, adding that, at least for the moment, “rehab is my job.”
But Franklin, who said he’s hoping to return in late May or June of 2012, seems a tad unsure about where he fits in with the current UFC. The organization hasn’t seemed anxious to see him return to middleweight, and yet at 205 pounds he finds himself undersized on fight night, he told Helwani.
“If you look at the pictures of Forrest [Griffin] and I squaring off at the weigh-ins, we look almost the same size. And then if you look at the two of us squaring off in the middle of the Octagon, pre-fight, he outweighed me by probably about 25 pounds, and I’m going to run into this type of problem in the weight class. It’s just, the weight class is full of big guys.”
And yet, Franklin has continued to fight wherever the UFC wants him because, as he explained, “I’ve been quote-unquote the company man. There have been magazine articles written about me calling me that. …I’ve always been the guy that has taken whatever fight they’ve asked me to take.”
According to Franklin, he found out exactly three weeks before his scheduled fight with Nogueira that the Brazilian was injured and the UFC wanted to move Gustafsson up to replace him.
“At the time I was like, well who is this guy? I don’t know. So my manager, Monte Cox, said Joe Silva’s going to send you over some tapes so you can at least see this guy and check it out. I said all right.”
The following afternoon, Franklin said, he told his manager he’d take the fight, even though “there was nothing really appealing about the fight, and I basically told my manager that.”
But, due to what Franklin described as a “communication breakdown” brought on by the stress of an injury-riddled fight card, the UFC opted instead to pull Franklin from the event altogether. By itself, it might not have been so bad, but Franklin was irked by the implication that he’d ducked a fighter like Gustafsson, he said.
“I listened to the interview that you did with Dana, and was a bit disappointed…I’ll be honest with you, I was a bit disappointed listening to that, because the tone of the interview between you and Dana almost sounded like that. I thought, first of all, I’ve never ducked any other opponent in my life.”
In fact, Franklin said, the only time he’s ever said no to the UFC was when he was asked to fight Reese Andy, who had recently been a training partner of his. Aside from that, he said, he always agreed to whatever the UFC offered, and at whatever weight, which is why “for that kind of stuff to come out and to question, I guess, my motives or my character or whatever, it was very upsetting to me.”
Following the UFC 133 incident, Franklin said he sat down with UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta to discuss the fallout from the situation and his feelings on White’s comments.
“That feeling of family, it’s dissipated a little bit,” Franklin said. “It’s not the same as it used to be when I first starting fighting for the UFC, and I basically told Lorenzo that. I said, ‘Hey, I feel like sometimes you guys don’t really have my back,’ and he told me that they’d been really busy with the FOX deal and all that kind of stuff.”
After that conversation, Franklin said, he and the UFC “were all on the same page,” and there was even talk of a bout with Tito Ortiz in November, which Franklin said he was “definitely open to and interested in.”
Unfortunately, his shoulder surgery scuttled those hopes, leaving him focused only on rehab and getting back to fighting shape for now. As for the weight class he’ll compete in and the opponent he might face when he returns, Franklin said he’s content to leave that up to the UFC.
“If the UFC said something to me about fighting at middleweight again, I’d be great with that,” he said, though he clarified that he’s not about to request anything specific along those lines. “…If they’re not going to let me work toward a title, in the meantime as long as I can just work at putting on exciting fights and that stuff, then I’m good with doing that.”
You’re telling me that Ortiz found a hat that fits him? Nice try, photoshop.
The UFC has announced that a light-heavyweight fight between Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has been added to UFC 140. This marks the second time that the two have agreed to fight each other. Originally, the two were supposed to meet in the main event of March’s UFC Fight Night. However, Tito Ortiz withdrew from the fight due to a concussion, and was replaced by Phil Davis.
Both fighters are in serious need of a victory if they want to stay relevant in the UFC. While Ortiz managed to pull off an upset victory over Ryan Bader at UFC 132, he went on to get thoroughly dominated by Rashad Evans (save for a guillotine attempt in the second round) at UFC 133. Tito Ortiz is now 1-5-1 in his last seven fights. Likewise, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is riding a two fight losing streak of his own. After losing to Ryan Bader at UFC 119, Nogueira was outclassed by Phil Davis during March’s UFC Fight Night. If we’re not counting his controversial victory over Jason Brilz at UFC 114, Nogueira hasn’t won since punching out Luiz Cane at UFC 106 in November 2009.
Fight card for UFC 140 after the jump.
You’re telling me that Ortiz found a hat that fits him? Nice try, photoshop.
The UFC has announced that a light-heavyweight fight between Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has been added to UFC 140. This marks the second time that the two have agreed to fight each other. Originally, the two were supposed to meet in the main event of March’s UFC Fight Night. However, Tito Ortiz withdrew from the fight due to a concussion, and was replaced by Phil Davis.
Both fighters are in serious need of a victory if they want to stay relevant in the UFC. While Ortiz managed to pull off an upset victory over Ryan Bader at UFC 132, he went on to get thoroughly dominated by Rashad Evans (save for a guillotine attempt in the second round) at UFC 133. Tito Ortiz is now 1-5-1 in his last seven fights. Likewise, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is riding a two fight losing streak of his own. After losing to Ryan Bader at UFC 119, Nogueira was outclassed by Phil Davis during March’s UFC Fight Night. If we’re not counting his controversial victory over Jason Brilz at UFC 114, Nogueira hasn’t won since punching out Luiz Cane at UFC 106 in November 2009.
TORONTO — When you get to be a fighter of Tito Ortiz‘s age and stature, there’s really no escaping these kinds of questions. Not for long, anyway. People see you fighting into your mid-30s with mixed success and they want to know, how long can he keep this up? Perhaps what they really want to know is, how long does he think he can keep this up?
Will 
Former 