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UFC 132: Tito Ortiz to Ryan Bader, "I’m Not a Stepping Stone"

Heading into UFC 132, you have to at least think that this could be the last time we see “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” Tito Ortiz, competing inside of the Octagon. You might think to yourself, “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”
Ortiz was once one…

Ortiz was once one of the most feared competitors in the UFC with his wrestling background, take-downs, and some serious ground-n-pound skill. He reigned atop the roster as king of the 205-pound division, successfully defending the light-heavyweight championship five times before losing to Randy Couture in 2003.

Fast-forward to 2011, and the career of Tito Ortiz has taken a complete U-Turn. The former “king” has openly admitted to The Telegraph that he had to beg UFC president Dana White just to keep his job after not being able to notch a single win in his last five fights.

Enter Ryan “Darth” Bader.

The 28-year-old Bader comes from a similar background as Ortiz with his high-caliber wrestling ability. Bader, who has only lost one time, to current champion Jon Jones, is a top-10 light heavyweight that takes great pleasure in having a chance to defeat a legend such as Tito Ortiz.

“I want to get to the top, and it starts with this fight right here, Bader said, according to ESPN. “I can’t wait until July 2nd when I can go out there and beat a legend.”

Bader is full of potential as he shows tremendous power in his hands and has shown off his wrestling ability. He did have trouble getting past the reach of Jon Jones, but he shouldn’t have that problem with Ortiz.

Ortiz himself insists that he will not be used as a stepping stone for Bader to get back at Jon Jones. Ortiz was furious at the thought and has been quoted as saying,

“He can go !#(* himself if he thinks that’s the way it’s going to be.” Ortiz also said, “If Bader thinks he’s in for an easy fight, he’s in for a long trip.”

Ortiz has also been very open about how he thinks Bader will undoubtedly become a champion—but it isn’t going to begin with a win over him. Ortiz stated in an ESPN blog post he wrote today:

“When I was 28 I felt indestructible too, and I was saying a lot of things about what I was going to do, too. But I’m not a stepping stone to anyone. No one has ever had an easy fight against me and he made a mistake in saying that I am a stepping stone. Maybe it was a figure of speech, but even if it was, it was a little disrespectful to a former world champion.”

Bader has said many times though that he is not going to take this fight lightly, pointing out that all of Ortiz’s opponents have been top-tier.

“[Ortiz] was a champion for a reason. He’s still a dangerous opponent and, if you look at his past fights, he’s been fighting top-tier competition. I’m not taking him lightly at all.”

Though supremely confident, Bader is positive that he will defeat the 36-year-old Ortiz and feels that he will be successful at any level against Ortiz.

“I’m gonna mix my take-downs with my stand-up, get him thinking one thing and then come over the top, or vice-versa, Bader said in a pre-fight interview with UFC. If I take him down, I’m gonna try to beat on him, and ground and pound him and TKO him. If the submission’s there…I’m gonna take that also. I want to get back to the top and it starts with this fight right here. I’ve got to go out there and beat Tito Ortiz and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Ortiz countered by saying this in his ESPN blog post today:

“[Bader’s] got heavy, heavy hands and could have finished a lot more people if he used his punches differently. He’s got some good kicks and his take-downs are very good. He’s very powerful too, but my strength is exactly where I want it to be and I will match him for strength, believe me.”

This should be an excellent fight as both fighters are extremely tough competitors with similar skill-sets. Will either fighter be able to use his wrestling ability, or will it remain a stand-up fight?

A win for Bader will most definitely be the end of the road for Tito Ortiz in the UFC. Ortiz is no stranger to this knowledge.

“This is what I do to support myself and my family. I have three sons who I love more than life itself. They are getting the father and all the opportunities that I never had, and my career is making that possible.”

So, on July 2nd, who will be the winner?

Ryan Bader, the hungry 28-year-old up-and-comer who is looking to climb to the very top of the light-heavyweight division, or the 36-year-old veteran, Tito Ortiz, who claims victory and maintains his roster spot in the company he helped to make so popular today?

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Tito Ortiz Not Ready to Retire, Would Have Liked an Easier Opponent

Tito Ortiz faces Ryan Bader at UFC 132 with the stress that his job is on the line. In a three part blog, ESPN presents Ortiz in his own words. Tito reminds us that he.

Tito Ortiz faces Ryan Bader at UFC 132 with the stress that his job is on the line. In a three part blog, ESPN presents Ortiz in his own words. Tito reminds us that he should be respected as a pioneer in the UFC brand and that he is “The Last of the Mohicans“. He also explains that he hasn’t exactly lost all his fights since 2006 (even though his fight record may reflect straigh losses). Ortiz says he broke down those last few fights to Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta and thinks he earned their respect to keep fighting, which is why he was given another shot after his loss to Matt Hamill. He admits he would have liked an easier opponent than Ryan Bader but accepts the top challenges for the top dollar he gets paid.

Excerpts from his blog below:

After Chuck Liddell beat me in December 2006, I took on Rashad Evans, who went on to be a world champion and has lost only once since. And I beat him. It was only a “draw” because I got a point taken off for the one, single time when I grabbed the fence. It was a draw, but I was the better fighter in the cage. I won.

Then I fought Lyoto Machida, a great fighter who also went on to win the world title. I almost caught him in a triangle and tapped him out. He admitted he thought he was going to pass out. I lost and it sucked, but I was competitive.

Next was a rematch with Forrest Griffin, whom I beat earlier in our careers. I didn’t get the decision this time, but a lot of people felt I won two rounds to one. Again, I was more than competitive with a top-5 guy.

My last fight, against Matt Hamill in October, I lost. It was totally my bad; I didn’t prepare for his takedowns because I didn’t think he’d be able to take me down. Real dumb, my bad, and I am still pissed at myself.

But, again, I am not getting dominated. I’m not getting knocked out like Liddell was late in his career. I am still competitive with the very best guys in the division and haven’t taken a step down in competition since the day I lost my belt in 2003.

I think Dana respected that I had the fire to say, “Hell no, I don’t want to retire! I want to fight!” and argued that I should fight on. So they’re giving me this shot against Ryan Bader, another top-5 guy who has only ever lost to [current UFC light heavyweight champion] Jon Jones.

Would I have liked Dana to give me an easier opponent? Sure! But, hey, they pay me top-attraction money, so I get top-attraction guys …

I’m the Last of the Mohicans. Out of the fighters who helped build the UFC from what it was in the 1990s to what it is now in 2011, they’re all gone except for me. Chuck Liddell has retired; Randy Couture has retired. I’m the last man standing, and now everyone thinks Ryan Bader is going to put me down, too.

I don’t want to go. I’m not going to go. I am going to push the pace and win this fight July 2. My back is right against wall. I’m coming out swinging.

UFC 132 goes down Saturday, July 2nd. To place your bets on Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader, click the icon to your favorite online sports book at the top right of our page.

Tito Ortiz Begged UFC For One More Shot After They Suggested Retirement Following UFC 121 Loss to Matt Hamill

(The exact moment Tito’s fighting career jumped the shark.)

It’s amazing that with the UFC’s longtime policy of c utting fighters who lose three fights in a row, that Tito Ortiz, who is 0-3-1 in his past four fights hasn’t been fired yet. One would assume that “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” was being kept around because of his past merits and pay-per-view sales, but apparently his job isn’t as secure as we assumed.

According to Ortiz, the UFC was ready to let him go after his UFC 121 loss to Matt Hamill, but instead urged the former UFC light heavyweight champion to follow in the footsteps of longtime nemesis Chuck Liddell and retire to save them the trouble of sending him to the unemployment line. Tito says he basically begged Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta for one more kick at the cat and they begrudgingly agreed, throwing him in against a young lion in Ryan Bader at UFC 132.

“Dana White and Joe Silva [the UFC’s matchmaker] told me they wanted me to retire, but I knew I still had the fight inside me. 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,” he told the UK Telegraph. I told them I want to still fight against the top guys, I want to put on a show. I’ve just turned 36, but when they put me against the top guys, I think I can still compete.”

(The exact moment Tito’s fighting career jumped the shark.)

Ortiz feels that his record, that hasn’t seen a win added to the win column in nearly five years is deceiving, because he came close to winning against a few of the guys who beat him the past few years.

“Too bad people don’t pay attention to the major details. I’ve competed against the top guys and gone on to win world championships. I’m not getting submitted or knocked out…I’m making little mistakes where I should be submitting guys. I thought I beat Forrest Griffin 2 to 1 the second time. But it was what it was.”

Unfortunately for Ortiz, close only matters when you’re talking horseshoes, curling or hand grenades and this is fighting where constantly telling people you could have won your fights or that you were robbed makes you look like an excuse maker. He recalls that when he lost the fight to Hamill and he received the call to retire from the UFC he figured he would be seeing Ashton Kutcher burst through the door a moment later, but then reality set in that it was no joke.

“The UFC called me after that fight and said ‘we want you to retire’. I was shocked, I thought they were kidding around. I took it as they didn’t want to pay me, to give me what I’m worth. I’m competing against the top guys and I’m not getting dominated. So, next month, I’ll be fighting one of the top guys in the world again, ranked in the top 3, and I’m going to show how much I’m really worth.”

So if he gets manhandled by Bader like he did by Hamill, does that mean the UFC can give him a Costco gift certificate and a can of Xyience?

UFC 132 Fight Card: Ryan Bader vs. Tito Ortiz, an Early Head-to-Toe Breakdown

Tito Ortiz has not won a fight since 2006.I feel like it’s necessary to say that right off the top. Not only has he not won a fight since 2006, but his two most recent victories were over an irrelevant Ken Shamrock. Before the Shamrock fights, his l…

Tito Ortiz has not won a fight since 2006.

I feel like it’s necessary to say that right off the top. Not only has he not won a fight since 2006, but his two most recent victories were over an irrelevant Ken Shamrock. Before the Shamrock fights, his last two victories were split decisions.

Needless to say, there’s really no reason Tito Ortiz should still be fighting in the UFC, but he is. However, Dana White has gone on record saying that if Ortiz loses his next fight against Ryan Bader, he will be cut.

Ryan Bader’s position going into this fight is not as dire as Tito’s, but it is an important fight for him.

Bader is coming off a loss to Jon Jones. Jones dominated the fight and so Bader needs to look impressive against Ortiz to make up for that loss. A loss for Ryan here would be devastating. Ortiz is considered by most to be an irrelevant fighter who is clinging on too long, so if Bader loses, it’s going to look really bad for him.

Both fighters need this victory badly, but only one man can have it.

Let’s see how these two stack up…

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Tito Ortiz and Matt Mitrione’s Fight Broken Up By George Sotiropoulos (VIDEO)

Roy Nelson took it to heart when Zuffa suggested the fighters become more involved in social media, so he used his phone to film a minute of words exchanged between Tito Ortiz and Matt Mitrione at The Fight Summit. We’re not sure if a physical fight would have broken out but Mitrione does get close […]

Roy Nelson took it to heart when Zuffa suggested the fighters become more involved in social media, so he used his phone to film a minute of words exchanged between Tito Ortiz and Matt Mitrione at The Fight Summit. We’re not sure if a physical fight would have broken out but Mitrione does get close enough to Ortiz to excite some kind of violence. At that point, good guy George Sotiropoulos stepped in to help a Zuffa rep break things up. Man, how cool is this? It’s a fight between 2 fighters filmed by a fighter and broken up by a fighter. And it’s all far more entertaining than last night’s TUF episode. Watch out media and production crews, these guys are gunning for our jobs.

The fight stemmed from an interview Mitrione gave to Ariel Helwani during The MMA Hour, saying Ortiz will likely pull out of his fight with Ryan Bader and his wife Jenna Jameson will step in:

“I think it’s awesome… awesome that the UFC is finally doing this. I think that it’s a great promotion that they’re finally letting women fight for their man’s honor. I think that’s a great thing. We all know that Tito’s gonna give some type of excuse and back out, so Jenna’s gonna have to step in and fight [Ryan] Bader for Tito’s honor. Bader, be really careful because it’s a trap fight. We all know that she’s awesome off her back and she’s got phenomenal top control, but remember that she doesn’t choke easily.”

*Props to Fightline for the quote.

10 Fighters Who Are in Danger of Being Cut by the UFC This Summer

Competition is steep at the highest levels of the mixed martial arts game. In the UFC, it is just downright wrong how competitive it is. Job security can come and go as fast as a Machida crane kick to the jaw, no matter who taught it to him. There…

There are fighters in every division and on every card this summer who are in danger of being released by the UFC if they lose, bore or stink the joint out, in their respective matches. Here is a look at the top 10.

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