Nov-19-2009

Tito Ortiz’ New Beginning

Tito Ortiz Fighter T-shirt - Orange Related Products UFC 106 Official Event Program UFC 106: Ortiz v. Griffin 2 DVD Forrest Griffin UFC 106 Walkout T-shirt UFC 106 Official Event Poster Related News James Te Huna: Last pick becomes a wanted man UFC 109 Musings Better Late Than Never, as Couture Submits Coleman in UFC 109 Main Chael Storm – Sonnen Earns Shot at The Belt Danzig’s Back with A Win; Davis Impressive in Debut Headlines James Te Huna: Last pick becomes a wanted man UFC 109 Musings Better Late Than Never, as Couture Submits Coleman in UFC 109 Main Chael Storm – Sonnen Earns Shot at The Belt Danzig’s Back with A Win; Davis Impressive in Debut

By Thomas Gerbasi

The UFC 59 fight poster read “Reality Check”, and for five minutes, it certainly was for Forrest Griffin, who was battered for much of the opening stanza of his 2006 bout on the card by a man who had reigned over the light heavyweight division longer than anyone else in UFC history, Tito Ortiz.

And though Ortiz no longer wore the belt around his waist, he had beaten Vitor Belfort and Patrick Cote in his two previous fights before a year long layoff and was looking at another run at the 205-pound title then held by Chuck Liddell. First he had to get past Griffin, the first winner of The Ultimate Fighter reality show, and a crowd favorite in Ortiz’s own Southern California backyard, and he came out guns blazing in order to do so.

“The first round, I think I was just fighting on emotions, how I always do,” said Ortiz. “When you’re fighting with emotion and aggression, the pain kinda gets put out a bit.”

For Ortiz, the pain centered on a bad knee and worse, a bad back – specifically three bulging discs that had been bothering him, by his estimation, as far back as his 2003 bout with Randy Couture. But for five minutes, he was ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’, and Griffin bore the brunt of his fury. Then the bell rang and something funny happened – Griffin made it through the round.

“I had kinda thrown everything at him,” said Ortiz. “I wasn’t in the greatest shape so that’s why I was trying to finish him so fast. And when the round was over, my energy got sucked down a little bit, I had the bulging discs in my back and a partial tear in my MCL and ACL, so I was pretty bad off.”

He also had two more rounds to fight against a newly energized foe who figured that he had taken Ortiz’ best and survived, so now it was his turn. For the next 10 minutes, it was Griffin who pushed the pace, and when it was over, the winner was anybody’s guess, but when the verdict was read, it was a split decision for Ortiz.

“I survived the fight,” he said. “I was in survival mode and I ended up pulling off the split decision.”

Looking back on the fight, Ortiz, now 34, simply says, “Times change.”

He’s right, and certainly both he and Griffin have gone through plenty of changes in and out of the Octagon as they approach their rematch this Saturday in the main event of UFC 106. Griffin has won and lost the UFC light heavyweight crown, got married, and is currently looking to bounce back from an August loss to Anderson Silva.

Ortiz’s story is even more involved.

Following the Griffin fight, Ortiz scored back-to-back first round stoppages of Ken Shamrock, was halted himself in his late 2006 Super Fight rematch with Chuck Liddell, and then battled to a draw with Rashad Evans in 2007 and lost a decision to Lyoto Machida. Add in his bitter feud with UFC President Dana White, the reconciliation with White, a new UFC contract, and the arrival of twins for him and his girlfriend, Jenna Jameson, and that’s quite a three years for anyone. But the biggest development is without question the spinal fusion surgery he underwent in October of 2008. And now that he’s able to train and fight without pain in his back, he promises to return to championship form.

“I’ve gotten a little better, a little stronger, and it feels nice not to have the injuries in my knee and my back, so I’ll be a little faster too,” said Ortiz, who despite his 18 month absence, has not lost any of his appeal to fight fans. Case in point was the UFC Fight Club Q&A session with fans in Dallas before UFC 103, where Ortiz was mobbed afterwards for autographs and pictures and stayed until everyone got their time with him. In other words, when it comes to dealing with the public and the media, Ortiz ‘gets it.’

“There are a lot of people who live their lives through fighters and a lot of fighters just care about fighting and getting paid,” he said. “They don’t want to sign autographs, take pictures, or do interviews. That’s our job. I’m trying to spread the word of MMA and what it’s really about. It’s not some thugs getting into a cage and trying to kill each other. We’re trained athletes, educated, smart, and we understand the business side of it – at least some of us do. I’ve understood that from Day One, and I think that’s why the fanbase that I have is as big as it is – it’s because I understood the extra stuff and I want to not only be an inspiration, but a role model to a lot of kids so I can let them know that through hard work and dedication, they can achieve anything.”

Ortiz has plenty of aspirations of his own still left though, and the road to getting a championship belt around his waist again begins with Griffin, who replaced Hall of Famer Mark Coleman in the UFC 106 co-main event. Then, when the original headliner, heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, fell ill and saw his title defense against Shane Carwin pulled from the card, Ortiz-Griffin became the main event. You could call it fate that after all the ups and downs, Ortiz is back in a spot many thought they’d never see him in again – headlining a UFC event.

“It just seems like everything happens for a reason,” he said. “It went from me fighting Coleman and being the co-main event to Lesnar, and the light was all on him. Coleman gets hurt, the UFC says, ‘you’re fighting Forrest,’ and all of a sudden I’m fighting a ranked fighter. Then Brock Lesnar gets sick, and I’m automatically the main event. So I’m back where I’ve been before and where it’s comfortable for me. I hope Forrest thinks I’m getting older, I hope he thinks I’m worse than I was before, because I’m gonna give him a big surprise. My last three fights, I hung in with the best. I thought I beat Rashad, which was a draw. I went to a decision with Machida and almost caught him with a triangle at the end of the fight, and I still think I’m at the top of the light heavyweight division. So beating Forrest will keep me in that position.”

And following Griffin’s loss to Silva at UFC 101 in Philadelphia and his 2008 defeat against Rashad Evans, Ortiz wonders if his opponent’s head is where it should be leading up to this pivotal bout.

“I really think the losses that he’s had will take effect,” said Ortiz. “I know what I want to do in the future – I want to be a world champion again. Forrest doesn’t want that, he just wants to fight. I know he just got married, he wants to start a family, and maybe fighting is the second thing he wants to do. I want to be a world champion again, so for me to walk through Forrest Griffin is something I have to do to get there.”

Ortiz is also planning on giving Griffin a rude welcome when the bell rings, not only to remind him of the Silva bout, but of the first round of their match three years ago. It’s clear that Tito Ortiz has his swagger back, and he’s brought it with him to Las Vegas.

“I fight with aggression, I fight with ferocity, and he’s gonna feel it,” he said. “You saw it in the first fight and I’m gonna put it on him and see if he can take the punches and the elbows. I watched all his fights since then and he kicks a lot; I hope he does kick because every time he does, I’m taking him down, no matter what. We’ll see if he can handle the ground and pound. He’ll be in complete survival mode for three rounds, and I’ll be ready for three rounds.”