By Thomas Gerbasi

 

Tito Ortiz is a flashy fighter. Maybe not in the ring, where he practices a blue collar form of ground and pound that kept him at the top of the UFC’s light heavyweight division from 2000 to 2003, but definitely outside of it, where the fans line up for autographs and pictures, and the media clamors for interviews on any number of topics. In a word, Ortiz has the “it” factor that determines whether a fighter languishes in obscurity or becomes a bonafide star.

 

But just like any other success story, the road to the top begins far away from the bright lights - in dank gyms and poorly lit basements. It’s where Ortiz got his start in mixed martial arts - not training with elite coaches, but by studying videotapes for any technique he could incorporate into his own game or take for his own. In the Blues, they call it woodshedding; in MMA, it’s called paying your dues.

 

“I think it just comes down to your hard work,” said Ortiz, explaining his success. “That’s the biggest thing. I had videotapes to watch of other fighters and that was my coaching. I always practiced and I worked hard and I always had a passion and a desire for what I did – and that was fighting.”

 

And for all the flash – the bleached hair, the bold statements, the bad boy image – when it came down to getting ready for fights, Ortiz put in the hours, pushing himself beyond his physical limits. I recall Ortiz working with his then-boxing coach Don House in a hotel ballroom before a card he wasn’t even fighting on, pounding the mitts and doing torturous conditioning drills that left him exhausted at the bell ending the rounds. ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ would then take a sip of water, stagger over to a nearby trash can and throw up, and wave House in for the next round.

 

Stuff like that doesn’t get too much ink, but it shows up on fight night, and it’s the type of work ethic Ortiz is planning on imparting to the UFC hopefuls he will coach on Season Three of The Ultimate Fighter.

 

“They’re gonna learn a lot, they’re gonna learn the Tito Ortiz style,” said Ortiz. “But they’re also gonna be training with me. I’m not just gonna be the coach showing them how to do it; I’m gonna be the coach doing it with them.”

 

And Ortiz sounds genuinely excited about this new role, which will be book-ended by tentative fights against Forrest Griffin in April and Ken Shamrock at season’s end.

 

“I’ve been a high school wrestling coach for three years when I was in junior college and I know how to coach kids and push them,” he said. “I was part of Team Punishment and I was one of the coaches for it. I helped the guys and I know what it takes to win in the Octagon – I know the different types of submissions to defend, how to use elbows, how to use knees on the feet, striking positions, clinches. There are a lot of things that I’ve worked on that I bring to the table as a coach. It’s kinda scary because they’re gonna be a lot better than me. (Laughs) They’re gonna know all my secrets, but I’ll give them all my secrets.”

 

It’s a different Tito Ortiz than the one who ruled the Octagon a couple of years ago. Back to back losses to Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell knocked him a few rungs down the pound for pound ladder, and comeback wins over Patrick Cote and Vitor Belfort were followed by a contentious break with the UFC that took almost nine months to repair.

 

But as he says, “If you never felt a loss then you never know what it felt like to win,” so after a period in MMA limbo, he’s back – and ready to go.

 

“More than anything, what it comes down to is I just want to get back in the Octagon,” he said. “I’m 30 years old, I’m still in my prime, and I’ve got a lot of fights ahead me.”

 

First up is Griffin.

 

“He’s a tough opponent,” said Ortiz of the popular light heavyweight contender. “He’s showed his heart in the Octagon and he knocked out Elvis Sinosic, but he’s never fought a Tito Ortiz. It’s gonna be a beatdown. I’m gonna give him something he’s never felt before – the ferocity of Tito Ortiz – and I don’t think he can handle it.”

 

Most feel that Ortiz has enough in the tank to handle the still-improving Griffin, but does the former light heavyweight champ have enough restraint to peacefully co-exist for six weeks in the same house with his fellow TUF coach Shamrock, a heated rival whom he defeated in 2002?

 

“It’s business, man,” he said. “I’ve already laid my beatdown on him and he knows. But I respect the guy. I may not like him as a person, but as a fighter I’ve got to respect him. I threw everything at him and he still stood up to it.”

 

That could be an apt description of the last nine months for Ortiz, where he took a beating from fans for his hardline negotiating stance with the UFC but remained standing as he plotted his return in between heated training sessions with another standout 205-pounder, Quinton Jackson. And as he admits, the break did him good.

 

“It was nice to have a little time off and let my body heal completely,” said Ortiz. “I’m in really great shape right now – I’ve been working on my boxing, my kickboxing, my jiu-jitsu – and I think I’ve taken it to the next level mentally and physically.”

 

Now all that remains is for him to get back in the UFC Octagon again. And as he paced in a room in the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the site of his biggest win over Shamrock – it was hard to remove the smile from his face.

 

“It’s like a fight,” said Ortiz. “Actually, when I was here and I fought Ken Shamrock, and you’re standing in front of 16,000 people screaming your name, there’s no rush like it at all. That’s why I love to compete and I love to entertain. It’s not about the fight itself, it’s about entertaining the fans and giving them their money's worth.”