MMA Gospel - UFC 106 Showed Tito Ortiz Still Needs To Learn To Lose Like A Man

In the words of UFC President Dana White, “Here we go again.”

Former UFC light heavyweight champion “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz (15-7-1) labeled his return to the Octagon another run at the title and warned the light heavyweight division to “watch out, Tito Ortiz is back.”

He was right!  Tito is back in all of his ridiculously excuse-filled ways. Ortiz said countless times prior to UFC 106 in Las Vegas November 21 that this was the first time he had been 100% in years and that not since he lost a unanimous decision to “The Natural” Randy Couture (17-10) at UFC 44 in 2003 had he been able to train like he had for his UFC 106 rematch versus Fighters.com’s fifth-ranked light heavyweight and former UFC champ Forrest Griffin (17-4).

Tito went on to say that his training camp was the best he’d had, and that, not only had his stand-up improved, but his already respected wrestling was much better due to this rigorous camp. He guaranteed a victory in his UFC return and said that he’d prove the first split decision win over Forrest at UFC 59 in 2006 wasn’t a fluke.

Ortiz said he was 60% when he beat Forrest the first time, and now he is the best he’s ever been. He called himself a legend, and reiterated that he was still one of the top light heavyweights in the world.

“I’m a legend, you say UFC, they say Tito Ortiz,” said Ortiz of his own self-perceived awesomeness.

Ortiz stopped just shy of admitting that he could walk on water. Ortiz was going to beat Forrest again, and even more soundly than the first time. Period.

While Ortiz was preparing for war in what he said was the toughest and best training camp of his career, Forrest merely said, “This isn’t one of those ‘If I win, I win, if I lose, I lose.’  This is, ‘I’m going to win this fight.’”

And win he did. Griffin won the decision over Ortiz, and for the first time in a while the UFC fan base wasn’t up in arms over a judge’s decision. Most saw the fight the way the judges did, most everyone but Tito Ortiz of course, who has said over-and-over that he was “robbed.”

When the decision was announced, Tito, who was standing with his arm raised, dropped his arm and smiled. For once Tito looked like he was going to lose like a man. UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan stepped into the Octagon to interview the winner, and Griffin was the same stand-up guy he usually is and thanked Tito and the crowd. Forrest said he would agree to a fight and even used some self deprecating humor to talk about a sweep that took longer than it should have. Forrest didn’t rub the win in Tito’s face, and walked out to an ovation from a crowd that appreciated the respectful victor.

Next, Tito got to speak on the loss. Once again, in the words of Dana White “here we go again.” Tito started off with acknowledging Griffin’s broken foot that Griffin had suffered in training camp.  Ortiz went on to say that he himself had only been able to have “half of a sparring session one day.”  Rogan asked Ortiz what injury he had that barred him from sparring and Ortiz came up with this gem of an excuse: “I had a bulging disc, F, uh, S, was it C11, C6 or C6 and C7.”

Tito, did I hear a “niner” in there?

Then, Ortiz took his hat off and said, “I want to see someone fight with a cracked skull” and pointed to a black eye he was sporting before the fight.  At this point, the crowd realized that Tito was back in all of his grandeur and began booing.

Forrest even stepped in, once again being the nice guy, and defended Ortiz saying, “If you train to fight, you get hurt people.”

Ortiz won the crowd over with his typical “Were you pleased with the show?” question and acted like he single handedly fought himself in the cage, saying he steps up and he…blah blah blah.

UFC 106 is over, the wrap-up is done, and so is Tito, right? Wrong! Don’t forget the after fight press conference, where Tito proclaimed that the fight of the night awards should obviously be his. Tito was asked about his conditioning, where once again we got a 10-minute Ortiz lecture on how amazing he is, how he gave his heart and soul, and he was amazing considering he had a neck injury and only sparred once. When asked about why he said he was 100%, Ortiz said he was selling a fight.  Ortiz spent over ten minutes explaining why he couldn’t win, and capped it off with: “I come in and I fight. I don’t look for excuses.”

Tito is right! He doesn’t look for excuses and he doesn’t have to because he already has the excuses ready. Ortiz isn’t 100% fighter like he proclaims. He isn’t 50% fighter. Tito is an entertainer who has athletic ability. If you say you are here to fight and dominate, and come up short, then don’t reach for any excuse as to why and say that if this or that hadn’t happened you would have won.

Tito said he lied in the pre-fight interviews to sell a fight and that he wasn’t healthy.  Are you lying now about the injury to cover for poor training and the inability to win on that given night? Which time were you telling the truth?

Tito’s antics have damaged his credibility, and who knows when he is telling the truth. In a time when the UFC is hurting to put together cards due to injuries and illnesses, Dana White has brought back someone to sell fights. Tito Ortiz isn’t making a run at the title and. let’s be honest, Ortiz can’t handle the stand-up of Fighters.com and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion “Dragon” Lyoto Machida (16-0), as we’ve seen already. Ortiz’s wrestling would be negated by fourth-ranked “Sugar” Rashad Evans’s (13-1-1) equal abilities. Ortiz doesn’t have the tools to put away fighters like he did earlier in his career. The talent pool is too deep, the sport has passed him by, and quite frankly his annoying excuses are going to prove detrimental to the UFC and the credibility of Dana White’s “I do what the fans want.” proclamation.

Tito, learn to lose like a man because your winning days seem long gone, especially with your newly announced neck injury. Tito Ortiz – the “legend” and self-proclaimed “best pound-for-pound fighter” who’s making a run at the title?  How about Tito Ortiz – the best excuse-for-excuse, injury manufacturer, running his mouth, which will always hold the title for biggest legend in his own mind?

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