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Tito Ortiz, is it all over?
by guichoke, Team IronLife.com Writer
Now Ken shamrock, lets face it is famous because of the time he spent in WWE and (sorry Ken) this is the only reason the mainstream audience are aware of him. Tank Abbots mainstream presence is due to his appearance in Friends, and the fact that anytime there is an anti - MMA documentary Tank's fight with John Matua crops up as an example of how violent it is (please). Royce was the pioneer. The words Gracie and UFC rarely fail to appear in the same sentence when being discussed by the layperson. Which leaves us with Tito. What sets him aside? Why would the average Jon Do know the name Tito Ortiz, as opposed to Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture or Matt Hughes? One Word; Charisma. I believe that as business the UFC needs Tito, but he is not use to them unless he is regarded as one of the top fighters in the sport.
So where does Tito go from here? Few fans now believe he is capable of pulling himself back up to the top of the heap. Many argue Tito’s years of dominance were not so much due to his talent but due to facing sub-standard opponents. The bottom line in my opinion is that Tito needs to redeem at least one of his recent losses in order to have any chance of regaining his crown and the respect of the MMA community.
Realistically Tito now is about 3rd in the queue for the light heavyweight title, ahead of him being Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, both of whom I believe are more than capable taking the title from the paper champion Vitor Belfort. Tito is probably going to have to fight another strong competitor first before he gets a shot at the number 1 contender. As to who Tito’s next fights will be no one is really sure. It would have been Rich Franklin – dominate in his first two UFC fights, but Franklin in presently involved in contract disputes with Zuffa and other organizations. Chances are he will simply go to the highest bidder, and offering large purses has never been one of Zuffa’s strong points.
This situation leaves Tito somewhat in limbo, having been pushed out of the top three, but having no one worth fighting in order to put him back in there. Therefore logic leads me to this conclusion; assuming Franklin does not return to the UFC and no other strong competitors from other organisations enter the mix Tito will have to sit it out until the top three are done sorting out which order they are to appear in. By rights Randy couture must fight for the title first. So let’s say for argument sake………
Couture vs. Belfort UFC50 (Title)
Winner Couture
Liddell vs. Belfort UFC51
Winner Liddell
Belfort vs. Ortiz UFC52
Winner Ortiz
Couture vs. Liddell UFC52 (Title)
Winner Couture (Couture retires)
Liddell vs. Ortiz UFC54
For the now vacant title………..
This as far as I can see would be Tito’s quickest road back to the Title, so we’re talking the middle of 2005. Suffice to say that if Tito was to lose against Belfort then he would be back to the bottom on the hill.
There are other factors which may hamper or prevent Tito from ever regaining the title. There are some excellent fighters who are not presently signed with UFC who may throw a spanner in the works. Jeremy horn for example, has been working like a Trojan at King of the cage amassing an extremely impressive record, horn could definitely pose a threat to any light heavyweight in the UFC. Fighters presently fighting in Japan’s Pride FC are also a possibility. Ricardo Arona has been performing well but has been offered no title shot may decide he wants to switch allegiance. Rich Franklin may decide he wants to come back to the UFC after all and mess up Tito’s plans. And lets not forget Lightning Lee Murray, although one weight class below, Murray and Ortiz have had Beef ever since their out of cage Brawl at UFC38 in London. Ortiz has agreed he will fight Murray at 200lbs on the day. A loss to Murray will drag Tito even further down the MMA rankings, and it is because of this I believe Zuffa are not keen for this fight to happen in the near future.
Which ever way you slice it Tito’s road back to the top is going to be extremely difficult, he will need to consecutively defeat the top fighters in the world in as short a time as possible with injury or incident. Another loss may seal Tito’s fate as one of the long list of “they weren’t that go after all” Fighters. Now is the time to truly test Tito’s grit and Will. After all the true test of champion is surely how he reacts to defeat, not victory. I wish Tito the best of luck on his near impossible task, and am sad to say that it is task he may achieve.
* Article by guichoke, Team IronLife.com Writer.
* Back to This Issue's Frontpage
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