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GET 2 KNOW: Former UFC Champion Tito Ortiz
Reported By: Boxing Insider - 05.06.2003 03:09 PM
BIOFILE: TITO ORTIZ
By Scoop Malinowski
STATUS: Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Fights Vitor Belfort at UFC 51.
HT: 6-2 WT: 205
BORN ON: January 23, 1975 In: California
CHILDHOOD HEROES: Bruce Lee - an icon of mixed martial arts. Muhammad Ali. Looked at them and used that as a fuel for a fire for me to work with.
NICKNAME: Huntington Beach Bad Boy. That's the attitude I throw into the ring. I'm going out and taking out any and every opponent that comes upon me.
PRE-FIGHT FEELING: Mindset is to win. Not make any mistakes. Go out there and destroy anybody. That's my job. I have to take them apart mentally and physically. I visualize everything. My first round, how I walk out, how they're going to announce me, what it feels like when the first punches hit. When I enter the octagon, I look through him. I try to get into his soul. And take everything he has...I cry. I'm not crying because I'm afraid. It's because - I don't know. I just get very emotional. I throw up and cry each time. I'm an emotional fighter.
FAVORITE MEAL: Pancakes with peanut butter [laughs].
FAVORITE BREAKFAST CEREAL: Wheaties.
FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: Would have to be peanut butter cup.
WORST INJURY: Bruised knuckles. From hitting people's heads.
MUSICAL TASTES: Limp Bizkit, Korn. I actually know the musicians themselves. The music gets me going for all my fights.
FAVORITE MOVIES: Goodfellas, Bruce Lee Fist of Fury, Return of the Dragon, Matrix.
FUNNY MEMORY: (While) sleeping, sometimes I'll have a dream that the match is going on. And the guy goes to shoot my legs...and I wake up! To defend it or something. Sleeping and having dreams and I'll wake up suddenly and I'll feel like I'm in a match. A month before my match I have a lot of problems sleeping. Bad insomnia because of fights. But the week of a fight I sleep like a baby. I don't know what it is but I sleep real well. I think all the build-up is released when it's time to fight.
LAST HALLOWEEN COSTUME: A gimp and my wife (Kristin) went as a dominatrix [smiles].
HOBBIES/INTERESTS: I love to sport fish. And train, train, train. That's it.
GREATEST MOMENT: When I beat Vanderlei Silva of Brazil and I got my hand raised to win the middleweight championship in Tokyo, Japan. April 15, 2000. I beat him by decision. Actually, I was the 2-1 underdog. He was supposed to knock me out. I stopped everything he did. We had a lot of exchanges and strikes. I took him down every round. Right when I walked in I knew I had him. I looked across at him and for the first time I broke his stride of staring people down. He blinked a couple of times and I knew then that he wasn't sure of himself. And, at that time I knew it was my time to take over. I watch a lot of my opponent's matches and that was the first time I had ever seen that happen to him.
MOST PAINFUL MOMENT: Losing to Frank Shamrock. For a reason that was strength, endurance and cardio - which I lacked in that fight. And I believe it was because I wasn't mature enough to compete at that level. That was my first year and my first title match. To Frank Shamrock, who was the reigning middleweight champion. In Lake Charles, GA ('99).
FAVORITE ATHLETES: Kobe Bryant. Floyd Mayweather. Shane Mosley. Tiger Woods - young and breaking records, doing amazing things. He shows just how powerful the mind and body can be once you've put yourself into something and try to achieve everything. Johnnie Morton. Tony Gonzalez. Marty McSorley, Venus Williams. Some of the Yankees and Indians, don't know their names exactly.
PEOPLE MOST ADMIRED: People who start out with nothing in life. And make something of themselves. How I've come up. I'm from a broken family. When I was a kid there was a lot of gangs. I stopped and I pushed that all aside. All right, now I need to make something of myself. I started wrestling in high school and that's when the fire started burning under me. Then I started training for Ultimate Fighting. And before I knew it, 18 months later I'm the champion.
Scoop Malinowski is a Boxinginsider.com contributor. Check Out his web site: www.thebiofile.com.
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