Interview w/ UFC Champ Tito Ortiz (part 1)
Reported By: Chris Colderley - 07.22.2003 06:41 PM
The Huntington Beach Bad Boy is Back!
Tito Ortiz Talks With Boxing Insider
By Chris Colderley
After defeating his long time nemesis, Ken Shamrock last November at the UFC 40, Tito Ortiz is set to defend his light heavyweight title against former two-time heavyweight champion and interim title holder, Randy Couture.
Since losing to Frank Shamrock at the UFC 22, Ortiz has amassed a string of achievements that places him among the greatest UFC competitors ever. Tito's absence from UFC competition, however, has brought about a swell of controversy, distrust, and even genuine contempt. But, Ortiz isn't apologizing.
In part one of this two part interview with Boxing Insider, Ortiz discusses his views on the upcoming fight with Randy Couture, outlines the reasons for his absence from the octagon, and comments on the whole controversy with number one contender, Chuck Liddell not receiving a championship match.
In part two, Tito speaks candidly about the return of Tank Abbott and the role it played in his decision not to defend his belt, as well as his marketing efforts, charitable work and Team Punishment.
BoxingInsider.com: It has been almost a year since you last fought? How does it feel to be back fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)?
Tito Ortiz: It feels great. I took a little time off, and I got to do a movie called, The Crow: Wicked Prayers. I am trying to get into acting, of course, because I am not going to fight the rest of my life. But, getting a chance to step back into the octagon, man, I am really excited!
Photo: Joshua Hedges/UFC.tv
I am in really good shape. Better shape that I thought I would be at this time, which is eleven weeks away from the event on September 26. I am just really excited, and I can't wait to get back into the octagon.
BoxingInsider.com: How are your injuries?
Tito Ortiz: [I have] no injuries at all. I am completely healed. The injuries I sustained after the Ken Shamrock fight was to my left hand. I had a really, really bad bone bruise. I had a couple of chipped bones on my elbow, and they healed up. From my ACL injury that I sustained six months prior to the Shamrock fight, my knee is 100 percent. For once in my career, I am without injuries.
BoxingInsider.com: The whole situation around your absence became quite messy, and many fans have doubted your sincerity. How difficult has it been for you to return under those circumstances?
Tito Ortiz: Well, to me, I had to stand up for what I believe in as a fighter and as a businessman. The things I wanted to do for my career were going to sustain me holding out and waiting for Zuffa to actually make the decision of how badly they wanted me to compete in the octagon again. I was willing to take the chance of holding out and just waiting. Now that I have the things that I wanted, I am back in the octagon.
The fans that have been supporting me throughout this time of me holding out and waiting for the right things to happen for negotiation (the contract), I really thank them for that. The ones who jumped off my bandwagon, those [ones] weren't true fans. Those are the ones who want to see me lose and are going to get the pay-per-view to watch Randy Couture try to win. At the same time, the fans that have been supporting me since then, and always e-mailing me at TitoOrtiz.com, those are the fans. I really appreciate their support.
BoxingInsider.com: So it was a holdout? There was a lot of confusion. It was rumored because of your injuries, because of entertainment commitments; you were holding out?
Tito Ortiz: Yes, I was. In the beginning it was injuries. [But] for me to step back into the octagon, it was pretty much a holdout for me. What I believe in as an athlete and of course as a businessman, I had to make sure I made the right decision for my family and my career. At that time, I was making the decision of holding out and seeing what happened.
BoxingInsider.com: At the media conference, you were a little miffed about the UFC naming an interim champion. What bothered you most about that decision?
Tito Ortiz: The interim champion? All of a sudden they made up a belt that never existed before just to see how badly it would bother me. Yes, it did bother me a whole bunch because of how hard I worked in the UFC. Where I am right now, being the five-time defending world champion, I have defended my belt time-and-time again. They have thrown everybody at me, and I have dominated every single one of my fights. I don't think I ever was touched in either one of my fights [losses] - that I sustained damage, let's say, to my face or anything. Everybody who I fought looked like they were beaten up by a baseball bat. When I fight Randy Couture on September 26th, people are going to see the true champion - that's Tito Ortiz.
BoxingInsider.com: Did you actually change your contract demands?
Tito Ortiz: Not really changed my contract demands, it's just more like making the contract fair to me. That way, when I train and I am away from family for three months at a time for my training camp, I just want to make it fair. As a fighter and as businessman, whatever made sense to me in my contract is what I have now. It just took a little bit of hard work on my part - my Team Extreme promotions, Glenn McKusker and Mark Freeman - to work with Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta making this contract make sense to me. They did and that's why I am coming in again.
BoxingInsider.com: Randy Couture wasn't even in the picture when you last fought. How surprised are you to be fighting him?
Tito Ortiz: I am not surprised at all. When Chuck Liddell actually took that fight with Randy Couture, I told myself that's a hard fight for Chuck and he doesn't realize it. I see him on the Best Damned Sports Show talking all kinds of smack on me, saying I am afraid of him and this and that. I'm not afraid of any man. I just want what is fair as a fighter. He was looking past Randy Couture! Randy Couture, being the ex-two-time champion, and Chuck thought he was going to walk right through Randy.
Actually, I would say about three days before the fight I put some money down on Couture, and I won a big lump of money from it too! It was really, really good it happened. I believe everything happens for a reason, and Chuck Liddell is all of a sudden out of the picture.
Randy Couture, I think, is the best competitor at my weight class now because he was a heavyweight, weighing about 228-230. Now he's cutting down to 205 pounds, and he looks shredded and lean. Of course, at forty years old he's pretty much the George Foreman of mixed martial arts.
Photo: Joshua Hedges/UFC.tv
BoxingInsider.com: If you have any good tips on the next fight let me know!
Tito Ortiz: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. I could give you a tip right now: Tito Ortiz, stoppage in the fourth.
BoxingInsider.com: That's your prediction?
Tito Ortiz: I am not predicting anything, but believe me it's going to happen.
BoxingInsider.com: That's what I should put my money on? OK.
Tito Ortiz: I am not predicting anything, but I have already visualized stuff like this.
BoxingInsider.com: Couture is an outstanding wrestler and a very strong striker. How are you preparing for the fight?
Tito Ortiz: I am bringing in some of the best strikers, of course: Julio Gonzalez, professional boxer. He will be coming up here to my camp and working with me three times a week. I have Jesse Reed, who is holding pads for me, and Colin Oyama, my Muay Thai trainer. I have some of the best freestyle wrestlers: Mark Kerr. I'll have Ricco Rodriguez. I'll have some of the best ju-jitsu guys with Mark Leeman and Dean Lister.
All of these guys in my camp, they're the best at what they do, and I am trying to put this puzzle together: that is being the best mixed martial artist that ever graced the octagon, that is just finding the best guys to train with to push me to the limit, and put me in positions that I have never been put in before. That way if it ever happens in the octagon, it is comfortable to me.
BoxingInsider.com: What is your game plan for exploiting Couture?
Tito Ortiz: I can't tell you that. If I told you that then Couture would know! [Laughs] It's going to be ferocity that's all I have to say. You are going to see the ferocity of Tito Ortiz. In my mind, it's just stand up and pick him apart on his feet with boxing. I don't know, whenever the fight happens, it is just what comes naturally.
BoxingInsider.com: You don't have to answer specifically, but you have found some weaknesses you think you can exploit?
Tito Ortiz: I have found a bunch of weaknesses in Couture's arsenal, and like I said I won't tell them. Hopefully, I'll be able to show what his weaknesses are in the match.
BoxingInsider.com: Given Randy's wrestling background, how prepared are you to fight from the bottom?
Tito Ortiz: Of course, I am prepared to fight from the bottom. In all my fights, I prepare to fight from the bottom, so it is just a matter of doing the right thing.
BoxingInsider.com: But, you haven't [been taken down] yet?
Tito Ortiz: No, I have never been taken down in the Ultimate Fighting Championship ever! There has not been one person to ever take me down . . . I think everybody has been taken down at least once. Tito Ortiz has never been taken down, and I don't plan on it. But, watch out for my ju-jitsu because it is good. I can do a lot of submissions. I know a lot of stuff from my back. I have never had to use them or exploit them, but if it does come about, Couture may get submitted.
BoxingInsider.com: In terms of your styles, not your styles in the ring, but your styles outside the ring, Randy is very different from you - quiet, reserved, and doesn't talk a lot of smack. How will you deal with that?
Tito Ortiz: Randy Couture? Actually, nobody knows about . . . Randy Couture is my mentor. I have always looked up to him. I have always wanted to be like Randy Couture, of course, with him being the heavyweight champion.
But, Tito Ortiz? I am brash. I speak what's on my mind. I don't turn back on anything I say, and what I say is what I mean. It's just what the truth is when I say it. In my mind, I am the most dominant fighter that ever graced the octagon, and I am going to be because I continue doing what I am doing - continue with training.
Randy Couture, to me, is Mr. America. So I think there's going to an American fighter versus a Mexican fighter, and we will see who has the biggest heart. Of course, Randy has a huge heart and lots of determination, but I don't think he's ever fought anybody like Tito Ortiz.
BoxingInsider.com: Have you ever fought anybody like Randy Couture?
Tito Ortiz: Yes, I have. I fought Vladimir Matyushenko. I beat him in a decision at UFC 33 at the Mandalay Bay. I dominated the whole time. He was a world class wrestler, wrestled for the Belarus World team, and I dominated and took him down every single round. We will see how this translates to a Randy Couture fight.
Randy has a lot more arsenal on his feet of course, but I have been working hard on my feet. Hopefully, my boxing will show in the fight.
BoxingInsider.com: Ultimately, what is this fight for?
Tito Ortiz: I believe this fight is for all the people that say I was afraid of Chuck Liddell, and all the people who say that I wasn't a true champion. I am going to beat someone who beat Liddell soundly and dominantly, and I am going to beat him [Couture] dominantly. I think this is for all my fans, and all my Mexican fans [as a way] of just showing that once you set your mind to something, you can achieve anything once you dedicate yourself to it and want to achieve those goals, and that is to retain my light heavyweight championship title.
BoxingInsider.com: I spoke to Chuck Liddell last week, and he said he doesn't think that you will ever give him a fight. How do you feel about that?
Tito Ortiz: He better stop thinking the way he's thinking because after I beat up Couture he may be the next guy in line. We have some unfinished business. Now that my contract makes sense, I will be fighting anybody they put in front of me. First and foremost, it is Randy Couture. This is all I am thinking about: eat, sleep, and train Randy Couture. That's all I do. But we will see after this fight. If I become the victor, which I believe I am going to, you may see a Tito Ortiz versus Chuck Liddell [match].
Read part 2 of this interview later this week.
Chris Colderley is a free-lance writer and a boxinginsider.com contributor.
Chris Colderley can be reached at colderley@hotmail.com
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