Tito Ortiz: Last Time I Was 100% I Was World Champion

Tito Ortiz: Last Time I Was 100% I Was World Champion

I wonder how this will all end for Tito.  I know he says he’s 100 percent, but come on, waiting to heal and doing some exercise is a little different than rolling around with a grown man. Who the hell am I to question whether or not he can have a healthy return to the octagon?  I’m no one, but I’m just a little wary of the 34-year-old mixing it up like he once did.  An athlete always knows his or her body better than anyone possibly could, but I don’t think Tito truly knows where he’s at physically.  To be certain, he must go through that rigorous pre-fight training he once thought of as routine – from what I know, he started some training approximately two weeks ago. I hope to see a healthy Tito in the octagon soon ’cause it’s been a long time between fights, and plus, I’m getting kinda tired of his trash talking.  Ortiz joined Fox Sports Radio to discuss how his body feels, his toughest opponent to date, why he re-signed with the UFC, and fans’ appeal to mixed martial arts.

On whether or not he has signed with the UFC:

“Yes, sir!  If I’m gonna compete against the best in the world, UFC has the top 10 guys in the world, so I couldn’t go to a second rate promotion and compete against guys who aren’t as good as the ones in UFC.  So, I always wanna challenge myself and get a chance to get a world title around my waist, and the UFC is where it was at. They gave me everything I wanted and everything’s kosher now, so I’m excited.”

On how he feels coming off his back surgery:

“I have no more pain, no more soreness, no more numbness going down my legs; I’m back in to fighting shape again. I just started working with Freddie Roach out of Los Angeles, the ‘Wild Card,’ and I’m excited.  For once I’m gonna be 100 percent, and hopefully the fans get to the see the champion I was before, ’cause the last time I was 100 percent, when I was the world champion, and I defended my world title five consecutive times. So, this is a comeback for me.”

On the toughest opponent he’s ever faced:

“I would have to say Chuck Liddell. The first time we fought, I made a few mistakes, the second time we fought, I made a few mistakes, and I lost both of them.  He has two wins over me; no one has had two wins over me ever.  I gotta give the respect to Chuck Liddell, he was a great champion.  Too bad he retired, a rematch with him would be nice, and I think the fans would love to see that.”

On why mixed martial arts is appealing to people:

“Of course it’s the violence. You look back in the Roman days, gladiators would compete against each other, and same concept, we’re the modern day gladiators. But, we do it with rules, time limits, weight classes of course, judging systems, and we gotta abide by the same rules that the other competitions do that are in mixed martial arts.  I think it’s just one of the most exciting sports around. People are kinda bored with watching boxing; you just see guys who are kinda sparring with each other. It doesn’t even look like people are trying to hurt each other anymore and knock each other out, and make it exciting for the fans to watch.”