Tag: Tito Ortiz (Page 4 of 5)

MMA News & Notes for May 31

May 31, 2011 / Drew Ellis

Following UFC 130, all seems to be quiet on the MMA front.

However, I was able to find some tidbits that you may be interested in.

– It appears that Tito Ortiz and Jenna Jameson are having another lovers’ quarrel. Like any ~~media hungry~~ respectable couple, the two have taken to their Twitter accounts (Here’s Tito’s and here’s Jenna’s) to hurl insults at one another. Tito accuses Jenna of cheating and Jenna accuses Tito of domestic abuse. Boy, if these two level-headed people can’t make it work out, what couple can? Any chance Ortiz uses this as a reason to pull out of his UFC 132 bout with Ryan Bader in hopes to get a lesser opponent?

– Quinton “Rampage” Jackson made us all a little uncomfortable by sexually harassing a female reporter on camera, again. The incident isn’t the first time that Rampage has been sexually aggressive toward a female interviewer. He is just begging to have a major lawsuit handed to him and the UFC. (MMAFighting)

– Dream “Fight for Japan” took place on Sunday and top lightweight, Shinya Aoki, added to his impressive record with a submission of former UFC contender, Rich Clementi. Aoki improves to 28-5 in his MMA career and the submission against Clementi came in the second round from a face lock. Aoki has now won his last three fights by submission. (Sherdog)

– Thiago Alves thinks he won his UFC 130 bout with Rick Story. Apparently Alves forgot about the first two rounds where he mounted little offense and spent a great deal of time on his back. Alves did have an impressive third round, but he didn’t finish the fight. Last time I checked, winning one round isn’t as good as winning two rounds. (MMAMania)

Dream, Fighters, News, UFC

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson Rich Clementi Rick Story Ryan Bader Shinya Aoki Thiago Alves Tito Ortiz

Paul Heyman working with UFC fighters

May 16, 2011 / Drew Ellis

One story that emerged on the MMA front this past weekend was that new UFC 131 main eventer, Shane Carwin, is working with Paul Heyman.

For those of you not familiar with Heyman, he was the creator of ECW – Extreme Championship Wrestling, and also spent time in the WCW and WWE. He was the “manager” of Brock Lesnar during his stint in the WWE and has remained a close friend of Lesnar over the years.

Here are some snipits of just what Heyman is doing with Carwin, courtesy of Bloody Elbow.

This is not a deal with UFC, but the production company that does the Countdown special and Spike TV hired Heyman to help with the Countdown show for UFC 131. His role was to help Brock Lesnar promote the fight, and with Lesnar pulling out, they asked him if he’d instead work with Carwin, which he’s doing. It’s not a UFC hire. The idea of Heyman working with UFC in teaching fighters how to promote matches (and how not to) isn’t the world’s worst idea.

I know some MMA fans will probably freak out over this and start to worry that the UFC is working toward pro wrestling, but that is not the case.

What the UFC needs is some better mic men. Not to say a fighter can’t speak with his actions in the octagon, but to sell a fight and a PPV, the UFC needs to have some guys that can compel the average fan to pay money to watch them fight.

There is a reason that Brock Lesnar is a huge draw and that Tito Ortiz still is relevant in the UFC. That is because they both have hype skills and pull emotions out of the viewers.

Shane Carwin is a beast of a fighter and really exciting to watch, but to hear him talk, he is somewhat robotic. Heyman will do his best to tap into the personality of Carwin, and hopefully sell his main event bout at UFC 131 with Junior dos Santos.

Events, Fighters, News, UFC

Brock Lesnar Junior Dos Santos Paul Heyman Shane Carwin Tito Ortiz UFC 131

Ortiz and Mitrione get into verbal exchange at UFC Summit

May 12, 2011 / Drew Ellis

Something interesting happened at the UFC Summit this weekend, and it wasn’t Dana White explaining to fighters how to do their taxes.

None other than “Big Country” Roy Nelson caught this little verbal exchange between Matt Mitrione and Tito Ortiz.

Now, the background behind this encounter is that Mitrione had some unflattering remarks that he made about Ortiz’ wife, Jenna Jameson.

Mitrione was joking that Ortiz would pull out of his upcoming UFC 132 fight with Ryan Bader and let Jameson take the fight instead, claiming she is good off her back and has amazing top control.

Now, granted, I wouldn’t want someone talking about my wife like that and would be pretty upset if they did. However, if I married the world’s most famous porn star, I would probably expect that to happen.

Instead of going after a younger and stronger fighter in Matt Mitrione, Ortiz should just remain focused on Bader and ending a four year winless streak.

Then again, Ortiz is probably just trying to set up another fight for himself after he loses to Bader.

Events, Fighters, News, UFC, Videos

Matt Mitrione Roy Nelson Ryan Bader Tito Ortiz UFC 132

Top 5 Moments in Randy Couture’s Storied Career

April 19, 2011 / Drew Ellis

Is 47 the lucky number for “The Natural” Randy Couture?

The two-time former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion seems to be sticking to the idea that his bout with Lyoto Machida at UFC 129 will be his last. (ESPN)

With that in mind here are (in my opinion) the top five moments in the 47-year-old’s historic career.

1. Out of retirement, back with the gold – Couture had retired following a loss to Chuck Liddell at UFC 57 in February of 2006, but quickly got the itch to fight once again. This time, Couture came back at heavyweight to challenge then-champion Tim Sylvia. At UFC 68, The Natural returned and dominated Sylvia from the opening bell. Couture landed a big right hand that sent Sylvia crashing and then followed up with numerous takedowns over the 25 minutes to get the win and become a two-time UFC heavyweight champion.

2. Whipping Tito’s butt – Couture had just been crowned UFC Interim Light Heavyweight Champion after beating Chuck Liddell at UFC 43, which set up a unification bout with champion Tito Ortiz. Ortiz had been riding six-fight win streak that lasted for four years and was largely considered the favorite against the then-40 Couture. From the opening bell, Couture out-muscled Ortiz and scored takedown after takedown as Ortiz offered little offense. In the fifth and final round, Couture found himself over the top of Ortiz’ rear end and to sum up the night, patted him on the butt a few times, to drive home the point that he just dominated the loudmouth champion for 25 minutes.

Events, Fighters, News, UFC

Chuck Liddell James Toney Lyoto Machida Pedro Rizzo Randy Couture Tim Sylvia Tito Ortiz UFC 129

Tito Ortiz, Living Proof You Can Survive Despite Repeated Failure

April 18, 2011 / Drew Ellis

If you failed at your job for four years, would you still hold that position?

Probably not.

Yet, that is the reality that is Tito Ortiz.

Ortiz has not won a fight since October 10, 2006. That is about 54 months by my count. Yet, Ortiz is still landing major fights on pay-per-view and he will now be taking on Ryan Bader as part of the main card of UFC 132.

Ortiz was once a dominant champion in the UFC, but that was back in the early 2000’s when Tim Sylvia was still a factor.

What is funny about Ortiz’ is that he still talks about getting back “his belt”. I don’t know that Ortiz could beat any champion in any UFC weight class right now, let alone light heavyweight champ Jon Jones.

Ortiz is a pretty easy guy to game plan for too. Just stay off your back. His striking hasn’t evolved since he was champion and now, guys are throwing him around like he used to throw his opponents around.

I respect what Ortiz has done, but he is only hurting his legacy with each loss. His time has passed and just like the UFC did with Chuck Liddell, it is time for the organization to force him away from the octagon.

Fighters, News, UFC

Jon Jones Ryan Bader Tim Sylvia Tito Ortiz UFC 132