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MMA News Fighter Interviews
On July 7, 2007 (7-7-07) "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz will bring his 15-5 pro MMA record into the octagon, a place he helped build as poster-boy and Light Heavyweight champion during the early Zuffa years, against Ultimate Fighter season two winner "Sugar" Rashad Evans. The two have already begun a war of words (and physicality). At a recent UFC event, the two had to be pulled apart as they almost went at it after a shoving match. Recently on The Underground MMA web forum, Ortiz took a shot at Evans using a spinoff of the remark that cost radio disc jockey Don Imus his career saying, "he will be my nappy-headed ho". MMANews.com's own Chris Howie caught up with Tito earlier this week to discuss the upcoming bout with Rashad Evans, the UFC's acquisition of PRIDE, his side of the story behind the Dana White boxing match and much more.  TITO ORTIZ INTERVIEW (April 26, 2007) Chris Howie of MMANews.com: This is Chris Howie with MMANews.com and I’m joined today by “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy”, Tito Ortiz. How are you doing today Tito? Tito Ortiz: Good my man. How are you? MMANews.com: I’m not doing too bad at all. I’ve seen this weekend you have an autograph session coming up with Team Punishment out in California at the HB Ultimate Training Center in Huntington Beach this Saturday, 2PM until 5PM. Tito Ortiz: Yup. Yup, Ultimate Training Center in Huntington Beach. It’s at 19400 Beach Bvld, Huntington Beach CA 92648. We’ll be there from 2 o’ clock until 5:30PM. MMANews.com: And that’s you and Team Punishment putting that on? Tito Ortiz: That’s very correct. MMANews.com: How are things going with the company? Tito Ortiz: You know my clothing company is doing really really well, I’ve got to thank all the fans who support it. We keep coming out with new items. At least every month to two months we come out with shirts all the time, high quality clothing to make sure your stuff lasts a long time. I'm very excited for all the fans that support it and of course you can go to www.punishment.com to check it out. It's just one of those things that I started out with $500 out of my pocket from a fight purse back in 1999 and now it’s a multi-million dollar company. I’ve pushed it as much as I possibly can from my side of it. My ex-wife actually helps out with the business side of it and does an awesome job with it and it’s just one of those things that, you know, I put a lot of heart into my clothing company. I mean with Punishment, my number one goal is to make it a world-wide known company where it’s in all stores across the United States. MMANews.com: You are trying to get set up in stores all across the United States? Tito Ortiz: Yeah, well actually I just started getting in No Fear stores which are located in malls in like Arizona, California, all on the west coast and so forth and we're trying to continue going into other athletic sports stores. MMANews.com: Alright, that’s good to hear Tito. Great stuff. Now your next fight with Rashad Evans is coming up at UFC 73 in July and there has already been some bad blood between you two. Do you care to comment on any of that? Tito Ortiz: Yeah, you know it’s welcome to the UFC man. This is a real fight there is nothing fake about this stuff and there is some bad blood between both of us. It’s just one of those things. At the last UFC, what was it 69? I was sitting next to him and I stuck my hand out to wish him good luck in training before the fight and I said “just watch what you say about me though”, and he got up and talked some smack and got in my face trying to make me flinch so I pushed him then security came in between us and got us apart and you know it’s just one of those things that he’s lucky security was there because we would have had UFC 73 at UFC 69. It’s a build man and I know we're both trying to get inside each others head and the Arco Arena in Sacramento is where the beat down will get laid down. MMANews.com: In reference to the Don Imus comment from last week in which he called the women’s basketball team “nappy headed ho’s”, you said you will make Rashad Evans your “nappy headed ho”. Have you had anything said to you from the UFC about that? Tito Ortiz: No, not at all. I think this is in totally different terms. What I said was strictly towards Rashad. We get in the octagon and we’re probably one of the most brutal sports alive man. We’re in a very combative sport. I think writing something on the internet is not even close to what were going to do in the octagon. It was a jokingly thing. It made a lot of my friends laugh and a lot of my fans laugh and it was nothing racist at all. The last time I checked I was Mexican and I am the minority. One of my best friends [Quinton] “Rampage” Jackson is African American and the way I look at it - it was a joke. It was a funny joke to me and hopefully Rashad got a little humor out of it himself. MMANews.com: Your next fight is with Rashad and after that I believe you have one fight left on your contract. Is this correct? Tito Ortiz: That is very correct. MMANews.com: Any ideas on who you would like to fight in your last fight? Tito Ortiz: Umm, it doesn’t matter. I'd like to fight anybody just so I can get another title shot - [Mauricio] Shogun [Rua], Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, it really doesn’t matter. Anybody in the top five. I just want to get a chance to get my world title back and whoever I have to go through to get that title shot again, I’ll do it. Everytime I step into the octagon I try and make it exciting for the fans to watch and that’s why I do so good with pay-per view buys and ticket sales. People love to watch Tito Ortiz fight and I’m going to keep doing what I do man. I’m going to make it exciting and, you know, I’m going to talk trash and I’m going to back it up when it comes fight time. I never want a boring fight ever and I always try to go out and give my best and 100 percent of my heart. MMANews.com: With the acquisition of Pride, you would be willing to get in there with some of the fighters from Pride? Tito Ortiz: I would love to. I’m glad that Zuffa bought Pride because now that just brings fresh meat over. I have no problem fighting in Pride because the UFC will condone everything. Before UFC didn’t want me fighting in Pride because they strictly wanted me fighting in the UFC. Now I can go over and beat all those guys and get the world title there and come back and unify the titles and beat Chuck for his too. There’s a big game plan for me in the end man, and I’m going to be shining at the top when it’s all over. MMANews.com: Some people will say when you fought Wanderlei Silva the first time he was “green” coming in. How do you feel about a rematch with Wanderlei? Tito Ortiz: I would love it. I think when Wanderlei and I fought I was a little blue myself. I was into the game about a year and a half. I was a young kid. I was 22-23 years old when I fought him and he was 22, so I think we were both a little young into our game. Now I don’t think the match would last five rounds. I don’t think it would last two rounds. I think I would be able to stop him within the first round just because Wanderlei has been in some tough fights, well he’s been knocked out a few times. Hitting him is like turning off a light switch so that pretty much is how it would probably be. MMANews.com: Yeah, Wanderlei’s last 2 fights have been knockout losses and... Tito Ortiz: ...and they were bad KO’s man. When he fought Dan Henderson I think he was out for maybe four-to-five minutes and I don’t think he was even able to stand up after the fight. It’s one of those things, once you get triggered in your brain if you get hit with a good shot it becomes easier and easier to get knocked out. When he got kicked in the head by [Mirko] CroCop I think that really damaged a lot of the nerves in his brain and when he got knocked out by Henderson, he made it even easier. When I fight him and I knock him out people will say he’s already been knocked out so many times it really doesn’t matter. I’m willing to step up and fight anybody. Anybody in the top five Light Heavyweight [rankings] and I just want to continue to dominate. MMANews.com: Would you ever consider moving up in weight to Heavyweight to fight guys such as CroCop or even a possible rematch with Randy Couture? Tito Ortiz: With Randy Couture, him being champion, I have to give him nothing but respect he’s an awesome athlete. Me going up in weight I don’t see it happening because when I’m in my best possible shape I’m weighing about 217 pounds at the most, and I make 205. With my body size and my muscle size - 205 is my ideal weight, at that weight in at the best possible shape I can be. Me moving up to Heavyweight would be a lot harder for me because I can’t get over 220 lbs. I think the heaviest I ever weighed was 222 lbs and that was when I was completely out of shape after taking a year off and for me to get heavy is really hard because I don’t carry that much weight. Look at Couture, he weighs like what? 230 lbs – 235 lbs and that weight matter is a huge difference in this sport. It really does matter. When you find somebody that is 240 lbs – 250 lbs, that weight starts to be an advantage for the fighter the longer the fight goes on. MMANews.com: With the bad blood between you and Dana White, when your contract does expire would you consider going to any other organizations such as Bodog or the IFL for example? Tito Ortiz: No, to me I started my career with the UFC before Zuffa even bought it and I plan on ending my career with the UFC unless other things come about, you never know. There are so many other companies that come up but my heart and dedication is with the UFC, I have complete loyalty to the UFC for the future. I’ve never fought for any other company ever and I don’t plan on it anytime soon as long as I get what I want. MMANews.com: Will the problems with Dana White recently from the boxing fight and what not… will that cause any problems when it comes contract time the fight after Rashad? Tito Ortiz: I hope not, business is business. Dana wanted to put it on Spike TV and I never got a chance to tell my side of the story. MMANews.com: What is your side of the story? Tito Ortiz: Basically there was no bout agreement with that fight. Yes it was in my contract but there was no bout agreement for the fight itself and I wasn’t going to fight without the agreement. Dana White lied on Spike saying I called him and said I’d let him off the hook and all that B.S. It was completely B.S. I called him and told him word-for-word, “Dana, there is no contract and I’m not going to show up next weekend. There’s no way I’ll show up unless there is a contract in place”. MMANews.com: But if you could have it done, have it set up in the proper way - you would get in there with Dana White and do the boxing match? Tito Ortiz: Oh for sure. It was just supposed to be a sparring match but now after all the stuff that has happened I would go in there trying to hurt him. I don’t think he’d last a round. People are trying to say I’m afraid of Dana but I think people have lost their minds. The last time I checked I’ve been in the sport a long long time and I’m not afraid of no man when I step inside an octagon. I don’t think Dana would have made it out of the first round. So if it does happen in the future that would be something to watch, if people want to see me beat up Dana White let’s get the bout agreement in place and we’ll do the fight. MMANews.com: For your next fight with Rashad have you started training yet for that? Are you going up to Big Bear for the training? Tito Ortiz: Yup, I’ll be going up to Big Bear on May 15th. I started training three weeks ago. I’ve been getting into good cardio shape as always, wrestling a lot, been doing a lot of boxing, just the normal stuff I’ve been doing for any of my fights for the last ten years. I just keep continuing to do what I do to make sure I’m mentally and physically prepared for a fight. 7-7 of '07 - they are my lucky numbers. MMANews.com: How do you feel you match-up with Rashad? Tito Ortiz: I think Rashad is a very fast, agile wrestler with good boxing skills. I am questioning his ground game. I really think my strength and my endurance will have a factor in this fight. We’ll see though man. I think what makes the fight so interesting is Rashad is an undefeated fighter, he’s fought some pretty decent guys - not guys on the level that I’ve fought, but at the same time I think that makes the fight more interesting. He’s a young guy coming up really fast. He has good striking skills and he’s knocked out his last two opponents. He has a good wrestling background, it's just one of those things that makes a fight so interesting. MMANews.com: And a little bit of bad blood doesn’t hurt either… Tito Ortiz: Bad blood is always good. I love fighting with bad blood - that’s my forte' man. I love it. That’s why I’m the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy". When there’s bad blood in front of me I’m ready to step up and fight. MMANews.com: Now are you training with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson for his fight in May with Chuck Liddell? Tito Ortiz: Actually he just went up to Big Bear. I’m down here for a week and a half in Huntington to finish out my training here then I go up to Big Bear. I helped him out a little bit with his wrestling but I know he has his training guys up there now in Big Bear. I have a lot of business stuff down here in Huntington for the next week and a half so I can’t be up there to train with him but once I’m done down here I will be. MMANews.com: Who do you have training with Team Punishment now? Tito Ortiz: I have Justin McCullly, actually he just fought in the last Ultimate Fight Night he beat the kick boxer guy.. MMANews.com: ..Hardonk. Tito Ortiz: Yeah. Of course Sal Solis, Tiki Ghosn, Rob McCullough, they’re just a few guys I’ve been training with down here. Like I said “Rampage” just left to go up to Big Bear. Right now I’m just working on my cardio and strength and a lot of drills and stuff. Sparring hasn’t really come into play yet, during the last six weeks it will become a factor [in my training]. MMANews.com: How do you see the fight between Quinton and Chuck going in their rematch? Tito Ortiz: I think it will be a very interesting fight. I think Liddell better come in great shape because Rampage will definitely be in great shape. Hopefully Rampage will beat him, he has the tools to beat Liddell. In the last fight that they had he did beat Liddell and it came with numbers, he struck with numbers and it wasn’t just one punch. That was the mistake I made when I fought Chuck Liddell - I just tried to throw one punch at a time and I think that Rampage will actually set the thing in stone by throwing in numbers. That’s the way I should have hit Liddell, throwing punches three-four-and five. MMANews.com: Would you get in the octagon with Rampage if he were to beat Chuck? Tito Ortiz: I think that really comes down to me and Rampage sitting down and talking about it. There’s a possibility, maybe, but it’s all about the money. I don’t want to take any food out of his kids mouths and he doesn’t want to do the same with me. If we’re getting paid an enormous amount of money then sure the fight could happen but until that time comes we’re going to stick together as friends and never let it happen. MMANews.com: Ok, I don’t know if you’ve read it but there was a letter sent out from Kimo Leopoldo thanking you for a role you had gotten for him in a movie and he was inviting you to check out New Era Fighting. Did you get a chance to see that? Tito Ortiz: Yeah, I did see that. I’ve known Kimo for a long time. He’s a cool cat and I appreciate him giving me the respect for that. I think it’s really cool for him to go out of his way and write a letter like that. MMANews.com: Would you ever consider fighting for New Era? Tito Ortiz: Well, you know, it comes down to the UFC. I started my career with the UFC. I plan on finishing my career with the UFC. You never know what holds a-front. I’m never going to look past a huge amount of money if anybody ever offers it, but like I say I have my loyalty with the UFC and I want to stay with the UFC as long as they give me what I want. MMANews.com: Would you ever go and fight in the Pride Organization, in the ring, if a fight were to come up over in Japan? Tito Ortiz: If UFC wanted me to do that I have no problem doing that. It really doesn’t matter if it’s in a ring or an octagon I’m still going to dominate. MMANews.com: So you have no problem fighting in the ring or octagon? Tito Ortiz: No not at all. In the ring If I’m allowed to use knee strikes, I even like them a lot better, I like them more than elbows. I think one of the reasons they took knee strikes out of the UFC was people were getting damaged pretty bad but I’d use those [knees] as one of my main weapons. But that’s fine, either-or. Wherever it is I’m competing I plan on dominating. MMANews.com: Would you prefer the cage or the ring? Do you think one has the advantage over the other? Tito Ortiz: Yeah, the cage has a lot of advantages. You can stuff somebody up in the cage and land elbows down on them. In the ring it’s a lot more open that’s why I think it's good to use knees in the ring because there are a lot better positions. But either one, like I said to me it doesn’t matter. I’m a fighter and you put me in any type of area and I’ll do well in it. MMANews.com: Ok, so this weekend you have the autograph session coming up with Team Punishment down in Huntington Beach. Is there anything else you’d like to talk about? Anything you like to say to your fans? Tito Ortiz: Of course this weekend a lot of fans can come out and we’ll do autographs and you can take pictures with me and buy my Punishment clothing of course. I just have to thank all the fans who keep supporting me and have been backing me - win, lose, or draw. They're still around me and they are die-hard fans no matter what and I really appreciate that. I’m going to be here for a long time. I’ve been here long before a lot of these fighters have even been fighting and I plan to be around long after a lot of these fighters are gone. So I just want to thank all my fans for supporting me and supporting Punishment Athletics and of course everybody can check it out at www.punishment.com. MMANews.com: Ok Tito, I’d like to thank you for your time and hopefully we can do this again sometime. Good luck in your next fight with Rashad. Tito Ortiz: Thank you much man. I appreciate it.
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