Tito Ortiz is unhappy with Anderson Silva’s negotiations leading up to their boxing match.
In their MMA careers, Tito Ortiz and Anderson Silva never had the opportunity to face one another. Ortiz spent his career at light heavyweight while Silva spent most of his fights at middleweight. Back in the time of their primes, the type of “super fights” we see today was not a thing. Champions jumping around to different weight classes was a no-no. However, now these two retired MMA fighters are going to be stepping into the squared circle and box each other.
Negotiations leading up to the fight seemed to have gone rather quickly as this fight had popped up out of nowhere. According to Ortiz, however, he is unhappy with the agreed-upon weight of the bout. He spoke to TMZ about this and how it affects his feelings toward Silva.
“Now I get to focus strictly on boxing,” Ortiz said. “I’m excited. I’m thankful to Anderson for finally taking the fight. There was a little negotiating on his part. I had a lot of respect for Anderson. But to do what he did for the contract, I lost respect for him, man,” Ortiz said.“He wants me down to 195lbs. He’s fought at 205lbs six times in his career. He wants me down to 195lbs so it shows that he’s afraid of my power. People don’t realize that I’m a pretty decent puncher and I’ve gotten better over the last six years. I’ve gotten really good over the last 34 years.”
The last time Ortiz stepped into an MMA cage was for his fight against Alberto Del Rio for Combate Americas, that fight was at a catchweight of 210 pounds. Silva did fight at light heavyweight once when he filled in on short notice to face Daniel Cormier at UFC 200. His most recent boxing debut was set at 182 pounds. It seems a jump to 195 is a compromise for Silva as well.
“The last time I was 195lbs was I think my sophomore year in college wrestling,” Ortiz said. “I’ll make (the weight). I’ll try. I’ll cut off my leg to make the weight. I’ll try. I’ve never missed weight in my whole career, but Anderson kind of pushed the limit of doing that.”
Do you think the contractual weight being 195 helps Silva’s chances against Tito Ortiz?
