Tito Ortiz got the smack talk rolling for his upcoming bout with Alberto del Rio this week.
However, he’s now got his sights set on a much, much bigger prize in the sport of MMA. Speaking on the Domenick Nati Show (via Bloody Elbow) recently, Ortiz claimed he would do better against UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones than ‘Bones” rival Daniel Cormier:
“I think I would do a lot better against Jon Jones than Daniel Cormier, because Cormier is just a shorter guy (with) bigger legs, bigger torso. He’s just a big, big guy. Jon Jones is long and lengthy. I’m going to get in the inside and try to overpower some of the positions. But if it would be Jon Jones, I would think I’d have a great chance against (him).”
Ortiz Good Enough To Beat Jones?
The 44-year-old ‘Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ was last seen knocking out archrival Chuck Liddell in a farcical bout under the now-defunct Golden Boy MMA banner. The decrepit ‘Iceman’ is a far cry from a prime Jones, who is arguably the greatest mixed martial artist to ever compete.
He’s now signed with Combate Americas and will face former WWE champion del Rio sometime this October. Del Rio has been out of action since 2010, so it could be a walkover for the more experienced Ortiz. The UFC great has retired before, but that won’t stop him from claiming he can top one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport today. All he needs, he says, is a full 18-week training camp to implement the real gameplan to defeat Jones:
“Yup, I think I could. If I have a camp like I did the last one of 18 weeks, 100 percent,” he said. “There really hasn’t been anybody to fight Jon Jones, to get in his face, and stay in his face. Everybody else, they want to strike on the outside with him. He’s too damn long, you cannot do that. You got to get in the inside of him. That’s the way to fight him.
“As a coach and as a fighter, that’s the way to beat him. Someone should be aggressive enough to keep the fight, pushing him around. Make him feel uncomfortable.”
Are you buying Ortiz’ bold claims about ‘Bones?’
