Tito Ortiz has refuted the claims he has been on welfare, despite being employed.
The UFC Hall of Famer has reportedly collected $179-per-week checks from the United States government after applying for COVID-19 relief since July 2020, according to the Daily Mail. Although many citizens have taken help, Ortiz is currently the Huntington Beach pro tem mayor since November 2020, a position that pays him $1400 a month.
After the report went public, many criticized Ortiz for claiming fraudulent welfare. However, according to the former UFC champion, he says he made over $20 million dollars in his MMA career, but half of that money was taxed, and the rest of the savings he had he apparently spent already, which forced him to apply for the welfare checks.
‘”This is the first time in my life I’ve had to go to unemployment. I take care of myself, my girlfriend, my three kids, my mother, my stepfather so I have a whole family to take care of,” Ortiz said to Daily Mail. “For the first time in my career, I wasn’t getting paid for the jobs I normally do because of the pandemic. When I heard about the pandemic relief, I thought perhaps I can get some help – they can help with food for my family. I thought I was going to get a lot more money than I did but I made the best of it. This was just help that I needed.
“As a citizen of this country, I needed a little bit of help and when I got the help that I needed, it wasn’t as much as I thought it was going to be but it put food on my table,” Ortiz added. “The city manager letting out my information without my consent – I hope he goes to jail for it because it’s not right what he’s doing.”
Tito Ortiz believes him claiming welfare was released by other politicians as they don’t like him. However, the former UFC champion makes it clear he was eligible for the money and it was not fraudulent.
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