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| The Hunington Beach Bad Boy, Tito Ortiz |
On July the 1st, Tito Ortiz had been on a MMA losing streak lasting almost 5 years, the President of the UFC had vowed should he lose the following night he would never fight in the UFC again.
Tito had had a healthy and lengthy UFC career; 24 fights, 15 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw. He still holds the record for “Most successful light heavyweight title defences” Five. However he won that title back in 2000 and lost the title in 2003. Time had moved on and not to the benefit of Tito. After losing the title to Chuck Liddell he began a long road back to a title match, he went 5-1 with 4 wins straight which earned himself a rematch for his title, and once again he failed to walk away as the champion, he had lost to Chuck Liddell.
This loss proved to cast a spell on Tito, you see Tito had a big issue with the President of the UFC, Dana White, Tito right from the early days was always very demanding of money, he knew the UFC would be a big big business and he was the face of it for a long time and he wanted his pay check to show that. When Dana and the Ferttia's brought the Company, Dana wasn't willing to sign a cheque as big as Tito wanted. Having a feud with your boss is never a good career tip. Dana never gave Tito an easy fight, and rightfully so. Dana wanted to make as much money as he could off Tito, without giving Tito the satisfaction of being any good. After Tito's second loss to the champion, Dana had his chance to do exactly that.
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| Tito's attempt at making friends with the Boss. |
Tito was always a showboating, loudmouth, cocky punk, constantly made excuses, and was always disrespectful. While he was hated; people would pay to see him trash talk, people would pay to see him fight, people would pay to see him lose. Tito Ortiz has always been MMA's most hated fighter. Dana knew this and couldn't let him win, besides he didn't have to pay him as much if he lost so hand-picking tough fighters was an ideal situation.
After his loss to Chuck, he fought Rashad Evans whom at the time had a record of 10-0, with 5 of those wins in the UFC, In the first round Tito's striking came as a surprise to Rashad. You see Tito was a big muscular wrestler, whom in the old days had outwrestled opponents to gain the takedown, and once on top he would literally land big punches and elbows from the position he wound up in to finish the fight. Tito never needed to develop as he was huge and his size alone presented the biggest challenge to his opponents. Tito was also the most devastating master of ground and pound, but that was it, theres no point having one skill if your opponents starts learning how to prepare for it. He lost the title to Chuck, as Chuck was a wrestler who had developed into a kickboxer and wrestler. He used his wrestling to keep the fight standing and outstrike opponents and knock them out using his kickboxing and that's exactly how he beat Tito twice.
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| Tito's Ground and Pound |
So in the first round when Tito came out with a head kick this was unseen before and from that he used it to set up a takedown ,the first round was Tito's. In the second round Tito was deducted 1 point for an illegal knee to the groin, and the round ended with Tito with a submission locked in on Rashad. Tito was winning but tired. In the final round, the round was a lot closer and Rashad won the fight in the last minute when Tito had nothing left to give due to fatigue, Rashad started landing strikes and scored a takedown. The result was 2 rounds to Tito. 1 Round to Rashad. With the 1 point reduction Tito and Rashad had Drawn. 0-1-1
He fought Lyoto Machida, a karate fighter, whom at the time had collected a record of 12-0 with 2 wins over former UFC champions. Tito tried his best to beat Lyoto but he fell straight into Lyoto's game of falling for fakes and ended up by losing a decision to the karate black belt. What shouldn't be forgotten is Tito's Hail Mary submission attempt that almost worked in that fight too, just like when he almost beat Rashad. Tito almost submitted Lyoto in a triangle choke. Tito showed he wasn't afraid to attempt submissions from his back, another manoeuvre that proved Tito had developed... Or was crazy. Either way he lost. 0-2-1
He rematched Forrest Griffin, a fighter who he beat during his run to the championship rematch which had originally ended as a razor thin split decision victory to Tito. In the first fight Forrest brought a war, in the rematch once again Forrest brought a war, the second time round Forrest won by split decision. 0-3-1
Although it was never acknowledged in public, Dana smelt blood in the water. Since his loss to Chuck he had yet to win a fight. Tito still demanded a huge pay cheque, but he was unable to win. Dana wanted Tito gone and retired. Dana's idea to do this, was toput him in stylistically very very difficult or next to impossible fights.
Tito was a wrestler, he got in his opponents faces early, took them down with a big slam, landed big punches or elbows and forced them to quit. His standing was nothing special although improving. His speed was average. His power, his solid chin, and his wrestling was what won him fights.
Dana put him up against a fighter he trained. Matt Hamill. Matt had a wrestling background, great power, a great chin, great conditioning and average speed. However Matt had developed his stand up game and since Matt was a lot younger than Tito, Tito's stand up had improved but not in comparison in a modern day him, I should however say neither man possess anywhere near Championship quality striking however... Matt was Tito Version 2.0. In the fight the wrestling neutralized the takedowns and Matt and Tito ended up standing and trading and Matt was more versatile. Matt picked up the decision victory. So Tito had gone 0-4-1
He then was in an ultimatum, win or quit fighting. His opponent given was Ryan Bader. If Matt Hamill was Tito 2.0. Ryan Bader was Version 2.5. He was quicker, had the wrestling background, however he possessed one punch knockout power in both fists. Stylistically another nightmare fight. Bader had come off a loss in a number 1 contender fight, against a man who went on to take the title. Tito needed to win in a match even his hardcore fans had no belief in the win.
So “On July the 1st, Tito Ortiz had been on a MMA losing streak lasting almost 5 years, the president of the UFC had vowed should he losing the following night he would never fight in the UFC again.” In a match up people claimed there was no way Tito can win.
But this is MMA. Tito came out composed, calm, understanding of the situation that he had to win to keep his job. On the 2nd of July Tito landed a short right uppercut that technically looked horrible and sloppy however it landed straight on Baders chin, he fell down hurt. Tito got ontop and just like the old Tito in the old days of the UFC, Tito landed big right hands on top, and with his experience and evolution instead of running the risk of gassing out, he locked in a guillotine choke. Bader was forced to tap. Bader walked in as the 1/5 favourite but Tito defied the odds and had won.
1-4-1
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| The Finish |
Not only had Tito won, he beat a guy who was just 5 months ago fighting for the rights to a title fight, this took place at UFC 132.
UFC 133's Main Event was scheduled to put Rashad Evans vs Huge Prospect Phil Davis. Phil pulled out injured. In Tito's 14 years of being in the UFC, Tito had never once stepped in as a replacement. Tito had a sudden change of heart. Whether it was because he saw Rashad as a winnable fight, whether he wanted another chance to beat Rashad or whether the money was right. Tito stepped in.
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| "Suga" Rashad Evans |
Rashad Evans after drawing with Tito, continued undefeated and expanded his record to 13-0-1 capturing the UFC Light heavyweight title. Rashad is a very light and small for a light heavyweight, which is a surprise considering he made his UFC début as a heavyweight, and fans have always thought of him perusing a Middleweight future. But despite his size, he's used it as an advantage as he has speed on his side and, boy does he know how to use it. Rashad started his career also as a wrestler, using his speed for quick takedowns and staying ontop just like Tito. However with evolution Rashad focused on using his speed for strikes, be it punches or highlight reel head kicks, he became so confident in his stand up, he forgot about his wrestling. And when he entered for his first title defence he fought (just like Tito) Lyoto Machida. Lyoto had imposed gameplans to beat any fighter using his karate and excellent fakes to beat any striker, fast or strong. Rashad was far too overconfident and the result might have changed Rashads career.
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| Lyoto unloading on Rashad |
Rashad got hurt, and he got knocked out in a devastating fashion, Lyoto really hurt Rashad's chin and it's been loosened without a doubt. Rashad was left without a title that night, and he was also left on the floor gazing at the stars. Since then Rashad's camp decided to forget the idea of him standing with fighters, and for the last 2 fights he used his speed and wrestling technique to wrestle opponents. But not without troubles. In both fights, in both final rounds, Rashad has felt overconfident and stood with his opponent, ending up with Rashad getting hurt and getting rocked. However.... Rashad has now moved camps and is no longer training the same camp that won him the belt, won him 2 back to back fights and cost him his only loss.
However, Rashads chin might be questionable, but in 14 years Tito has never scored a standing knockout, will it be too late for Tito?
Rashad's gameplan to win, if he can use his wrestling and speed to stay ontop, and keep Tito on his back Rashad can win. But, in my opinion Tito has more ways to win and if he pulls tactics in, that he has the tool set to use but has never put together. He can win easily.
Tito needs to use his Wrestling experience and MMA experience to keep the fight standing, the Sprawl and Brawl tactic. Tito needs to not be afraid to get inside the pocket with Rashad. I won't deny Rashad has quicker and maybe even stronger stand up but Tito has a much stronger chin, if Tito can prepare to get punched but close the distance, he can brawl. He needs to force Rashad into a sloppy slugfest. As soon as this starts, Tito can land short hard punches that could finish the fight. This is with the belief that Rashad's chin is as weak as I want it to be and that Tito doesn't fear the takedown. I have also taken into consideration the clinch, if Rashad wishes to clinch once Tito is inside, Tito should use his superior strength and wrestling to put Rashad up against the cage and tire him out.
As you can tell, I'm not only calling a massive upset but I'm backing a top favourite of mine and making up a gameplan that probably won't be followed but my prediction is that something will go down like it
Tito by KO in the 1st round or by being to strong for Rashad and earning a Unanimous decision. Even if he used the same tactics he used in the old fight I still believe that tactic might work to ride the decision victory, proved he doesn't knee Rashad in the groin...
I just believe there's too many other factors that means Tito can pull this off.
Tito has just come off a win, Rashad has had a long lay-off, so ring rust will be a big factor.
Rashad is making his Début fighting out of a new camp, and his gameplan might not be the best.
Tito's chin is much tougher than that of Rashad's.
Finally a brief layout of how I feel the breakdown of each individual skill set:
Takedown offence. Rashad
Takedown defence. Rashad
Strength. Tito
Speed. Rashad
Striking. Rashad.
Clinch. Tito.
Cardio. Rashad.
Submissions, Tito.
Chin Tito.
Heart, both fairly bad.
Gameplan, normally Rashad by miles.
Fighting from the bottom. Tito
Fighting from the top. Tito
Experience. Tito.
Tito might be the most hated MMA fighter of all time, but right now he's coming out with a Cinderella story. This is a huge shot for Tito and as much as the hardcore fans might hate him, you have to acknowledge the underdog story and hopefully come August the 6th Tito can defy the odds one more time.
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| On August the 6th It goes down... Again |
