| Tito Ortiz Exclusive Interview | | Print | |
| Posted by Jason Hearne | ||||||||
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The Fight Site has obtained exclusive access to "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz, read his thoughts about Rashad Evans, his career future and the future of Team Punishment.
TFS: Dana White recently stated Rashad Evans is one of the most underrated fighters in the UFC. How do you see the fight playing out?  TFS: Since TUF3 what involvement have you had in coaching and which fighters have you been working with primarily? Tito: I’ve been really focusing on my career right now, you know the coaching role is something I’ll possibly be doing in the future like I said with buying the De La Hoya place up here and possibly doing reality shows coaching the up and comers and looking for the best guys of the up and comers. That’ll be for the future, right now it’s all about my career I think. TFS: Michael Bisping was your #2 fighter on TUF3. What do you make of his last few fights and where do you see his MMA career going? Tito: Michael Bisping is an awesome fighter and man he’s a great guy. I can’t say nothing bad about him at all man. He’s an awesome fighter, very exciting and his next fight I believe he’s fighting Matt Hammill. I think it’ll be an exciting fight and it’s just one of those fights everybody wants to see and I wish the best to him. For the future of him I think as his time comes and he gets better and better, works on his wrestling, he’ll get better himself and as long as I’m in the UFC I don't see him being the champion before I am. He’s still a young guy that’s coming up but he’s a great guy and a really, really good fighter and I hope the world for him. TFS: There are rumours circulating that Matt Hammill and yourself have parted ways. Is there any truth in this and what was the reason behind the conflict? Tito: I wouldn’t say a falling out you know, Matt Hammill lives on the other side of the United States, I live in California, and he’s got his training partners he’s going to go about. We have been separated a bit because of the people he’s with but that’s fine, he’s going to be a great fighter just as long as he knows how to do it. We’ll see him in the next fight and how he does and I wish the best to him and we’ll just see in the future. TFS: Predictions for the Bisping Vs Hammill fight? Tito: I like Michael Bisping and I like Matt Hammill so I’m going have to go on a neutral position on that fight and may the best man win. TFS: Will you be coming over to The O2 Arena, London, England to see the fight? Tito: It’s a possibility; I’m not sure just because of the stuff after this fight I’m going to be doing. I’m going to be going over to Iraq for the USO for our troops and for the United States of America of course and just to give back and boost a little morale out there and there’s a few movies I’m getting into so I have a really busy schedule right after my fight. TFS: The purchase of Pride FC by the Zuffa Company is bringing a lot of quality fighters to the main UFC stage. Is this a good thing for the UFC and MMA or is the UFC monopoly destined to be the end of the sport we love? Tito: Of course it’s a UFC monopoly; they’re making sure they cover all their ground. You know they buy the WEC, they buy the WFA, they buy Pride, and they make sure they buy all the organizations so there are no challenges from anybody at all. It’s just the UFC being smart business men and if they can pick up everybody they are going to do it. I’m not sure if it’s good for us or if it’s bad, we’re just going to have to wait and find out what happens in the future and see what’s the best for the fighters themselves. TFS: The lawyers working on behalf of the UFC recently had issues with the Sherdog news site and prevented them from promoting the UFC in anyway. More recently they have initiated a claim against the UK MMA promotion Cage Rage and also ourselves here at the UFC-UK fansite. What are your personal opinions on these tactics by the UFC and does Dana White have any involvement in this? Tito: I really don’t have that much information to feedback on that you know. UFC are going to do what they want to do, they’re the biggest dogs in the water right now and to run them off is going to be really hard. I guess that’s all I can say about that. TFS: In a recent interview with Kevin Iole from Yahoo! Sports, Dana White was quoted saying “There’s a billboard of his big ugly gorilla face at the busiest point in Las Vegas, where it can scare kids who are riding by in their cars. Guess whose ugly head is on our billboard in Times Square? He’s a moron: A complete and total moron. His whole career, he’s stepped over a dollar to pick up a dime. I’m sick of him. It’s time he started beating up someone other than a nearly 50-year-old Ken Shamrock.” What do you have to make of this brash statement and what would be your response to it? Tito: Yeah of course, with Dana White he’s the person who’s going to talk over us fighters because when we start being business men he’s just realising they are going to have to pay us more money. He can say I can say step over a dollar to pick up a quarter but if I step over that dollar to pick up a quarter it was respectfully that I picked up that quarter because I wasn’t going to sell myself out for the dollar and that’s what Chuck Liddell has done. He’s sold himself out and all of a sudden he’s in the shadows of everybody now and I really look at it like Dana White is really holding people down. When I went out on the Dana White special on Spike TV I was trying to get what was deserved for me and he was holding me down by making sure I didn’t do it. He made me look bad on camera and that’s fine, I can see the way he does business, it’s kind of like the mob mentality. If it isn’t his way then it’s the highway and if you go around him he’s going to cut you down before you do it. That’s what Dana does, he’s a big bully and when you have billions of dollars behind you people can’t do much about it. I’m a little voice that’s going to speak out and I’m always going to speak out about Dana. It’s just the way I am. I say my mind and I don’t care how big the company is or how big the person is I’m still going to speak up and I’m going to say something just as long as I know what’s right and truthful to me. I got to respect myself because when I go to bed at night I’m the only person who looks in the mirror and I got to respect myself. I would much rather step over that dollar and pick up a respectful quarter than sell myself out to the company. It’s just one of those things that I see that they’re just trying to take advantage of fighters, man; the fighters just have nowhere else to go. That’s why the UFC are picking up all the other companies because if you want to fight, you’re going to have to fight in the UFC. It’s the world of Dana White now, that’s what it comes down to. TFS: Going back to the brand, Punishment Athletics seems to be a rising star in the MMA game. How long have you been working on this for? Tito: It’s a family owned company, i’ve owned it since 1999 and I made it up in 1999 and we’ve got all kinds of cool gear man, cool stuff just to wear out to a nightclub, cool stuff to go training, cool stuff for girls, stuff for kids and we just try to make sure we’ve got as much gear as possible. Our next line is going to be getting into Levis and stuff like that; it’s going to be the stuff you just wear in your casual life. It’s built from a fighter who loves fighters and for fans who love fighting. TFS: One of the things the majority of fight fans agree on is that Punishment Athletics shirts are the best designed MMA shirts across the globe. Who comes up with the design concepts and what level of input do you have? Tito: Thank you man, they’re all my own designs too. I have an idea and I give it to my artist and I tell him this is what I want and this is how I want it to look. We’ve got some really cool designs coming out soon, we’re going towards the gladiator side of things, about real fighters and hopefully we’ll be able to get them in the stores and even over in the UK would be awesome. Of course if it’s not in the stores go online at www.punishment.com to check out all the new stuff and get it online man and we’ll get it out to you as soon as possible. TFS: Distribution in the US appears to be really good for Punishment Athletics in 2007 what should we expect leading into 2008? Tito: Well mainly to get in some of the main stores out here in the US and try to go across the globe. I think that’s the biggest thing to go across to some of the other stores in the UK, Europe and Japan; it’s just about trying to get across the world. I think this is the time for MMA to push a brand like Punishment. I’ve been pushing Punishment for so long that now the time has come to take the world by storm. TFS: Here in the UK Punishment Athletics gear is impossible to get your hands on. Are there any talks of UK distribution in the near future? Tito: It’s about us having to work hard, you know. We have stores out there in the UK that email us at Punishment.com and talk to our sales reps and we’re in the works of getting all of our gear out there. I think that’s just the next big step for doing this, having the right merchandise so that fans in the UK want our product. I know there’s a lot of fans out there in the UK that support Tito Ortiz, support Team Punishment and want to get Punishment gear out there; I guess the word of mouth has just spread the world. TFS: You’ve put a massive amount of time, money and effort into Punishment Athletics and Team Punishment over the years so does it bother you when Dana White blurs out your logos and ads on old UFC events? Tito: I think that just shows how powerful my company is, my firms taking over. It shows that if they’re blurring us out then we’re making a mark. It’s OK though because people still know what it is, even when it’s blurred out, they know it’s Punishment Athletics. It’s OK though because it only shows how powerful my company really is. TFS: When you fight at UFC 73 your UFC career will have spanned 60 UFC events. What does the future hold for Tito Ortiz the fighter? Tito: In my mind I have a whole 3 or 4 years left competing, the biggest thing for me is beating Rashad. After this fight I have one more fight left on my contract; after that do I sign with the UFC or do I sign with another company. To me really it’s about making sure I can make as much money in the next 3 years as possible so I can retire; you know. I don’t want to be a Ken Shamrock trying to get another fight at the age of 43-44 and just make sure I’m retired comfortably. The UFC are holding back from paying the fighters a lot of money, some of the guys from The Ultimate Fighter series are getting paid say $10,000 or $15,000 per fight which is ridiculous money if you compare it to the money Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather are getting paid. Mayweather made $28 million and De La Hoya made $48 million in 4 years. The UFC aren’t paying their fighters even a percentage of what they should be paying so it’s really hard for me. I think it’s a battle I’m going to have to battle alone because it appears no other fighters are going to battle with me. For the next 3 years the fans are going to be there with me no matter what and I’m still going to be competing win, lose or draw. I’m just entertaining, that’s what I do, I fight and I fight with my heart man and my pride on my shoulder as bright as possible. TFS: You’re a huge fan of fighting in front of the home crowd back in the US but for the right fight do you see yourself ever being billed on a UK UFC event? Tito: I would love to come out to the UK and fight. I know I have a lot of great fans who are really, really passionate about me as a fighter and support my clothing company and so hopefully in the future man. I would love to come out there and compete; it’s just a matter of time and the right organisation or the UFC pushing me to go out there. TFS: Back when you started out as a MMA fighter which fighters did you look up to for inspiration? Tito: When I was coming up people like Randy Couture who was the guy who I was inspired by as a UFC fighter but other guys just in the game of fighting itself, you know, Mohammed Ali, he was a guy I really looked up to growing up and as far as from the professional wrestlers side of things guys like Hulk Hogan. I just tried to get a mixture of all of them and just working really, really hard when it came to training. That’s what inspired me the most, guys who worked hard you know. TFS: How do you feel now that you are that person new fighters look up to in admiration? Tito: Well I haven’t really looked at it that way before; I think there’s still time for me to compete still so i’ve never looked at it as Tito Ortiz of UFC or the champion or has lasted over 60 UFC events. I’ve never really seen it that way, I’m still competing man, I still see my future very bright and I still see a chance of me winning the Light Heavyweight World Title again. TFS: Who do you look up to these days as the best in the sport? Tito: It’s really hard now to admire fighters, there’s a whole bunch though; guys like Kendall Grove who works really, really hard and he does it on his own and I’m very impressed by it because he’s an all round fighter now. I used to be completely impressed by Randy Couture but you know as a fighter he’s a great fighter but as a person I kind of lost a lot of respect for him. I see how business is and its fine but really I’m still waiting for a guy to impress me as much as Kendall Grove. TFS: What would be your dream fight and result? Tito: Right now, it’s Rashad Evans. It’s all about getting this fight done and I just at the future as getting another shot at the World Title. I think the biggest thing is 07.07.07 and I got to beat Rashad Evans. The biggest thing on my goal list right now is to get that done. TFS: Will Ken Shamrock and you ever become friends? Tito: Never, never friends. Acquaintances, yes. I’ll say hello to him but no more than that. TFS: If the UFC ever made action figures would you allow a Tito Ortiz figure to be released? Tito: Yeah, that would be awesome. I’d love to have some product like that happen. In the future I think we could go forward and make the Team Punishment guys; a Tito Ortiz doll and perhaps a Kendall Grove doll or something like that. It’ll be cool and we’ll see what happens in the future. TFS: Would you like to plug anyone or anything? Tito: My clothing company and I got to thank all my fans for supporting me and supporting it. TFS: Thanks Tito do you have a message for the huge population of Tito fans in the UK? Tito: Yeah - 07.07.07, the destruction of Rashad Evans and thanks for all you support, I couldn’t have done it without you.
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