Tito Ortiz comments on Dana White and the UFC
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- February
- 7
Tito Ortiz and his girlfriend Jenna Jameson were on the Howard Stern show yesterday. He had some harsh words about the UFC and Dana White:
I’ve worked so hard for this company and put my ass on the line in every single circumstance . I’ve fought injured. I’ve fought with a torn ACL, I fought with a bulging disc in my back. I still fought and put my ass on the line for these guys. They don’t show any respect man, they don’t show me the respect that I need out of them.Dana White is like Don King. the only thing that separates him and Don King is the color of his skin.
Howard asked Tito: “Can you say horrible things about Dana White and still be able to work in the UFC?”
You know what? What it comes down to is he is an egomaniac. He wants to be a superstar. He wants to be a pro fighter. They did a big special on Spike saying that Tito Ortiz vs Dana, showing him riding around on his jet, riding around in his Ferrari.Dana is a person trying to hold me down. He is a scumbag. He is a dirt bag.
ouch.
Tito then discusses payouts for UFC fighters:
The UFC makes about 43 million dollars strictly on PPV. That doesn’t include revenue of the gate which is about another 5 million, which is not including the merchandising which is about another 10-15.I’ve been with the company for eleven years now. If you’ve been with a company for ten years, which is a decade, and you haven’t had an up skate in pay, wouldn’t you think there’d be something wrong there?
I’ve got great fans , I’ve got millions of them. I’ve got one more fight on my contract in May, and I’ll be fighting May 24th, live on PPV. I’ll be fighting some guy named Machida, who is undefeated. Pretty much nobody knows who he is, but he is a great fighter. I’ll give him that. But once I beat him then I’ll be a free agent.
I was a champion before Dana White was with the company, and I’ll be a champion again. Maybe it won’t be with the UFC, maybe it will be with another company. Maybe a company that I build myself. This is about the fighters. I want to take care of the fighters. I want the fighters to get a piece of everything.
It will be interesting to see if Tito Ortiz will end up in the UFC or elsewhere. The last fight on his current UFC contract is scheduled for May 24th in Las Vegas, Nevada. He will face undefeated light heavyweight Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida.
M-1 Global has not signed another big name fighter since signing Fedor Emelianenko. EliteXC is really building up their roster of fighters, so I would expect them to make the biggest push for Tito, if he does not re-sign with the UFC by then.The rumored fight card for UFC 84 is :
-B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk
-Lyoto Machida vs. Tito Ortiz
-Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva
-Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic
-Rousimar Palhares vs. Ivan Salaverry
This entry was posted
on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 4:27 pm by Larry Vollmer.
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Larry,
Excellent post…...Nice to see that Tito is still alive and kickin with Jenna
Can Tito honestly say that over 11 years he has never received a pay raise? I would venture to guess that he is making significantly more per fight now than he was a decade ago.
The sad truth Tito doesn’t want to accept is that he has turned into somewhat of a boring fighter. And does anyone realistically view him as a legitimate title contender? His chin is suspect and over time his overpowering wrestling g-n-p style has been neutralized. Sans the fights where he beat on an elderly Ken Shamrock when was the last time he put on an exciting performance? Personally I would much rather watch Chuck, Wand, Rampage, Shogun, Sokoudjou, Machida, Henderson, Forest or Thiago Silva.
Just my opinion.
Thanks for the comments guys.
I totally agree with you Steve. Tito’s style has become dated. The hype leading up to his fights seems to be more exciting then his fights these days.
Ortiz vs Machida has big snooze fest potential. Let’s hope they both come to bang instead of waiting out a decision.
I like Tito but i think what he hates Dana for is a mirrored Image of himself. Hes the moron that said in theoctigon after the boring Rashad fight that he was taking his private jet to Las vegas for the after party…......im mean who says that? also talking about wanting to be famous i think he will do anything to be seen…..have you seen him on the New Apprentice…..funny guy. I still think he has what it takes..i dont think his style is really out dated. I think its more the fact that hes spending all his time trying to be famous instead of doing what he does.
I don’t think his style is outdated, but it’s becoming dated.
Thanks for the comments.
My Bad, I do agree with that.
No problem. I’d just like to see some more standing KO’s or submissions on the ground from him.
The take down and ground and pound attempts are becoming pretty monotonous.
i personally agree with ortiz. dana white is trying to make this federation like the wwf. nobody wants it to turn into that. first you bring in lesnar, grtanite he did good the first 70 seconds, then you are calling out ortiz to fight? wtf he just does stuff for attention. and on titos style outdated? no way how many fights end up on the ground? almost all of them so why would the g n p be outdated?
GnP is not getting dated – but Tito only tries to finish fights via ground and pound. He won’t work for a submission on the ground. UFC fighters are really working on their wrestling these days and that neutralizes a lot of Tito’s offense.
“GnP is not getting dated – but Tito only tries to finish fights via ground and pound. He won’t work for a submission on the ground. UFC fighters are really working on their wrestling these days and that neutralizes a lot of Tito’s offense.”
Come on! Tito and his style outdated? Isnt the point wanting to win?Duh! I think everyone is just hoping on the I hate Tito ride…He does whats best for him like all fighters and think about it he was a Champion at one time if he doesnt get the belt again well atleast he is one of the few who can say they have owned it….And for a few years not a few months….
I think it’s mostly Dana white if you ask me. Dana had the nerve to say that Fedor Elmenanko was nowhere near the TOP 5 heavyweight contenders in MMA. Had he signed Fedor, him and Joe Rogan would be riding his nuts ALL DAY LONG; talking about how he’s the best Heavyweight MMA fighter ever. You know how Joe Rogan can be when he really gets into details about a fighter! Tito has made some good money with the UFC recently, he just has to understand that those figures he was talking about the UFC annual earnings is all good, but they have taxes, venues, travel expenses, other fighters that have to be paid. There are so many things to that he doesn’t see.. he’s just thinking that since the UFC makes 50 or 60 million… he should get 20 million… please, the UFC would be selling the company if that was the case. Bad financial deals always bring a company under. The time will come when these guys are making what they probably should be making.
I don’t hate Tito. I like the hype he surrounds his fights with and find him pretty entertaining.
Of course the point is wanting to win, but if you aren’t that
versatile and your opponent knows your game plan right off the bat, you become a vulnerable fighter.
Wayne – I think you hit the nail on the head with the finance comments.
I think if the bonuses that Dana White issues were made public, a lot of this fighter salary talk would make more sense.
That is nowhere near happening, though.
Thanks Larry… Tito just doesn’t understand the dynamics of running a business like the UFC. Not only Dana white gets a cut, but so many other people are involved in putting together the UFC event. Everyone from the crew who put the octagon together from the commentators, production, joe silva, and the list goes on and on. Travel and expenses really are expensive especially when they do a event overseas and pay these fighters and whoever else to travel there. Some events do better than others as far as PPV figures are concerend.
LOL. Tito Ortiz is just a big whiner. He hasn’t had a good fight since Shamrock, and quite frankly Shamrock has never really been that good. Ortiz gets his ass kicked almost every time he fights a contender, then he bitches about how much money he’s NOT making. Ortiz would still be fighting in local Ring of Fire show’s or something if it wasn’t for the UFC, he should be a little more greatful. He get’s paid a million bucks a year EASY, and all he has to do is spend time in the gym and fight for 15 mins. I went to school for 6 years, have worked for the same company for 10 years and I will NEVER make million dollars. Grow up, suck it up and quit your bitching.