Tito Ortiz returns to UFC stage
The Ultimate Fighting Championship hosted a conference call Friday morning to announce several items of note, including the signing of a major free-agent mixed martial artist.
It just wasn’t the fighter most fans were hoping would join the organization.
As the MMA world anxiously awaits a deal to be worked out between the UFC and superstar heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, it instead was revealed that Tito Ortiz would return to the organization.
Ortiz, one of the sport’s biggest stars as it rose to mainstream acceptance, left the UFC in May 2008 amid a bitter war of words with Dana White, the organization’s president.
The former friends continued to trade verbal barbs in the media and on the Internet but settled their differences around the time of UFC 100 on July 11, which opened the door to Ortiz’s return. White said the relationship definitely was strained, but Ortiz is good for business.
“Tito’s one of those guys that a lot of people love and a lot of people hate, but one way or another, people give a (expletive) about him, so he’s back,” White said.
Ortiz has been out of action since losing the last fight on his previous UFC contract to Lyoto Machida in May 2008. The 34-year-old had major back surgery in the meantime and just now is getting back into fighting shape.
“I just started running laps and started doing bag work,” the former light heavyweight champion said. “I’m looking toward around November or December, so before the year is over, I want to fight 100 percent.”
White speculated that the first opponent for Ortiz could be Mark Coleman.
Ortiz says he thought of signing with a different organization but, in the end, knew the UFC was the right place for him to finish his career.
“Competition was the biggest factor,” he said. “If I fought for Strikeforce, who would I fight against? Babalu? I’d crush his face. Frank Shamrock? It (would) be the first death in mixed martial arts history. Who else would there be?”
Perhaps the same questions should be posed to Emelianenko. The man considered the world’s best heavyweight fighter, and perhaps best pound-for-pound by many observers, remains a free agent after the collapse of Affliction last week.
White says there is little he can do at this time. The deal between the UFC and Emelianenko appears to hinge on the fact that the Russian fighter’s handlers insist on co-promoting any event in which he appears.
“When I tell you that we tried everything that we could possibly do to get Fedor into the UFC, we went above and beyond,” White said. “We came to the table willing to give up just about anything except the co-promotion.”
White can’t see a scenario in which the UFC would relent to the idea of co-promotion.
Emelianenko’s manager, Vadim Finkelchtein, issued a press release on Friday. He said the door remains open on a deal.
“It is our hope that the UFC will remain in active dialogue with us as we try to find ways for us to work together,” the statement read in part. “All we are asking is that there is give-and-take in the negotiations and that they are not one-sided.”
White did confirm the signing of several other fighters left without a deal after the fall of Affliction, but an agreement with Emelianenko does not appear close. White said, however, that the deal still was on the table.
He also announced that new signee Vitor Belfort will replace Dan Henderson as Rich Franklin’s opponent in the main event of UFC 103 in Dallas on Sept. 19. Henderson instead will get a second chance at Anderson Silva’s middleweight title.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.
