Tito Ortiz Announce Retirement after Bellator 170

[Nash Diesel]

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The headline says it all. Tito Ortiz, a fucking legend, retiring after Bellator 170 on January 21st. I feel this man deserves his own thread so let's share some memories, good, bad, and ugly about Mr. Ortiz.

Tito was the classic "heel". His rivalry with Ken Shamrock is what brought me back into MMA after being away from the sport for a good 6 years or so. Pretty much when Shamrock left MMA to do the WWF stuff, I stopped watching and after stumbling across a live via satellite encounter on the Best Damn Sports Show! I was already set on ordering their fight. And I'm glad I did. Due to ordering that show I was introduced to such fighters as Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell, Andrei Arlovski, I believe BJ Penn did commentary for the Hughes fight.

I always enjoyed Tito getting beat up but I never took credit away from the guy and was actually super happy for him when he beat Ryan Bader ending a long losing streak. His 2 fights with Chuck were like Evander v. Tyson or Rock v. Austin to me.

[Kneeneighbor]

My favorite part was when he was arrested for domestic abuse.

My second favorite was when he crashed his Porsche and got a DUI.

[Fanny Batter]

I like Tito. He's such a goofy prick that he was hard to take seriously but was always entertaining and built fights when others wouldn't. I'm not so sure the sport takes off in the US without him, his absurdity played off the more stoic personas of Couture and Liddell well and made those 2 world class fighters the poster boys by not quite hanging with them. Like you, I loved his win against Bader and enjoyed the minor hope that he could catch lightning in a bottle in the Rashad rematch and unfathomably earn another title shot. Wasn't to be though.

Plus, the reaction to "living death" and his hilariously bad commentary for Affliction I can watch all day. Daft twat.

[OD50]

I was never a big Tito fan but his UFC 22 fight against Frank Shamrock and even more so his UFC 40 fight against Ken Shamrock is what got me somewhat interested in MMA again after the "No Holds Barred" fad had waned. Definitely a key player for the UFC becoming what it is today, was a much bigger star back in the day than most seem to remember these days.

[Mark Hammer]

Shame we never got to see him vs Rampage. We were close.

[Nash Diesel]

Yeah in my opinion Tito Ortiz was what someone like Ronda or Conor are today. I even remember watching that movie Romeo Must Die where Jet Li winds up fighting like 5-6 dudes from the UFC and not really having any idea who they were but I remember seeing highlights of Tito during the Shamrock banter on Best Damn! and going oh shit that's the guy from the movie! And I always thought it was like some Mortal Kombat shit where you had Tito with the fire and Chuck with the ice like come on, did they plan that?

It is a shame we didn't get Tito v. Rampage, even at this stage of their career. I know back in the day they trained together and wouldn't fight each other but I bet if Rampage and Tito had crossed paths in the UFC when Rampage showed up it would have been a great fight. I still like the Ortiz-Griffin fights, but I have to tell you, that flurry of punches Chuck landed on him to finish him in the first fight, that's a highlight reel finish for the ages!

And Tito actually won me over due to his stint on TUF 3. I felt he was an extremely awesome coach, very intelligent, and there's a reason his team dominated and I believe it was due to his coaching. Too bad he sucks as a manager lol.

[McBain]

I just remember him showing up in TNA and being an embarrassment.

[Nash Diesel]

I just remember him showing up in TNA and being an embarrassment.

That was about 10 years too late. Shit, I remember he was front row at I BELIEVE WM 19 wasn't he? He was kind of off to the side from the announcers so you didn't see him very well but I wonder if he was there just as a fan or they had some ideas, maybe do something with Angle or Lesnar?

But yeah in TNA, nobody gave a fuck about him it was sad. Now, before that appearance you're talking about he did a couple spots when he was still pretty popular, reffed a match at Bound For Glory, maybe a ppv before that in 2005-2006 I can't remember....But yeah a couple years ago with Aces and Eights to build up that eventual Rampage Bellator fight...It just showed that not all wrestling fans give a fuck about MMA.

[Spedizzo]

I've considered him retired since like 2008

When he came back and got his ass kicked by Matt Hamill it was a dark day. When he beat Bader I was ecstatic but I knew it was going to be short lived

I was a Tito guy

[Mark Hammer]

I think all of us were pulling for him in the Rashad rematch. Jones vs Ortiz would have been big. Jones would have murdered him obviously but still. It would have sold.

[Nash Diesel]

I actually enjoyed that little 2 fight streak he had in Bellator. Choked out a guy that Tito was twice his size with virtual ease and Tito celebrated like he beat Fedor in his prime lol. Then he beat up Bonnar, who up until that fight was actually one of my favorites but holy shit he was corny as fuck and introduced the world to the rapper Stitches so fuck him for life lol.

I remember wanting him to beat Machida. At the time, Machida was super fucking boring but that fight was the first fight where after the fact I was like, why the fuck isn't this guy fighting like THIS all the time? It was very exciting for the most part.

One thing though I can't forgive Tito for and that's the 3rd Chuck fight. Maybe it was a blessing it fell through because the last thing any of us Chuck fans would have wanted is for Tito to come in and starch Chuck on his way out but at least we got another dream fight with Iceman v. Ace.