Tito Ortiz Makes “Amends” With UFC; Matchup With Rich Franklin to Headline UFC 103?
Former UFC light heavyweight champion and current free agent Tito Ortiz was a guest on TapouT Radio on Thursday, saying on the show that he had made “amends” with the UFC.
“I’m very thankful for Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta from the UFC and I’m glad that me and Dana (White) kind of got to brush each other off. We may not still like each other or whatever but we came to amends – which is awesome’” said Ortiz. “I gotta thank Strikeforce for giving me an opportunity and I want to thank Affliction for giving me an opportunity.”
Despite being “close” to contracts with Strikeforce, Affliction, and the now-defunct EliteXC, a return to the UFC was always considered a possibility, with some considering it the most likely option for the veteran 205-pounder. Ortiz last fought in May 2008, suffering a unanimous decision loss to Lyoto Machida to fulfil his existing contract with the UFC. He then underwent surgery last October on his back and has been sidelined since to recover and negoitate his next fight.
If Ortiz is indeed returning to the UFC, the obvious questions that need answered are when will he return to the Octagon and who will he fight. With Ortiz’s possible re-signing not yet official, neither is his return fight, but MMA Mania’s Jesse Holland speculates that Ortiz could headline UFC 103 on September 19 in Dallas against Rich Franklin.
Ortiz (15-6-1) was not won in three-straight fights, suffering losses to Chuck Liddell and Machida while earning a draw against Rashad Evans.
Franklin (25-4), who has won 3 of his last 4 fights including a recent victory over Wanderlei Silva, is reportedly in Las Vegas meeting one-on-one with UFC President Dana White to negotiate a new contract. “Ace” has one fight remaining on his current UFC deal, but has stated in recent weeks that he’d likely sign a new contract before his next fight, which had been rumored to be the UFC 103 main event.
[HT: MMA Mania]
Tags: Rich Franklin, Tito Ortiz
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Here we go again. The UFC acts like they would quit the business before signing Tito and like no surprise they sign him again. I like Tito though but i think Franklin wins if they indeed fight at UFC 103.
Damn dude this is exciting news. I love tito and i’ve been waiting for him to fight again. This would be a great match for him. He just needs to overcome the ring rust (if any) and I think he can bring it to franklin. Franklin imo has been unimpressive in his last couple of fights. He’s becoming another guy who’s accumilating w’s with moderate fighters + he made wayy to many excuses for why he lost against hendo. So, Ithink if tito came back, he would come back a little rusty, but with something to prove and he would come back ready and pumped up. He’s still young enough to fight and young enough to work on his stand up and be more of an overall threat. Hope the deal happens and i hope tito GnP’s the **** out of franklin.
i thought rich franklin won that fight with hendo. and hendo did head butt him. franklin would take tito
why would you wish that upon franklin jazzkok hes just about the nicest guy in the sport and IMO i also believe franklin beat hendo…….hendo had an eye poke and a headbutt and franklin still beat him imo..hendo round 1 franklin round 2 and 3….but anyways im glad tito is back but i dont see him giving franklin any problems really
well i have to disagree dudes i think hendo won. but you guys are right. Rich is a nice guy and a great role model for the sport. To be honest, i havent been that impressed with him for quite some time and i’m started to think that he’s becoming a little cocky, a little full of himself when he hasn’t really done anything “impressive” since he was champ.
I gotta agree with Jazz, Hendo won that fight despite his headbutt and eye poke. I’ll go so far to say that I think Wanderlei should of beat him too. I hope Tito comes back and whoops people!
um i thought he won that fight
Here we go, he isnt my fav fighter and he talks alot of **** but he is a top fighter and draws a crowd, good fight between him and franklin seeing it being a close decision to either fighter.
He hasn’t been a top fighter in years. He’s been a top self-promoter, but not a top fighter. Hell, he hasn’t beaten anyone but Ken Shammy Sham in how many years? Three?
Plus…how many promotions passed on even making him offers?
He’s too busy trying to hit the sides on his girlfriend to be a “top” fighter.
it’s like dana loves rich franklin so much he’s looking for guys to fight him instead of spider.
makes sense though – ace’s in the top handful for sure, great sport to boot.
although tito is still quite excellent no matter what smack people say. rashad fought his @ss off and the tito fight was very even.
not to take away from machida’s awesome performance but, i thought rashad psyched himself out a bit and danced a bit randomly and wastfully compared to his other fights where he was more purposful. but sure i’d agree that machida has a way of making great fighters seem not totally great.
what weight class are we looking at hear? catch?
I would guess that Tito and Franklin would hook it up at 205, since I believe that is where they are both fighting these days…
franklin doesn’t fight anderson because dana isn’t interested in a anderson-franklin 3. because him and most people believe that anderson silva would win. that why franklin went to a higher wieght class
This is the exact type of match that needs to happen to draw more attention to the already stacked UFC 103. If this match indeed co-headlines, the UFC has come up with another great marketing approach to make the consumers open their pockets to buy this ppv and see the return of tito ortiz to the ufc.
Have him fight Hendo. I would like nothing more than to see Tito get air-bombed courtesy of Dangerous Dan and his new patented finishing move.
Hendo and Tito wouldn’t make much sense. hendo’s last fight @ 205 he beat franklin and we all know what he just did @ mw. Tito’s got to work his way back up and hendo’s already done that. Don’t see that fight happening dude.
i wonder which is more likely to happen…
Tito back in the UFC
or
Fedor coming to the UFC
You know I’ve been thinking about it.. and the more I look at how Dana white operates the more I think both fighters are on their way here.. if not already signed.. and the rest is just marketing.. the UFC are top of the food chain when it comes to marketing and I wouldn’t put it past them, they do know how to put on a good show if nothing else
Tito for sure
… damnit
carls and I were kicking around Tito coming bact to the UFC, and specifically for 103 to fight Franklin, several days ago.
It makes sense for all parties concerned, and is a bonus for the fans.
Tito-haters get to see Franklin try and tee off on the Huntington Beach Bad Boy, and Tito-lovers get to see their boy back in the spotlight on the big stage hwere the best compete, instead of in a smaaler show and against lesser competition.
Tito Ortiz IMO still has some good fights left in him, and would put on a good show with Franklin. Whats the sense of having Ortiz finish his days somewhere else, when his roots are in the UFC? There is money to still be made with Ortiz, and Dana has shown if nothing else he’s all about the folding green.
Dana should shelve all the drama and bad blood, get a deal done and start pimping 103 as the return of Tito Ortiz to the UFC.
The Texas fans will dig it, and I’m pretty sure that Ortiz still has some drawing power, especially more than Luiz Cane does.
I know there will be opposition and dissenting opinions, but rationally this is the smart move. The UFC simply has NO main event level opponent for Franklin, and Texas-area fans have let it be known that they are underwhelmed with the card’s “WOW” factor, and I can’t blame them…
Oh texas fans will def. dig it…..and im from texas…and i dig it
Tito for sure still has a lot more drawing power than people think. All the time i talk to people who are casula MMA fans, the first two names that i always get questions about are Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. Ortiz still has a decent following including myself who’s been a Tito fan since his debut. A fight with Franklin would be great for the Texas card and a perfect main event considering that all the top 205 contenders are already booked. Ortiz still has lots of potential great fights including rematches with Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans and even Lyoto Machida. He’d make a great fight with anyone at 205 and would bring back lots of more media exposure and fans.
If Tito vs Franklin does happen it would be and exciting match between 2 former champs who are from the same era fighting for another shot at some glory. Since Tito has an iron chin and awesome cardio it will be hard for Franklin to score a ko, BUT Franklin likes to pick guys apart which could work to his advantage, but also Tito has improved his stand-up and Franklin has shown a suspect chin in his fight with Wanderlei. This would be an awesome fight that can go either way and is one of those rare occasions where everyone involed benefits from this fight especially us fans.
I sure hope that this deal does get done though cuz i’d hate to see someone like Tito Ortiz end up fighting a nobody in Strikeforce or worse end up like Sylivia and Arlovski.
Awesome news,
Because if he fought Babalu in Strikeforce that would be a nobody fight or how bout Gergard Mousasi in Strikeforce that would be a dammn shame wouldn’t it ?
fr702,
dude yeah it would be a travesty
Come on man, don’t be ridiculous
o i’m ordering my tickets tom. morning. and this is what i’m talking about. they better get this done.
I hope that Strikeforce cuts fr702 a check, because he never fails to mention them as a viable UFC alternative, which of course they are.
Probably the best thing that could happen is that Affliction will fold up their circus tent and call it a day, and Strikeforce can have their pick over whatever Afflicted “talent” they fancy…
FR doesn’t get money from Strikeforce, but they have been very accomodating to he and his friends over the years.
I dig that the UFC is in dallas.The fight Card…well not so much.
jcohl, I by no means am on anyones payroll, I do enjoy the StrikeForce org and yes they have done some very nice things for me personally and my friends, mind you if the org wasn’t a good org I would have nothing to do with them… Hey I love all MMA and as long as it is done “properly” I will go to that org’s events… Hey WarGods came to my hometown and I didn’t go to that event because it was simply subpar….. O and just to put this out there and to be 100% honest if any org cut me a “check” I would inform all here @ the FrenZy and not push them as a better product or anything.. Hey StrikeForce has their own spot in the world of MMA they aren’t the UFC they know it and make no mistakes I’m a huge ZUFFA (UFC & WEC) supporter, right ERIC?
I’m from Dallas and I’m not happy at all with the fight card. Don’t get me wrong its filled with some amazing fights but none that I would spend the grande on to go watch when I can spend the 50 and be able to pause and rewind and fast forward through all the filler.
Reading this rumored headline almost…almost… makes it worth it. Love him or hate him Tito makes money. And I’m a HUGE Franklin fan. This is a great move for the UFC some pretty good talent witha few good years left but more attitude.
Add one more heal to the payroll.
I actually laughed when I read this… I’ve called this for weeks… he thought he’d get more elsewhere and found out this is the best gig in town…
I do believe that people need to realize one thing about Dana White and the UFC… When it comes to handling of employees who want to come back after supposedly burning a bridge with them. I know Dana says he doesn’t care but it’s like the great philosopher Homer said… “Kids, just because I don’t care doesn’t mean I’m not listening.”
Well nothing is official, yet it does make business sense, plus the UFC has first right of refusal or the can match the official offer laid out by a specific org…
Tito is Jacobs (Tito’s) best hype machine, he has been so close to getting contracts with every org underneath the sun, and clearly he will be signing with the UFC to bring a superfight between him and Fedor, it is obvious…
I by no means am a Tito fan, he does put butts in the seats, that much is forsure and if the Brothers Fertitta and Dana White wish to bring the guy back then so be it… A fight against Franklin is awesome, another bout against Wanderlei YES please, Bones Jones v Tito whynot.. Then after all of the excuses of why he just went 0~3 he can be inducted into the UFC HOF and that will be that…
“danawhiteufc: Yes tito and I made up
Titoortiz: yeah, me and @danawhiteufc made up. I’m expecting to be inside the Octagon again soon. thanks for the support guys – I appreciate it
danawhiteufc: Doesn’t mean he’s back it means we aren’t smashing each other anymore and we don’t hate each other.”
off of the twitter thing
Nice work FR.
great quote carls and i agree. i like tito as a fighter, he is talented no doubt about it. i could do without his antics, but it comes with him i guess. i said it before it seems like his realitionship with jenna and the twins have matured him a bit. i was looking forward to a tito-babulu match, but its good to see him back in the ufc if the deal gets done. we havent heard if it is done. he mightve made amends, but that doesnt mean he is signed. give him rich, then shogun [if shogun loses to machida big if imo], or not give him rampage. i wanted to see a rampage-tito fight for a long time.
to answer the catchweight bout question, rich did that as a favor to the ufc so wandy wouldnt have to drop the full 20 pounds to make the 185 limit imo. i dont see rich being the champ or in the top 3 at 185 or 205, but thats just me. no doubt he is a great fighter, but he lacks the ko power that the top 205ers have, and he lacks the jitz that maia and silva have, not to mention he would get outboxed by hendo and marquardt imho.
Thanks bigchris. atleast somebody noticed that I called this a week ago.
carls – if you notice above I posted that you were talking about Tito and 103 days ago…
oh. that you did, well thanks dude.
Just an observation…funny how Tito has a few good fights in him, but Chuck is all done and needs to retire. No opinion here, just an observation.
Chuck is 39 and 1-4 in his last 5 fights. 3 of the 4 losses were brutal KO’s or TKO’s all within two years.
Tito is only 34 and was last TKO’d in 2006 by Chuck himself and was dealing with a back issue in his last few fights.
big difference. good observation but still a big difference.
Tito Vs. Chuck!!!!!! Make that fight happen then Chuck would draw a crowd once more.
ckdiesel,
dude you’re dreaming. Sorry but it’s true.
First of all before everyone starts comparing chuck to tito. Let me say that tito is what? 32? 33? And chuck is 39? 40? coming off of a 1-5 record with like 3 ko losses right? So, YES chuck SHOULD retire amd YES tito STILL has some fights left in him.
Besides it would be a little pathetic for the ufc to put on chuck vs tito 3 and i don’t even think tito would take the fight simply because it would be a step back from his career.
A step back? Fighting someone in the UFC is a step back from getting snubbed every other time you looked for work elsewhere? Fighting Chuck is a step back from not beating anyone except Old Man Shamrock within the last 3 years?
Tito hasn’t won a fight in 3 years. Nothing is a step backwards at this point.
Chuck has either been knocked out a few too many times in recent years or is still on his unhealthy coke (and I don’t mean cola) diet. He was as sketchy as ever at the Hall of Fame induction and I really think the party life he lives, combined with his age and the knockouts he has sustained to Rampage, Rashad and Rua have all but ended is career. I am totally with Dana when he says the Ice-Man should retire.
Why are you assuming to Chuck’s personal habits when really he has nothing to do with this thread?
fr702,
dude i agree with you, how did Liddell get into this conversation?
Everyone, stay on topic guys..
coooool i love tito he was one of the top dogs when i first started watching mma, i haven’t read the other post so dont no if this has been brought up (im sure it has) im guessing tito vs chuck big names big crowed lot of tito haters chuck wins becomes fans fav again 1 fight away from title shot??
alot of people think chuck is now washed up but i can see chuck comeing back strong!
look at it this way, tito could find a fight outside the ufc but who. one fight against babalou or nogs little bro. who outside the ufc can help his standing to get back as one of the best 205ers.not strikeforce or affliction. 205 is ruled by ufc. heavyweights and middleweights and lightweights you can find good fighters outside the ufc.but ww and 205 ufc has just about everybody.i feel that being back is something that tito wants, i think he does want to be in the hall of fame also. tito will be ready if he goes against ace i think he will win. i dont think tito was 100 percent in his last few fights.jeana jamison is ugly now so i hope he leaves her at home.chuck and melvin guillard hit me up for the raw.
People shouldn’t even talk about Chuck Liddell and fighting anymore in the same sentence. Liddell had a great career, he was just inducted into the Hall Of Fame…lets leave it at that.
Tito is still not done, he always maintains himself in good shape and has some things to prove still not only to the fans, his peers, but to himself and i’m betting that he is hungry to come back to the UFC and show everyone that he still can beat some a$$. Franklin would be the perfect comeback fight for him because he does have the ability to destroy Franklin. Tito is a great ground and pound guy who fu*ks guys up from the guard with his sick elbow and Franklin has shown frustration and weakness when taken down by dtrong wrestlers like Henderson did. If Tito can get this fight and end up beatinf Franklin and beating him decisively which i think he can, then he’ll have new life and have a legit shot at making another run at the belt. I’ve always felt that if Tito performs to his full potential, he can take out most of the 205’s top contenders…he for sure kicked Evans a$$ and can do it again, him and Rampage are buddies so i don’t know if that would happen, but other than that Tito can take out Griffin,Shogun and of course Jardine. I’m looking foward to see who he fights if he even comes back to the UFC.
maybe I’m just being odd but the only people that I’ve seen “destroy” Franklin are Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida both of which are on a different level than Tito…
Does Jacob have a certain skill set yes absolutly, but he needs to transition to a more well rounded game imo… Like utilize the Jitz that he is capable of using, realize that he isn’t a striker and find the power in his takedowns and use his gnp… He is a talent, he puts butts in the seats and we have no idea if ZUFFA will even welcome him back!
yeah i know that he is not Machida or A. Silva, but i honestly feel that if Tito could take Rich down he’d be able to control him and do him like he did Shamrock, but he does have to become more well rounded to hang with all these new young guys who are good on lots of levels
Your right Marvel Tito isnt lyoto, or anderson, but Rich isnt Shamrock. Maybe you should watch their fight if you think otherwise
Tito will not be ready to fight by Sept. It has been almost a year since his back surgery without any training since then. He will be ready late Oct. at the earliest. They may give him Rashad, but will probably make him fight someone else for his first fight. There are so many possibilities in the 205 lb. class. Go Tito!
I kinda have an issue with the fact that Tito was popping up at every MMA event going on saying “we are close to signing ” and then it’s right back to the UFC . People got on Crocop for what happened with him and Tito pulls something even worse (IMO) . He even announced a few shows ….
I liked watching his fights so I’m not pissed it was just a weird loop of the promotions he did .
Glad to see Tito back…
Tito…pfffff! Longing for the spotlight = the only reason he would come back unless he is delusional enough to believe his own words.
His best is way way behind him and you cant force him upon the UFC fans after all the bad words traded, unless your a hypocrite.
I will believe Tito’s words when the UFC welcomes him back, just yesterday i saw his big mug on TV stating he’s ready to fight again listing off some “appropriate” opponents including Fedor? but stating he can never go back to the UFC.
Don’t you hate wishy washy people, the guy’s transparent and seems to be desperately trying to land a fight…any fight.
I do have a Tito question for the collective, and probably Justipedia in particular, but does anyone else remember Tito making statements about possibly fighting at HW?
Maybe I’m misremembering, but I could have sworn around the time Tito appeared on the Celebrity Apprentice or shortly thereafter he made some comments about where and when he would fight again, and maybe some at HW?
If he isn’t welcomed back to the UFC, then maybe there might be one or two big money fights for him at HW, against the Fedor-Barnett winner [most likely Fedor]or loser, but I just don’t see him hanging with today’s growing, and I mean that both literally and figuratively, HWs.
Also, and I mention Strikeforce primarily out of respect for fr702, Tito could conceivably match up with either the winner or loser [or both] of Werdum-Overeem, but I’m not sure I’d like his chances of success.
And please disregard this post if I’ve gotten Tito’s statement wrong.
Well he said that he wanted to fight Fedor at a catchweight. This was also at the time he was announcing for Affliction and supposedly working on a deal with Strikeforce “that the UFC couldnt match” so you never realy know what this guy is doing. The one thing I do know is that wheather he’s fighting or not he never lets himself dissapear.
Thats all Ive got for ya Jcohl hope it helps.
Thanks for the 4-1-1, carls.
I think I remember him saying the same thing in an interview actually Jcohl, not just about a Fedor catchweight bout either. I think he considered it when he looked at going anywhere other than the UFC because there’s not a lot of 205’s of note outside of the Octagon.
Tito is still a top 205er. he really beat rashad if that point wasn’t taken. its like he beat himself causing the draw. he has a win over forrest. I believe he gave mashida his toughest challenge. I’d like to see how good he is after his surgery. I’d like to see him against Franlin, rashad rematch, forrest rematch, randy again. shogun! Anderson! Hendo! there are alot of options. Not saying he could beat them I just would like to see how he matched up. maybe he should start off slow with coleman.
dude i totally agree, he did beat Evans, all anyone has to do is watch that fight again.
Dude here we go again!!!!
He did not beat Rashad {he continuously grabed the fence throughout the fight!! Thats called cheating like using steriods it’s illegal}and he surely did not do well against Machida until what 1 min to go in the last round all he did was get a near submission {albeit a good attempt} but that was all an attempt that failed!
wat up Onlytrue1,
Machida ran away from Tito in their fight, Tito tried to press the action but your boy “The Dragon”(stole Bruce Lee’s name), your boy Machida ran away and scored a lackluster decision.
MK4 What up homey!!
While I will agree it was lack luster I have to say I much rather be the Dragon in that fight than Tito..
Unfortunatley there is only one way to view fights either you win or you lose or draw. That is what your record will say.
I think now Machida will KO him for sure!!
As Dana white said ” not every champ start out as barn burners! Chuck didn’t and Matt hughes definitely didn’t!
And the Dragon is not running he is merely circleing to find weak spots haven’t you read or seen anything relating to a Dragon before MARVELknight! 4!
He was beating Machida? You mean he caught him near then end of the fight but before that only landed a single blow right? By beating him do you mean he was attacking him with evil glares? I didn’t know judges scored evil glares now.. this makes Wanderli even more dangerous at MW then before.. LOOK OUT EVER GLARE TIME ! !
Sorry I just got in from work read Topic and scrolled down to put in my 2 cent.
Tito’s Back huh, figures especially when he never signed with anyone, and everyone knows all MMA roads lead to the UFC eventually!! {Atleast for now}
What is Tito 33, 34 yeah he still posses a threat to some 205er and still is young enough to challenge the top guys.
No back problems any more he just had twins with #1 Pornstar away from UFC about what a full year or so? Yeap time to pay those bills buddy!!
Rich Franklin well I know Jchol is happy about that!! A worthy, and something to gain from uhhhhh what hmmmm is it though???
Ahhh well I will read all post before me now to see what I missed!!!
OT1, I am in fact happy to see the good folks of Texas possibly getting a top shelf main event. The UFC doesn’t hit the Lone Star state that much, and offering up Rich Franklin and “an unnamed opponent” is a bit too close to messing with Texas for my liking.
If the UFC gets this done, Tito and Franklin will put on a good show, draw money, and get people talking in a way that a guy like Luiz Cane, his skills notwhithstanding, simply couldn’t do at this stage of his career.
I think Cane will get his opportunities, but not in a PPV main event.
Back to Tito.
I think Ortiz has a lot to prove, going 0-2-1 the last few years. He needs to prove he’s evolved as the sport has, and is still relevent at 205. He’s reportedly in a positive and stable relationship with 4 month old twins, so he should be highly motivated to make an impact and earn some of that reported $300 million dollars the UFC is projected to earn this year by [I think] Forbes Magazine or Fortune.
Also he’s had a lot of downtime to work out his back issues.
Getting back in the UFC spotlight will also boost Punishment Athletic sales, which is of course near and dear to Tito’s heart. A strong Tito showing will have that PA walkout wear flying off of the shelves the same way Hendo’s win most likely will boost Clinch Gear sales.
Its just the nature of MMA in 2009.
Finally, this fight works both ways, and we all know that Joe Silva and Dana White love to combine storytelling with matchmaking. If Tito comes back from this layoff and beats Franklin, he serves notice that he’s back in the game, still has some fight left in him, and is still one of the better 205ers in the world. If Franklin wins, he serves notice that he can handle a rough 205er like Ortiz, and that he’s serious about a LHW title run, especially if he scores an unlikely T/KO. If it’s a close fight, everyone involved wins to a certain extent.
Plus it gives the fans a lot to kick around, regarding Tito’s ground game versus Franklin’s cardio and technical striking, and on and on.
I just don’t see a downside here IF, and it’s still an IF, Ortiz is re-signed by the UFC and plugged into 103…
A downside would be a decision, right?
Absolutely
jcohl,
dude you said it all for me, i coulndn’t have put it better myself buddy.
Great Point Jchol
Imagine if Tito KO’s Franklin!!!!!!!
There would be sooooo much buzzz and noise surrounding him it would be ridiculous!!!
And in the as you stated Unlikey possiblity Franklin KO’s Tito yeap it would serve notice to all 205ers especially since Rich has not KO’d anyone since the “Anderson Silva ERA”
Wait Wait I was wrong I just thought about Matt Hamil being stopped by left leg kick to the Gut!!
Jchol are you from TEXAS?
OT1, I’m not from Texas. You might have me confused with bigchris2328, who’s all about the Lone Star state
For the record, depending on the time of year and the amount of business I have I’m either living down on the Jersey Shore, living in St Cloud, Florida, North Las Vegas, NV or Waipahu on Oahu in Hawaii, so passing over Teas is about as close as I get…
Machida even said it himself that Tito was his toughest fight. he admitted that he almost went out in the traingle. look it up its true.
I’m not saying Tito will be champion just that he is still a contender. the ufc should have have all top fighters and hopefully when affliction folds we will see a flood of talent come to the ufc.
he never said he almost went out…..he said it was very tight….but what talent do you expect to see come from affliction???…..babalu(hahaha)….the only people id like to see from affliction come to the ufc is jay heiron, josh barnett, fedor, ben rothwell, paul buentello, gilbert yvel, lindland and maybe vitor belfort
“I WANT BJ’S BELT!”
gunslinger is right he wasnt close to going out.he said after he would rather die then tap. still tito was the only person in ufc even to have him in trouble, rich goes down by dec. then one more win he can have a rematch.not predicting wins but go
kenny f.
thiago silva
damien maia
ONLYTRUE1,
KO,TKO RICH TKO’ED THE FOLLOWING AFTER THE ITSEE BITTSEE SPIDER.
. LUTTER
. HAMMELL
. MCDONALD
. SILVA/DIS
Also Rich is no chump on the ground as Rogan said he has a very active guard and is hard to hold down . He has pulled off many subs on his back.
LOL Gun
You just named all the remaining fighters left in Affliction~!!
here is the deal guys marvelknight and others, you grab the fence to stop a slam you lose a point. ok you win the next two rounds thats a draw,there has been alot of bad dec. such as hammil losing to bisbing, guida losing to tyson griffin, guillard didnt beat tibeu. this evans – tito fight was right on by the judges and the ref. dana knew that machida would match up well with tito thats why he gave him the best fighter in the world, maybe second{fedor}. if you want to complain about him losing to evans just remember he got a dec. that could of gone either way against forrest.tito is a beast and i will welcome him back. tito thought he should be gettin the same as chuck from ufc, but chuck and dana were friends.
trying to get back on subject, I do believe that Tito has a lot of talent and some good years left in him. He gave Rashad and Lyoto both a good fight. He lost a grudge match to then still relevant Chuck Liddell. Now sure you can say he’s 0-2-1 in his last 3 fights, but this was against quality fighters. He needs to come back to the UFC, but work his way back up. Not be fed to the big fish yet. He needs a couple fights against up-and-comers, before facing Richor whoever.
Also, off subject somewhat….He said something about fighting at HW. Is there enough quality HWs and LHWs that the UFC could consider another weight class. The 225 lb class. There’s just so much gap between Franklin and Carwin, I mean there has to be enough small HWs and big LHWs that it would work.
Nothing really can surprise me anymore, but I really don’t see this happening.
This is a good move for 3 Reasons: 1) Tito helped to build a mainstream UFC, so he should be here until his end. 2) Dana needs a guy that ticks off the fans more than Brock Lesnar to take some heat of Lesnar. So why not bring Tito back in a Liddell – Ortiz match. 3) Having Jenna Jameson in attendance. Enough Said!!!!!
Franklin Beat Hendo and Hendo needs to admit it…Franklin will kick Titos ass and Franklin is not cocky…How come no one likes Rich Frankilin? maybe cause he’s nice and doesn’t trash talk…
Someone said that Rich Franklin is cocky…huh? have you ever listened to Bisping, Lidell, Hughes, Serra(the biggest ****), Sanchez, and the damn list goes on
Let me just start by saying that Rich is one of my Favortie fighters. Now I would never use the word cocky to describe Franklin but coming from a huge fan of his he has seemed a litle more confident, cocky whatever you want to call it. The guy use to murder people and act like its no big deal. But after his win over Hammil, some of the stuff hes said have came across that way. atleat to me anyways.
And for the record I think Rich beat Hendo.
Dan round 1 obviously
Rich round 3 obviously
round 2 is where people get divided. Do you like Richs 2 mins of strikes or Dan’s takedown and top control.
I know this is going to sound biased because I am a Hendo supporter, but I scored rounds 1 & 2 for Hendo, and round 3 for Franklin.
I like both guys, but my thinking is in MMA if you can’t get your opponent off of you, you’re going to lose the round 9 times out of 10. Hendo’s takedown in round 2 wasn’t devastating but athoritative enough to swing the judges, and his ride time/top control SEEMED longer than Franklin’s barrage of strikes, although in reality if you watch the fight the effective time for each was almost identical by my reckoning.
Now excuse me, I have to go wash my Clinch Gear rashguard…
That was a crazy fight for me cause I love both those guys. I had also been talking my friends ear off about what would happen if they fought for a couple years before hand. Then the fight takes place and ended up being as close as fights get and a split decision at that. I loved it. plus I wanted to see Dan coach instaed of Franklin anyways. Rich’s heart just wasnt in it for another season of TUF. I wonder if that affected his performance
Sp Tito left the UFC for more money…but came back after realizing affliction and strikeforce have NO MONEY to give him cause it’s all going to Fedor and Sylvia(made $800,000) to get knocked out in 30 seconds against Fedor and then gets knocked out by Ray Mercer, a guy who collects social security and lives in a nursing home!
Good move Tito
Is Tito sure that those kids are his and not a stock pile of cum from the thousands that Jenna has been with?
I find it funny that Matt Hughes trashed talked Dan Henderson after Hendo lost(butt Kicked) to Anderson Silva then Hendo beats(supposdly) Franklin, Hughes says nothing and then Hendo knocks out Bisping and Hughes calls hendo his friend on his website…what gives Hughes?
Maybe Hughes dislikes Bisping as much as every other red-blooded American? Maybe Hughes isn’t so bad himself.
I think Hughes should move down to 155 and take on Penn for the title
LogTan11,
well I’m not here to argue any points stated by you, tho I figure I could rather easily, I don’t doubt that one or two things that you have said I could see as being perhaps right.. The thing I would like to touch on is the fact that out of the 8 total statements you have ever made, you have made 7 in a row here ofcourse some have been random(ish)type stuff, but couldn’t you have just made a paragraph such as this and put down all of you thoughts in the space alotted? It’s not like they are thoughts in moments of time persay, they are more of a minute a part and well you could have put those collective thoughts together, instead of just making 7 comments in a row in a Tito thread, thank you for your time and have a great time
yes you are right I could have but since I was talking to my self for so long I figures I might as well make a conversation out of it
man… thats a terrible idea hughes is washed up and to big for 155
Hughes is not washed up and not to big for 155 imagine him at 155 he would be huge 155er like sherk is…just that sherk sucks
this is my opinion, and possibly only mine. but i think the last time tito beat a legit opponent, at his level, and i mean win not just a split over an up and comer, was probably when he first beat ken, after that i mean decision over a brand new to ufc patrick cote, and tito couldnt finish him, split with forrest, beat boring ken shamrock a few times another loss chuck and to lyoto, draw with rashad, really its been like 8 or 9 years since tito has been able to really beat someone at his level and even back in the day when he beat ken the first time and sinosic, big deal kens been a joke for a while and sinosic was sent in to lose imo, i dunno i might be looking at his record and thinking about it too much, but if tito is coming back to the ufc he better not be fighting any one less caliber than him, and come on tito lets see you finish a game opponent or go down like a man! maybe im crazy, but.. does anyone kind of agree?
Looking at it that way Id say his last ligit win was over Wandy in 2001. Cause his win over Vitor was a controversial split, in 2005.
But hes still a good fighter IMO. He had a draw with Rashad so hes atleast as good as him. Plus he did better gainst Machida then Rashad and Silva did.
WAS at least as good s him then. Rashad has come a long way.
I have to dissagree completely Dbiz. Since the fight with Tito, Rashad fought Bisping…Bisping and IMO lost. didnt look good in that fight and got a split decision. Then he dances with chuck for a round and lands a big shot ona a guy who has beeneasy to hit and KO as of late and who doesnt even keep his hands up. then gets beat by forrest for 2 straight rounds but once again capitalizes and gets the win. Am i impressed? Barely. Then he fights Lyoto and gets completely outclassed doesnt even do anything offensively and gets brutaly KOed. Where as Tito at least lasted 3 rounds and even had machida in Danger. Something we rarely see. I think Rashad had a couple lucky/ok performances and got over hyped. At this point he would likely beat Tito cause hes been Training, and Ortiz hasnt. But tito is still a good fighter and will be back on track with a couple fights.
Even the fights before the Ken Shamrock sham of a trilogy was his win against Forrest, which could have gone the other way.
It is pretty stunning looking at his record that truly significant wins are years ago. He is a brilliant promoter and like Hendo, changed my opinion of him after TUF.
Rich has an appearance of a nice guy, but his approach to the fighters on TUF, and a personal experience, suggests he is not quite the “nicest guy in the sport.”
Math teachers have NEVER been nice in my experience.