Tito Ortiz Declines Rematch with Evans, Bisping Responds
Some crazy twists and turns in the Bisping-Hamill-Ortiz-Evans saga have come about over the past few days. Upon fighting to a draw at UFC 73, it was projected that Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans would have an immediate rematch. Likewise, after winning a highly debatable split decision over Matt Hamill at UFC 75, Michael Bisping was expected to have an immediate rematch with Hamill. Well it seems like neither will happen anytime soon after Wednesday’s official announcement that Bisping vs. Evans will be the main event at UFC 78: Validation.
So how exactly did we get to Bisping vs. Evans? Here’s the latest on the whole situation.
Tito Ortiz Declines Rematch with Evans:
According to Tito Ortiz, he is currently injured and refuses to fight unless he is at 100%. Tito says he is fed up with fighting while injured only to give lesser fighters an opportunity to look impressive. Ortiz, a regular poster on the Underground Forums, had the following to say,
“Getting in shape. I’m doing rehab for my injurys. I’m sick of fight 75%. I’m trying to pay my bills injured and making guys like evans and forrest look good. I can’t do it anymore. I’m going to take some time to take care of myself. Everyone wants the old Tito back and I’m going to give it to them.”
Judging from his statements, it is probably fair to assume that we won’t be seeing Tito Ortiz fight Dan Henderson in the near future as speculated by fans on the internet.
Michael Bisping thinks we’re Fickle:
When Tito Ortiz declined to fight Evans, the UFC likely then offered the fight to Michael Bisping. Fans, and Matt Hamill himself have questioned why Bisping was so quick to accept a fight with Evans, knowing well that him and Hamill still had unfinished business. In a recent article by Stash Capar, Bisping explains to The Fight Network that he felt like he had something to prove after a poor showing UFC 75, so he wanted to step back into the Octagon as soon as possible. Since Hamill was expected to be sidelined due to knee surgery, Bisping jumped at the opportunity to fight Rashad Evans instead. As Bisping states,
“I just want to get back in there. I know some people didn’t like what they saw. MMA fans, especially Internet MMA fans, are fickle; they jump from one fighter to the next and this is my chance to prove myself again.”
Tags: Matt Hamill, Michael Bisping, Rashad Evans, Tito Ortiz
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NowI could be wrong…but didnt Tito say he was 100% before he fought Evans?? He musta lied. I swear he said that. I think Ortiz is a lesser fighter…just for saying there is such a thing. Griffin and Evans are good fighters.
There is no way he was 100%. I don’t even think he was 50%. I noticed before the match when he does his ritual “bouncing” around the ring he wasn’t jumping half as high, and you can see the needle mark in his back from the “cortizone” shot he had before the fight. I agree with him trying to get back to 100%, hopefully to fight Wanderlei Silva in December.
I believe Tito does get injured during training. I remember Couture saying Tito’s body breakes down during training beacause of how hard he trains. Evans and Griffen ARE good fighter
I understand how you could get injured. I am not saying he was 100%…he said that. He said he hasnt felt that great in years and the old Tito was back. He said that before the fight. After he lost….he blamed it on injury. He may have been injured but how is he gonna get anyone to believe him when he just said a day before that he was 100%.
wow… this is a big load. tito is not that good of a fighter, so he needs to shut up. i am still waiting for tito forrest 2… tito got owend in that fight and still won a decison. doesnt make sence, so lets see the 2nd
You’re right FixXer, he has said he was 100% and then after the fight he said he was injured, maybe he just hyping himself up. Who know? Tito is a good fighter. Look at the guys he’s beaten: Guy Mezger, Wanderlei Silva, Evan Tanner, and Vitor Belfort. How can you say he’s a bad fighter, zero?
I think Tito is a good fighter too. He just opens his mouth and thinks he is going in to fight “lesser” fighters. If after he fights them he thinks they are STILL lesser fighters…there is a problem with that. I think Tito beat Griffin…but barely. Tito beat Rashad, but the point taken away made it close, and he still calls them lesser fighters. Griffin has beaten in my opinion the best 205er in MMA….Griffin is for real when he wants to be. Evans has beaten Bisping……haha, wait it hasnt happend yet…but its going to.
There must be something in the air(people are getting rowdy) I agree that Tito talks A LOT, but he is also the biggest promoter of his own fights. He likes to stir up the mud before a fight, weather to sike himself up, or just to get people to watch. All I am saying is I would like to see him back at his best. I think when he is, he is a top five fighter, and will give anyone a fight.
Hey lads. First time poster here. Before I start, Im not his number one fan, just to put that out there.Tito is and has been a great fighter but is not the complete fighter. I dont believe his standup has evolved to the level of his peers and the newer up and comers. He has beaten a lot of great fighters in the past, but I still feel like there is something missing from him that makes HIM a great fighter. His recent fights against Shamrock were a joke and I cant really remember a recent great performance by him. Maybe time is catching up with him a little too?
I DO believe however he is a great trainer of fighters, with a mind sharper than Kenny Florians elbows! Like I said Im not his number one fan, his attitude stinks whether it be toward fans or opponents so I am biased on this one.
I agree his stand up isn’t the greatest, and I am not his #1 fan either, but….. in his last fight with Liddell he showed a TON of improvement in his stand up game, and fought a much better fight than their first one. I think at 100% he would show an even greater prowess standing, and possiblly beat Chuck. I think 7/10 times Chuck wins that fight, but Tito fought him both times, and that’s what makes a great fighter, someone who fights. I wasn’t happy with his last couple of performances either, but that’s why he wants to get better, because neither was he. And don’t forget, it was Ken Shamrock who wanted those fights so badly. It was a no win situation for Tito. Win and people say big deal, you beat up an old man. Loose and people say you suck, you got beat up by an old man. Don’t take the fight, and then you have to listen to Ken Shamrock say that you are affraid of him, and how he would kick your ass for the rest of his life a.k.a. getting beaten by an old man(and punked) Just a thought.
I feel that Tito and Rashad have unfinished business. I don’t know if they will ever fight each other. I have a feeling that Rashad might drop down to Middleweight in the near future. Rogan said that Rich Franklin is bigger than Rashad; this would mean it makes sense for him to drop down to 185.
Tito needs to give Rashad and Forrest a whole lot more respect than he seems to be giving them. Tito wasn’t able to beat Rashad and in my opinion he lost against Forrest. Tito being injured is a valid excuse for not performing up to his capabilities, but still Tito should give Rashad and Forrest more props than he is currently giving them.
Yes Fixer, Tito did say before the fight with Evans that he was 100% Fit and injury free, so to come out with a statement like he has, in my opinion is a cop out and means one of two things he either is not focussed for the fight or his training isnt going as well as he planned, also after his first laclustre performance against Evans he must have his doubts if he has the abilities to beat him. Ortiz is at that cross roads were in my opinion he is past his peak and is on the down wood spiral. Tito and Chuck are at the same stage in there careers were as they have to come up with the goods if not its going to be hasta la vista in the UFC
tito has very little respect for anyone.how can he say people are lesser fighters when he couldnt finish them? no doubt tito still a good fighter but he not at the top either as shown against chuck.he needs to show bit more respect!
you’re right tito needs to show more respect to other fighters. I think a lot more people would like him if did.
I don’t know that he is that disrespectful. I know Forrest showed quite a bit of disrespect twords Tito after their match, which might have caused some rebuttle from Ortiz. I used to think he was a punk, but have grown to like him(sort of). I don’t think he has givin his all in a while, be it do to injurys, or lack of motivation. I know he is much better than he has shown recently, and would like to see him put it all on the line.
I’m not saying he’s a punk. I just think he should not think of fighter he’s faced as lesser fighters. I think you’re right he is a better fighter than he has shown.
Tito is the man. He showed some respect towards evans after their fight but rashad continued to disrespect him. I’m sure he just said that he was 100% to avoid rashad from exploiting his injury/injuries. If Tito uses his takedowns as often as he did before, i’m sure evans and forrest would be no match.
If Tito wants to look good…he should fight Frank Shamrock again….
Alright, a few things. I’m a big Tito fan, so while my opinion may be biast just a little bit, I also do alot of researching on Tito. I’m a amateur cage fighter myself in Michigan, Tito is what got me into the whole MMA scene as a fan and hopefully some time and professional fighter, if never a big stage fighter then some thing I just do on the side. Tito treats his fans with more respect than any one else out there. The guy who does my tattoo’s met him at an event one time, said he was one of the nicest guys he’s ever met, and that guy who does my tat’s is my training partner. It tito was an ass, he would of told him so. Tito spends alot of time at events and before his fight signing things for fans and letting kids into his locker room before and after fights. Just look at the behind the scenes on his dvd’s. He always puts out time for fans.
Guys like Rashad. We met Rashad at one of our events, he was a guest guy. Rashad is all about Rashad and only likes to talk about how good Rashad is. Tito may be a living nightmare on camera, but in reality he does it for two reasons. Promotion and to get in the other’s head. Let’s face it, half of us would be the same way. When you piss some one off as bad as he does, it gets to them. It gets them thinking about how badly they want to hurt you and takes focus from what they are actually doing. It’s hard to focus when your that mad. That’s what Tito does.
Yeah, Tito might be using injuries as excuses, but as stated above, he trains extremely hard, so injury is a very possible thing. I also have had lagging back injuries and my knee from high school football and wrestling. They never really fully go away. Tito might have just said he was 100% and back to get in Rashads head. He beat Rashad Evans, hands down. I think the point was bogus because if you watch the fight, Evans was grabbing the cage just as much as Tito, plus the point was deducted on Tito when Tito was taken down.
Forrest Griffin is a great fighter now but when he faced Tito he wasn’t what he is now. They fight again and Tito still beats him. Tito beat him, fairly convincingly in their first fight, I have the DVD and I’ve watched in a hundred times. Tito mauled him in the first round and even in the second did a great job of standing up with the striker. Tito may have landed less shots, but he threw less and connected more. Tito also did more damage when he did connects, Forrest didn’t really put the hurt on Tito. In the third round is was pretty dead even until Tito took him down. It was a great fight no doubt, but tito won that fight. The first round could have been 10-8. Griffin didn’t look nearly dominate in his winning round, Tito did.
For a guy like tito, he looks at Griffin and Rashad as lesser fighters because he knows he can do better against them. Whatever his deal is, i don’t know. But with the resume of guy’s he’s beaten in the past, Rashad and Griffin are lesser fighters in comparison to Tito’s career. Every one says he’s done now and he may never be elite again, but tito still holds the record for the most title defenses and he mauled some of the best in the world at the time.
Finally, like it or not, Tito needs to go back to the way he was. Tito has really mellowed out alot in recent years, he’s become more respectful. He was even pretty timid when talking to Rashad, who was the one acting like an ass. Tito needs to get angry and he needs to go back to bashing the hell out of his oppenents. I think with Jenna and every thing else Tito is actually happy with his life right now. Because of that his pissed off attitude is starting to deminish. He needs to get mad, real mad, but a focused mad like he was. He needs to go in with a clear head and his killer instinct and I think he’s lost a bit of that. With that and not over training, Tito could move his way back up, he may never be dominant, especially with his buddy Rampage still as champ, they won’t fight, but Tito could def. hang with the contenders until some one unseats the champ.
Tito, I got news for you. You’re getting older every day an you as a result you will never be “The Tito of old”, just the older Tito.
Truth of the matter is guys, that fighters want to fight. You start talking about injury and the promoter starts thinking about revenue loss, and the manager starts thinking about future revenue loss, etc. Fighting is a business. For the most part, like any other sport, fighters tow the line in what they say. You have to say you’re 100%, or you may not fight. gotta pay the bills.
Conversely, I believe Tito has lost alot of his hunger ever since TUF made him a megastar. The whole,’I'm going to jump on my Lear Jet’, comment after the Evans fight was just silly. Maybe he needs to fly coach again for awhile so he can regain that starving wolf attitude again.
PS: I don’t think the las Liddel-Ortiz fight should have been stopped when it was. Watch it in super slow-mo!!
PSS: I’m not a die hard Ortiz fan either, but you gotta respect the guy. GO GSP!!
Tito is good at what he does, promoting his fights and psych jobs.. I’ve watched that ortiz evans fights several times and i don’t know what fight you were watching to say evans grabbed the cage as much as ortiz did.. the 7 or 8 times ortiz grabbed the cage to keep from getting taken down is the only reason the fight was close.. Ortiz (minus the cheating) got owned in that fight..
haha, nah SCOTCHY, im not gettin rowdy. I think Tito is a good fighter..and I think its good however he sikes himself up. You are right for th most part…every fighter thinks they are the best fighter..and if they dont, then they are usually not. I was just upset that Tito said he was 100% and then said he wasnt after the draw. He should not have said anything about injury at all. Thats what makes you look bad. Tim Sylvia did it when he lost to Cotour…and he got booed outta the place. Fighters just mustnt use injury as an excuse. If they are that injured to use it as an excuse..they shouldnt fight. But I know where u are coming from to SCOTCHY.
Fighter don’t like going into a fight telling their opponent about their injurys, but I agree, it sounds pathetic afterwards. I think it comes from them wanting to explain their week performance, and not thinking about how it looks.