Report: Tito Ortiz Signs With Affliction
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz has signed with Affliction, according to Sports Illustrated.
“I guarantee you that my contract will be like no other. It will be a ground-breaking record contract for sure, without a doubt,” Ortiz told Sports Illustrated. “There’s so much money to be made right now in mixed martial arts and it’s all about the fighters trying to make that money. It’s going to be a long-term deal where I put my heart and soul into the company and help build them. That’s something I’m interested in doing. They’re going to bring me on, not just as a fighter but also doing some of the back work also.”
“[The UFC] have the right to match the offer, so I’ll be getting a deal that no other fighter has ever gotten. It’s going to be some ground-breaking news for sure,” Ortiz continued. “I’m going to a company that’s going to take care of me, a company that’s going to respect me, a company that’s going to put me in the forefront and make me the ambassador that I’ve always been. I think Mr. Trump respects me at that value to get it. My heart’s not with the UFC anymore because of how bad they treated me. They don’t respect me and they don’t see me as a businessman. All they think is that I’m a punk fighter that’s going to fold, and I’ve already proven that I’m not going to fold to anything by not resigning with them.”
According to the report Ortiz officially became a free agent on Monday and finalized his deal with Affliction during a Tuesday meeting with Donald Trump.
The signing is likely to be officially announced later today at a press conference for Affliction’s October 11th pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, “Day of Reckoning”, which will feature Ortiz’s promotional debut against former UFC contender Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Former UFC heavyweight champions Josh Barnett and Andrei Arloski will meet in the “Day of Reckoning” main event.
Jay White vs. Roy Nelson, Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort are also expected to take place at Affliction’s second event.
“Babalu has been in my crosshairs,” Ortiz said to Sports Illustrated. “He’s already been talking smack, saying if he sees me he’s going to kick my ass, but right on if he keeps thinking that. He’ll get his face caved in sooner or later. I know Frank Shamrock is another person who’s been opening up his mouth. He beat me the last time we fought and I think that would be a great revenge fight where I kick his ass and finally shut him up. As time goes we’ll see who Affliction signs besides me. I don’t know. I might even go up to heavyweight if the bigger pay days are there.”
For more on Affliction “Day of Reckoning” check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.
granted Tito isn’t the world’s favourite fighter, but he will become the driving force behind mma salaries in the future. i can see Tito having just as much of an effect on mma as Dana White. Not nearly as positive an effect, but an effect nonetheless. Fighters deserve more money. Period. If you want the best fighters in the world, you have to pay them enough so that they can train all the time. none of this working a bartender job to make enough money to cover rent, bills, and training facility fees… What is so hard about this? dana is a thief.
i like tito in Affliction…i really dont know how his deal is going to be so “groundbreaking” because they have the greatest fighter in the world already in Fedor.
$$$$$$$$$$$
Go Tito!!!!
Go Affliction!!!
Kick A$$
This is good news for MMA fans and fighters out there
Tito Ortiz will be kicking A$$ and make’n $$$$
GnP all the way
Tito kicking a$$ thats laughable. When was the last time he wasn’t on the recieving end of the a$$ kicking? Tito may think he is doing all the fighters a favor and that MMA will benefit from his actions, but if Tito has it his way MMA will have a tragic fall. Just like Boxing.
The only people who will benefit from this are those big tough t-shirt designers over at affliction.
If every other fighter goes the way of the all-knowing Tito, we will end up with ten different fighters in every division who claim to be the best, picking their fights, inflating their records, and signing fight to fight deals that are in their best interest not the sports.
I hope Affliction loses even more money on this next deal. Giving Tito a groundbreaking contract wont seem like a good idea when he is getting a ground and poundbreaking beating from Babalu.
Tito will kick Babalu a$$
and then he will be called Babawho!!!
and to see a Tito vs Frank 2 would be mad
I did it my way! that he did and good on him Go Tito & Affliction !!!
What good is signing a guy to a HUGE multi year contract if he can’t win? Cause its always a wise investment to drop a ton of cash on a guy who is 0-2-1 in his last 3 fights and hasent beaten a real fighter since UFC 59.
Its funny affiction claimed they had “the Greatest Card ever assembled” the 1st show and did maybe 100,000 buys half of what they needed to just break even. Now you have no fedor, Barnet not taking a pay cut (cause they will have no other option but to pay), and a fat overpriced contract for Tito. I smell an even bigger loss for the company. And maybe then they will learn you can’t just buy your way into the business.
As for Tito, moving to heavyweight is laughable. Tito really has gone off the deep end since he’s been dating Jenna. He babbles on and on about how he’s gonna lead the charge to do this n that. When in the end all he cares about is lining his pockets. Lets see how many fat contracts he gets for team punishment (let alone all of MMA), see if he can get Dean Lister 150K a fight anytime soon…I wouldn’t hold my breathe.
he does alot for some people, but even though i believe fighters deserve alot more than they get, i think tito should at least openly focus on fighting and competetion, we all know hes getting paid just shut the hell up and act like an athlete. oh wait i guess he is, money money money money! id give everything up for a chance to at least lose in a professional bout and get paid a bit. tito just wants millions for his face on the poster
Giving Ortiz a contract that he thinks he deserves is really the natural next step for Affliction if they want to go bankrupt after 2-3 events.
But beeing that they don’t really have any top-ranked LHWs, and the fact that Ortiz is washed-out.. they will probably start feeding him punchingbags and make him the Kimbo Slice of Affliction.
No, trust me I know how many fans love tito. I was at Ill Will and behind BJ he got the loudest pop. at the weigh ins and the fight, Especially when he took off his jacket and had a “Dana White is my ****” tee. But I really don’t think they will get more buys, casual fans aren’t gonna spend $40 bucks in this economy. They’ll go to a bar and watch, but that doesn’t really help affliction. And after a while affliction will need to bring someone else in, they can’t just keep rehashing the same fighters over n over.
my opinion is now tito’s got his money , he got huge pressure on him to win this fight…if he loses that’s a HUGE blow to Affliction…it’s like a must win….as for Affliction i wonder if they have any “under the table talks” with Couture on when the hell he’s available to sign…i took a peak at his court ****…what the hell is up with all the lawsuits and breach of contract… anyways tito wins and frank and tito 2 happens
Y A W N….ZZZZZZZZ Please Tito, lose another one.
Tito Ortiz WOooooooohoooooooooo.
It will be so pleasant to see him lose against Babalu. It will also be ****ing great to see him lose against Frank Shamrock. It won’t be fun to see him win against a no-name because it’s the only thing he can do.
**** off Ortiz. Everyone can be pay to lose and **** a pornstar.
Everytime Frito opens his mouth, he is trying to justify his decision. He is not confident in what he is saying or doing just because he is trying to tell himself he made the right decision. I agree, he needs to focus on fighting, he hasn’t looked good in a long time. We will see how “groundbreaking” this deal is after he dumps his first two fights. And Tito making business deals for Affliction, I hardly see that, maybe an advisor, not making key decisions. Fedor is the face and money-maker behind Affliction, Tito only has a West Coast following, nobody on the East Coast gives a hoot about him.
what a weiner i never like this guy at all he pushes my buttons
He’s not a bad fighter, he’s just past his prime. I don’t think he is any better or deserves any more recognition than the myriad of other great fighters Affliction has acquired. If only he had won against Machida on his way out of the UFC, he might be in a better position now. I still think Affliction is putting on the best non-UFC cards since PRIDE, and hope they continue to do well. More organizations means that promoters have to do even better and pay their fighters more. The match-up with Babalu is intriguing; I know I’m going to buy this card, if just for Barnett/AA.
Love him or hate him he’s going to be an asset to Affliction and when companies fight… the consumer always wins. Affliction needs to become profitible to have any hopes of success but having a strong #2 promotion in MMA would be a blessing.
Tito is bank for a while longer at least….
He is not going to fold? Well he already cant fight with the the now-a-day fighters…so it makes sense to go to affliction where all the other “older” fighters are going. I wont pay to see Tito fight. I will pay to see Fedor fight, thats it in Affliction. Put Fedor up against Tito….now I would pay twice to see that!
IM HAPPY FOR TITO. ITS A BIG HELP TO THE AFFLICTION. AND ITS GONNA HURT THE UFC BELIEVE IT OR NOT. NO MATTER HOW BAD DANA HATED HIM AND THE DIDN’T LIKE HIM HE STILL DREW A BIG PART OF EVERY CARD HE WAS PUT IN.
Tito–all talk as usual, but can’t back up anything he says. Trump is not going to give him a record breaking deal nor will use Tito as a spokesperson for Affliction, unless he’s into making bad business decisions. Besides, didn’t Trump “fire” Ortiz once already?
I hope Babalu chokes out Tito and holds on for a couple extra seconds a la David Heath.
I THINK TITO WILL WIN AGAINST BABALU. BUT I’LL NEVER SEE HIM FIGHT AGAIN. THE ONLY WAY I’LL ORDER A AFFLICTION CARD IS IF THE FEDOR/COUTURE FIGHT HAPPENS…
How about BIG HEAD just wins a fight then talk the crap.. TILL then TITO shut your mouth..
This is great for Affliction, and more importantly for MMA. Fans want to see the biggest and best fighters fight the best. And I personally believe they should fight every 3-4 months, not wait a whole year like Rampage.
Tito has a lot of friends. I’d like to see Team Punishment slowly come over to Affliction. (ie. Kendal Grove) Imagine, an Ultimate Fighter winner on Affliction?
Maybe, Jenna can introduce her girlfriends to Tito’s new fight buddies.
Dana would hate that. Eventhough, if it wasn’t for Tito, Dana and the UFC would not be where they are today.
Face it….Tito has lost it.
yeah gonzo i hope affliction take kendal Grove too……… cos he ain good enough for the ufc.
Man I used to love Tito back in the day before I saw him cry after getting beat by Randy Couture, and fight like a little scared girl against Chuck Liddell. After he got knocked out by the Iceman he was never the same. For some reason I always still root for him to win in every fight and he keeps disappointing me.
I think Tito has all the physical & technical capabilities of being a top light heavyweight but I don’t think he mentally has the strength to do it. He is too worried about getting knocked out so he seems like he holds back in fights. I think he is The Huntington Beach PRETTY BOY now instead of the Bad Boy he used to be.
Just another former champion past his prime…..typical Affliction. Tito will have great drawing power and that is the upside of signing a fighter with his popularity. I’m not too interested in Tito’s fights as of now but if he does get a rematch with Frank Shamrock I’d enjoy that. I’d love to see Tito rip out Shamrock’s braces and shove them up his ass. I bet Tito/Babalu will be a boring match that ends in a crappy decision…..jut a guess.
I WITH YOU ON THAT ONE KOUCH… I CAN CARE LESS NOW IT SEEMS UFC JUST TOOK ANOTHER DUMP ON AFFLICTION.
Tito Vs. Fedor is the only match I would watch.