Despite the flood of rumors, Tito Ortiz still remains unsigned by Affliction. In recent days, many have speculated that Ortiz will take on Renato “Babalu” Sobral at Affliction’s next event on October 11th. But Affliction president Tom Atencio cannot commence talks with Ortiz until August 3rd.
Both Ortiz and Atencio have publicly stated they each want the fight to happen, but for now they each must play the waiting game. Atencio told MMA Weekly that “it’s in the works”. That simple statement implies that fight fans can rest assured that they will see Ortiz inside an Affliction ring come October.
Ortiz has made no secret about his disdain for Dana White and will be fighting more than Sobral in a couple of months. In all likelihood, Ortiz will join an organization who has just started to trade blows with the mighty UFC.
He is only thirty-three years old, however Tito Ortiz seems like he has been in the fight game forever. Ortiz was one of the pioneers who helped bring mixed martial arts to the mainstream. And now that the sport is starting to really explode, Ortiz wants back in.
And why shouldn’t he? Ortiz is hardly past his prime at such a young age. Randy Couture didn’t really start to begin his rise until his early to mid-thirties. So why can’t Tito come back and be a dominant force wherever he winds up fighting?
For whatever reason Ortiz wants to give, he came up short in his last three fights. He dropped one bout to Chuck Liddell and another to Lyoto Machida while fighting to a draw with Rashad Evans. Perhaps he was too busy working on his new book or maybe he was too concerned about satisfying his new girlfriend? Read more…
Fabricio Werdum leaked some details about his next bout. In an interview that needed to be translated in his native Portuguese, he claimed that he will fight Juniors De Santos at UFC 90. Werdum also went on to state that if he emerges victorious, he will then be the next challenger for the heavyweight title.
Meanwhile, Tito Ortiz is reportedly very close to signing a deal with Affliction that will have him face Renato “Babalu” Sobral at its next event on October 11th. A clause in Ortiz’s contract prohibits Affliction from speaking with him until August 4th. It is then that Affliction will likely seal the deal and usher in Ortiz vs. Sobral as its co-main event.
Tito Ortiz was on hand to check out the EliteXC action Saturday night and was also a sponsor of Scott Smith. He went on to state he has no desire to head back to the UFC and even called Dana White a “dirtbag”. Ortiz also admitted that he is willing to compete again but this point, it looks like Affliction or the EliteXC could be the next home for Ortiz to fight. Check out what Tito had to say this past weekend.
Although Tito Ortiz won’t be fighting anytime soon, he is still managing to make headlines. And no, it has nothing to do with the fact that he is still dating a woman who once passed for Jenna Jameson. Ortiz’s latest foray into the headlines centers around his book, “This is gonna Hurt”.
Ortiz will probably ride the laurels of his new book for a while and when people stop turning the pages, he will likely step back into cage for one more pay day. A return to the cage would bring in viewers regardless of how much past his prime Ortiz may be. So don’t be surprised to see Ortiz pop back into the cage once his books accumulate a significant amount of dust while sitting on the shelves in stores around the world.
Despite the flood of rumors, Tito Ortiz still remains unsigned by Affliction. In recent days, many have speculated that Ortiz will take on Renato “Babalu” Sobral at Affliction’s next event on October 11th. But Affliction president Tom Atencio cannot commence talks with Ortiz until August 3rd.
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