ironworks
09-22-2014, 11:46 PM
Tito Ortiz: 'The UFC Stopped Bellator from Holding Show in Anaheim'
Feed Source: Bleacher Report MMA
He claims to have moved on from the company that employed him for over 15 years, but Bellator MMA light heavyweight Tito Ortiz obviously still enjoys feuding with the UFC.
Still in the midst of his never-ending war of words with unabashed UFC President Dana White, Ortiz took his latest stand against his former employers during an interview on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour (as transcribed by Dave Doyle of MMAFighting).
Ortiz, who's scheduled to fight fellow UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar at Bellator 131, claims that the UFC essentially nixed the idea of Bellator MMA holding the event near Ortiz's stomping grounds at Anaheim's Honda Center on Nov. 15.
"The UFC said no," Ortiz said. "They tried to get to the Pond and the UFC didn't let it happen. They wanted to do it at the Pond and the UFC said no."
So rather than getting to tangle with Bonnar less than 20 miles from his hometown of Huntington Beach, Ortiz will have to settle for a showdown with the runner-up of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter at San Diego's Valley View Casino Center.
Regardless of the change in scenery, Ortiz seems confident that his fan following will make him feel just as welcome in San Diego.
"We're in San Diego, I have thousands of fans down there, they get to watch me live in their own backyard," he said.
The Bellator 131 card, which also includes a rematch between interim lightweight champ Will Brooks and former champ Michael Chandler in the co-main event, will run in concurrence with UFC 180 (the company's first card to be held in Mexico).
Although Ortiz will have to compete with a heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum at UFC 180 in Mexico City, the former UFC light heavyweight champ embraces the challenge.
I think it's kinda cool actually to tell you the truth, see how much weight my name can hold. I think the big difference in all of it is, all the fans get to watch free fights instead of having to pay for fight. They get to watch free on Spike, and I think diehard fight fans will be watching no matter what, Tito Ortiz fans will be there no matter what, and Stephanie Bonnar fans will be there no matter what.
Ortiz came out of retirement for his last fight and snapped a three-fight losing skid by submitting Bellator MMA middleweight champ Alexander Shlemenko with a first-round arm-triangle choke at Bellator 120 in May.
Before his win over Shlemenko, Ortiz had dropped six of his last seven bouts, all of which took place in the Octagon.
Akin to Ortiz, Bonnar temporarily retired from competition following a long and volatile career in the UFC.
Bonnar saw his three-fight winning streak snapped with a lopsided TKO loss (knee to the body and punches) to longtime former middleweight champ Anderson Silva in his last outing at UFC 153 in 2012.
Bonnar tested positive for the anabolic steroid drostanolone in his post-fight drug screen following his loss to Silva. Seventeen days later, White announced that Bonnar had retired.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
Feed Source: Bleacher Report MMA
He claims to have moved on from the company that employed him for over 15 years, but Bellator MMA light heavyweight Tito Ortiz obviously still enjoys feuding with the UFC.
Still in the midst of his never-ending war of words with unabashed UFC President Dana White, Ortiz took his latest stand against his former employers during an interview on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour (as transcribed by Dave Doyle of MMAFighting).
Ortiz, who's scheduled to fight fellow UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar at Bellator 131, claims that the UFC essentially nixed the idea of Bellator MMA holding the event near Ortiz's stomping grounds at Anaheim's Honda Center on Nov. 15.
"The UFC said no," Ortiz said. "They tried to get to the Pond and the UFC didn't let it happen. They wanted to do it at the Pond and the UFC said no."
So rather than getting to tangle with Bonnar less than 20 miles from his hometown of Huntington Beach, Ortiz will have to settle for a showdown with the runner-up of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter at San Diego's Valley View Casino Center.
Regardless of the change in scenery, Ortiz seems confident that his fan following will make him feel just as welcome in San Diego.
"We're in San Diego, I have thousands of fans down there, they get to watch me live in their own backyard," he said.
The Bellator 131 card, which also includes a rematch between interim lightweight champ Will Brooks and former champ Michael Chandler in the co-main event, will run in concurrence with UFC 180 (the company's first card to be held in Mexico).
Although Ortiz will have to compete with a heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum at UFC 180 in Mexico City, the former UFC light heavyweight champ embraces the challenge.
I think it's kinda cool actually to tell you the truth, see how much weight my name can hold. I think the big difference in all of it is, all the fans get to watch free fights instead of having to pay for fight. They get to watch free on Spike, and I think diehard fight fans will be watching no matter what, Tito Ortiz fans will be there no matter what, and Stephanie Bonnar fans will be there no matter what.
Ortiz came out of retirement for his last fight and snapped a three-fight losing skid by submitting Bellator MMA middleweight champ Alexander Shlemenko with a first-round arm-triangle choke at Bellator 120 in May.
Before his win over Shlemenko, Ortiz had dropped six of his last seven bouts, all of which took place in the Octagon.
Akin to Ortiz, Bonnar temporarily retired from competition following a long and volatile career in the UFC.
Bonnar saw his three-fight winning streak snapped with a lopsided TKO loss (knee to the body and punches) to longtime former middleweight champ Anderson Silva in his last outing at UFC 153 in 2012.
Bonnar tested positive for the anabolic steroid drostanolone in his post-fight drug screen following his loss to Silva. Seventeen days later, White announced that Bonnar had retired.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com