Ivan's Blog

Featuring Ivan Trembow's Self-Important, Random Rants on Mixed Martial Arts, Video Games, Pro Wrestling, Television, Politics, Sports, and High-Quality Wool Socks



Wednesday, April 27, 2005
 
Mixed Martial Arts--- Former UFC fighter Tito Ortiz recently made a post on his official web site in which he said that he felt "insulted" at UFC 52 by the fact that he did not receive the VIP treatment from the UFC. Ortiz was not given VIP seating and was instead given a free ticket to sit among the fans in the middle area of the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

You have to remember that one week earlier on the live season finale of The Ultimate Fighter, Tito Ortiz went into business for himself, making a fool of himself by screaming at Ken Shamrock in the background as Shamrock was about to step into the Octagon. Do you think the UFC wanted to put Tito in a position to be able to go into business for himself like that yet again?

The last couple weeks have been very typical behavior from Tito Ortiz, and very predictable.

1) Zuffa is not going to meet his ridiculous contract demands and he's not part of the biggest night in American MMA history on April 9th, so he tries to make the show about him again as Shamrock is on his way to the Octagon.

2) That doesn't get a reaction and many people don't even notice due to the cameraman panning away from him, so he goes on InsideFighting and claims that the only reason Pride is equally unwilling to meet his ridiculous contract demands is because the UFC and Pride have a conspiracy against him.

3) UFC 52 comes and goes, and he is again not in the spotlight, so now he frames the debate as, "I'm not coming back to the UFC because they hurt my feelings" instead of, "I'm not coming back to the UFC because I intentionally priced myself out of the sport."

The reality is setting in for Ortiz that the American public is much more familiar with the average Ultimate Fighter contestant than they are with Tito Ortiz, as more people saw The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV than all of Ortiz' fights combined.

For whatever it's worth, though, Ortiz would not have been able to fight in the first round of the Pride Grand Prix even if he wanted to and even if Pride had interest in him. He suffered a broken nose in February at UFC 51 and was medically suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. With a broken nose, there's no way you're going to get medical clearance from the athletic commission just two months after the injury happens, so he wouldn't have been able to fight in April anyway.

Labels: , ,