Tito Ortiz remembers why he didn’t box Dana White

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz has recalled why his scheduled boxing match with Dana White didn’t materialize.

In one of the MMA leader’s failed matches, the UFC president once prepared to box Ortiz, whom he previously managed, in 2007. When ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ negotiated a new contract, he asked for a stipulation to be added that said White had to lace up the gloves to face him in the ring.

Having been more than open to the idea, White agreed and began his preparations. Giving the go-ahead, White had agreed to fight a man who had successfully defended the 205-pound title five times during a three-year reign.

With this challenge in mind, White took the fight very seriously. According to UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping, the head of the promotion did everything he could to get in shape, including using a personal trainer and a dietician.

When it came time to weigh in before the contest, which White had even convinced the Nevada State Athletic Commission to sanction as legitimate, Ortiz did not appear.

At the time of the apparent snub, White questioned why Ortiz backed down, suggesting his promotion’s former titleholder saw how seriously he took the fight.

“If Tito doesn’t show up, then that’s it. I did everything I was supposed to do,” White said. “I think at the beginning, when we first signed the contract, Tito intended to fight me. But he heard how seriously I took him, and Tito didn’t take him seriously. I think he started thinking, “That really wasn’t a good idea.”

And later, at a media roundtable in 2014, White talked about the lengths he had to go to get licensed for the fight, only for Ortiz to “go down” on weigh-in day.

“I had to go through all the stuff with the commission,” White explained. “What I still believe to this day, it created a lot of bad animosity between me and the commission trying to get a license for that fight. But they did. They fired me. I passed all the medical tests, everything, and then Tito finally gave up on this thing on weigh-in day. (h/t Mirror)

Ortiz told White: ‘I don’t fight for free’

Now during an appearance on the Chattin Pony Podcast Along with UFC lightweight Paddy Pimblett, Ortiz has insisted there is no truth behind White’s claims – both in terms of the reason for his withdrawal and the suggestion that he is come the day of the weigh-in.

According to Ortiz, it was agreed that he would receive a 50% share of the revenue generated from the fight. But when it became clear that wasn’t going to happen, he informed White that the fight was over. And the former light heavyweight king vehemently said the UFC president knew the match was called off a month before the broadcast weigh-in no-show.

“Actually, it was supposed to happen. It was in a contract and everything,” Ortiz said. “It was supposed to be 50/50 on any money from the fight, and when it came to signing the contract – and I always signed a fight deal for a fight I was doing – it wasn’t in it. .

“I got nothing out of it. It was a lose-lose situation for me. And I said the fight wasn’t a month before the fight when they aired it on Spike TV, a three-hour session of Dana flying…prepping for the fight and everything. It was never supposed to happen,” Ortiz continued. “It was an opportunity for Dana to be a superstar, and he got that job, and he ran with it. He did it well.

Ortiz then reiterated his financial demands, noting that he would not fight anyone for free. Unfortunately for him, this reasoning was not explained by White, who instead went along the lines of publicly accusing Ortiz of being scared.

“The contract came and said I was earning zero. I said, ‘Wait a second, I thought you said 50/50?’ He was like, ‘No, we can’t do that.’ I was like, ‘Well, I’m not fighting then…but don’t go on the scale and say Tito didn’t show up and is scared to fight’, and that’s exactly what he’s did,” added Ortiz. “I don’t fight anyone for free.”

The question is, what would have happened if the couple had come between the ropes? Well, if you ask Ortiz, a quick and painful night for the UFC president.

“Me and Dana used to train a lot when I started, because I never knew how to box,” Ortiz recalled. “Then as I got the better of him and got bigger and faster and stronger, and I’m the world champion, he was like, ‘Okay, me and you , we can’t practice anymore… you fucking hurt me man. … He would not have survived the second round. Certainly not.”