Nobody has been more critical of Tito Ortiz’ recent exploits than myself. It’s no secret that both here on the site and on MMABay Radio, we like to have a little fun and take the edge off a lot of situations in an industry (MMA media) that often takes itself far too seriously. Still, I’ve been accused of disrespect, malice and outright hatred of Tito over the years. Conversely, I’ve also been supported for those very same views; Ortiz is nothing if not a crowd splitter. The truth is though that I don’t ‘hate’ Tito…it’s simply that as the years have gone by, I’ve found it harder and harder to respect him.Tito’s downfall has been steeped in irony, in that his multi-year feud and eventual beatings of the legendary Ken Shamrock are what cemented his legacy, yet in some ways Tito’s career has mirrored that of his one-time nemesis. The Californian wunderkind was a champion long before the first epic clash with Shamrock, but as they say in the pro-wrestling world that Ken had diverted his attention to, “To be the man, you gotta beat the man” and after years of build up and his resulting mauling of the Lion’s Den leader, Tito was undoubtedly ‘The Man’. Then, just like Ken had done many years earlier, he started to throw it all away.
Everything that Ken was to the bubblegum action early-mid 90’s, Tito was to the counter-culture generation that emerged at the end of that decade. The kids that had been brought up on ‘Hulkamania’ and ‘Kindergarten Cop’ were now in their teens and early twenties, they wanted ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin instead of Hulk Hogan, the R-rated Blade instead of the PG Superman and the the bird-flipping, flame-short wearing ‘Bad Boy’ over the square-jawed, clean cut Shamrock.
Ken walked away from MMA in his prime. He was the sport’s biggest draw, but with competition heating up and the end of his best physical days rapidly approaching, Shamrock opted to enter the make-believe world of pro-wrestling and B-movies instead of tangling with the likes of Coleman, Frye (although they would later face off in Pride), Smith, Ruas and Couture. After emerging as the sports first true second generation superstar by mugging Shamrock for the proverbial torch, Ortiz would embark on a course of action that would damage his own legacy as much as his fists and elbows has damaged Ken’s.
Whether you believe his assertion that he was playing hardball for money, or everyone else’s that he simply wanted nothing to do with the fight, Tito avoided facing Chuck Liddell in 2003, opting instead to take a bit-part in straight-to-DVD B-movie The Crow: Wicked Prayer. When he finally returned he proved the critics right, being dominated by Randy Couture and annihilated by Liddell. Ortiz would leave gaps of over a year between each of his next three bouts, unconvincing wins over Partrick Cote, Vitor Belfort and Forrest Griffin. Cue another couple of pointless beatings of the now decrepit Shamrock, which did more to bury the ‘World’s Most Dangerous Man’ than they did to elevate Ortiz. Then the wins stopped.
And the excuses started.
Shamrock had, through his refusal to quit while he was ahead and an ongoing desire to prostitute his name for a payday, eroded the respect that he had once fought so hard to earn. While Tito wasn’t being reduced to a joke physically by his opponents, his actions were rapidly transforming the once-feared fighter into a figure of ridicule. Self-made drama out of the cage was overshadowing his consistently tepid performances inside it. From a second loss to ‘The Iceman’, through a uninspiring draw with Rashad Evans to a string of miserable losing efforts against Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin and eventually Matt Hamill, Ortiz’ mouth was writing cheques his ability couldn’t cash. Every time out he looked less ‘Bad Boy’ and more ‘Boy Amongst Men’.
What irked fans more than Tito diminishing his legacy inside the cage was the laundry list of excuses that followed each poor performance. Tito could seemingly never admit that the better man had won, attributing his losses to everything from back injuries to broken bones and at the height his ongoing farce, a fractured skull. Either he was lying about it, or he’d falsified his medical records with the Nevada State Athletic Commission; considering that no action was taken by the state, we’ll leave it up to your own common sense to decide.All of the above, plus Tito’s assertions that he was still amongst the best fighters in his weight class and worth every penny of his astronomic salary led to fans, fighters and critics like myself bagging on the former champion at regular intervals. I’ve made the same parallel before, in Ryan Bader’s entry in the MMABay Rankings, suggesting that he would be the latest person to try punching Tito Ortiz until he turned into Ken Shamrock. And just as Ken recently re-emerged shouting about his ‘big’ fight with James Toney, last weekend Ortiz was back, fully fit, better than ever and ready to win. You’d have forgiven me for saying that I’d heard it all before.
Yet somehow this time was different. Ortiz smashed Ryan Bader with a short right hand and choked him out with a guillotine; a laboured, one-dimensional performance this was not. Were people giving Bader too much credit? Maybe. His biggest wins were a (possibly dubious) decision over Rogerio Nogueira and a knockout of Keith Jardine. But that’s not the point, he’s a new generation uber-athlete in his prime, and Ortiz wrecked him.
Let’s not go crazy and start proclaiming that Tito is ‘back’; he isn’t. The fact is that his back is still against the wall and always will be. He’s 36, his body is wracked with injuries and he’s in a pay bracket reserved for champions and PPV leaders, of which he is neither. He’s an expensive hobby for the UFC.
But we’re talking about respect. Does the Bader win earn Tito a reprieve and erase five winless years of self-inflicted career implosion? It’s hard to say. It’s not that there is nothing about Ortiz to respect; he’s a pioneer of the sport, one of its first cross-over stars and a face that will always be synonymous with the UFC. His Hall of Fame spot is deservedly ready and waiting. Maybe we as critics have been too harsh? After all, prior to the Bader fight four of his last five opponents were former UFC champions; that’s a claim very few can make.
I was always a massive Ken Shamrock fan. In a way I still am, and maybe that’s why I struggle to get on board the Tito bandwagon. But even with Ken, there comes a point when you just cannot respect a man who doesn’t respect himself. I’d thought that Tito was (albeit slowly, and with a little more grace) going down the same path, repeating Ken’s mistakes for the second time in his career.
I’m not about to do a complete one-eighty with my views on Tito, but I saw something on Saturday night that really made me reconsider the amount of fun I’ve had at his expense. When he walked to the cage, there was an undeniable shift in the atmosphere. While he fought the crowd chanted his name. When he dropped Bader they roared and when he finished him, they exploded. As did I. Unlike Ken, Tito is still relevant, he still has a place in mixed martial arts and that place is in the UFC, fighting the best.
One day, probably quite soon, someone will finally do the ‘Gravedigger’ on Ortiz’ career…but until then, the man deserves some respect.
By Brad Wharton
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