Tito Ortiz did what Jon Jones couldn't do against Ryan Bader ... and he didn't even want to fight him

Photo by JUSTIN M. BOWEN via LasVegasSun.com

time of my life right now. I look at the fact that I beat Ryan Bader, who was fifth in the world, top five in the world in all of MMA, at all levels, and I proved that I could still dominate. People had a lot of questions to see if I could still compete with a lot of people in the Light Heavyweight Division at this level.... I woke up that morning with a lot of doubt. Thinking that I didn't want to do it anymore. And I really didn't. I was like 'I don't want to fight' cause I didn't want to fight. But then the braveness came out of my heart and if you want your career, if you want to fight for everything you believe in, you gotta fight today. You gotta talk to yourself like that. You gotta ask those questions. And once those questions are answered, you'll start believing in yourself like I did.... I did what Jon "Bones" Jones couldn't do and that was finish Bader in a minute and fifty-six seconds.... I've gone through some serious stuff, you know? Surgically, physically, personally. So many things I've gone through. I've shown everyone that if you have goals in your life, you can achieve those things. Look back on your life and you're gonna go out. These are challenges in my life. Fight career. This is the biggest fight of my life. Anything that matters in your life you can achieve and that's what matters. I'm so so thankful."

-- What a difference one win in more than five years can make. Former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz is on cloud nine after his first round finish of Ryan Bader this past weekend at UFC 132, gushing to SBNation MMA about his emotionally-charged post-fight hangover. "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy," who admitted that on the morning of the 205-pound clash with "Darth" that he second-guessed his future fight career, has replenished his confidence seemingly overnight. He's even compared himself to the reigning division champion, Jon Jones. Ortiz is super eager to build off the new-found motivation as soon possible, revealing that he'd be ready to return to action as quickly as two weeks if needed. His boss, UFC President Dana White, however, might not feel the same -- Ortiz revealed that he was "bummed" that he won and even issued an apology to White for scoring the upset. He had one, possibly two feet, out the door and now he's looking to bust it back down. Can the 36-year-old, at this stage of his career, actually make another run through the division or is he just one loss away from getting a pink slip? To read (and listen to) the entire interview with Ortiz at SBNation MMA click here.