Tito Ortiz Buries Hatchet With Dana White, At Peace With His Retirement From MMA
When Ryan Bader signed with Bellator MMA, some fans thought that this signing might bring Tito Ortiz out of retirement. However, that is not going to happen. Ortiz is scheduled to have his fourth neck surgery on May 12, and three months after his last bout against Chael Sonnen, he’s now getting his competitive fix through his sons.
“I’m very thankful to Bellator,” Ortiz told MMA Fighting. “It’s kind of weird, because after it was all over I got a text from [UFC president] Dana [White] saying congratulations. Me and Dana haven’t really been eye-to-eye for a long time, but recently we’ve been texting back and forth. I don’t know, man. Life’s too short. Too short to hate. I’ve done a few things in my career that I regret towards him. Maybe wearing a tee shirt that says ‘Dana’s My Bitch’ is one of them.”
Ortiz and White have been bitter enemies for years. Now that his career is over, the UFC Hall of Fame says he doesn’t see a need to drag out a grudge due to him moving on to the next chapter of this life. Ortiz is open to several new careers now that he is no longer a fighting. Some of those careers include acting, commentating, philanthropy work and a little poker action as well as continuing his work as an ambassador for Bellator.
“I’ve always just tried to work for the future of my children, and for their future,” Ortiz says. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that if not for Bellator. [Spike president} Kevin Kay’s an amazing guy over there. He gave Scott Coker a job in order to make that company grow. Bellator’s gotten bigger and bigger, and the PR firm is doing an amazing job. The sport’s getting bigger. You can see all the UFC fighters are going over there and signing with Bellator. Is it that the pasture’s greener over there? In my history, yes. I’d have to say absolutely yes.”
Ortiz had a rough string of fights in the last six years of his time in the UFC as he went 1-7-1. His only win in that stretch saw a shocking finish over the heavily favored Bader at UFC 132. He then moved to Bellator MMA after fighting Forrest Griffin in what was supposed to be his retirement bout. With Ortiz holding a win over Bader, it made sense for the promotion to match these two fighters up again. It certainly would appeal to Bader, who fights Phil Davis for the light heavyweight title on June 24 in New York. Ortiz knows he can’t have a better ending than the one he had against Sonnen in January at Bellator 170 in Los Angeles.
“It was kind of like watching a great movie, only I lived it,” he said. “It was great. It was the perfect ending. I have no regrets. I am very thankful for everything I was given. Of course, the hard work does pay off, and Bellator gave me a great opportunity to leave the sport as the man I always wanted to be. I couldn’t have asked for anything better, having my son there next to me, to have him lay my gloves in the middle of the cage. It was a story-book ending.”
According to Ortiz, if he does indeed fight again, it’ll be against Sonnen in an unsanctioned bout, taking place wherever he happens to cross him, whatever time of day.
“That guy has not shut his mouth up about me,” he says. “And the next time I see him he better put his hands up, because there’s going to be a fight. “I didn’t think I could dislike anybody more than I did Stephan Bonnar, but I think I just have with Chael Sonnen. You’ve got to win. You see guys like Chael Sonnen who is nothing but mouth. But you’ve got to win, that’s what it’s about. In my career, yeah I had a mouth on me, but I backed it up come fight time.”
Ortiz claimed that he and White have buried the hatchet for good.
“Yeah, I’d have to say yes [we did bury the hatchet],” he says. “We briefly spoke, and it seemed like the old Dana. I guess we kind of both said life is too short to hate as much as we have. It’s one of those things man. I’ve learned, why waste my time with hating somebody when I can just forget about it and let life go on? I’ve done that.”
