Tito Ortiz Says Anderson Silva’s Boxing Knockout Due to Illegal Strike

Tito Ortiz is still processing his vicious knockout loss to Anderson Silva at the most recent Triller Fight Club boxing event and says that the strike that knocked him out wasn’t legal in the boxing ring.

Ortiz was making his boxing debut against Silva after a long tenure in MMA that spanned decades, stemming from his run as the light heavyweight champion of the UFC and a brief stint in Bellator. The fight was originally supposed to be an official fight but was turned into an exhibition despite the advertising.

Despite the knockout blow appearing to land clean in the corner, Ortiz is accusing Silva of hitting him in the back of the head leading to the finish.

“Nice right hand.,” Ortiz posted in a since-deleted tweet. “But I didn’t know punching behind the head was legal. I need to practice this combo. Now I know why the back of my head has been sore as hell.”

Ortiz and Silva appeared to be on good terms following their fight, with Silva even giving Ortiz’s girlfriend his first-class plane ticket following the bout in Florida. The fight was at a catchweight of 195 pounds despite the two of them competing at 205 pounds for portions of their MMA careers.

Ortiz has also called out Logan Paul following his loss, for a matchup between two winless boxers. Paul fought fellow YouTuber KSI to a decision loss in his first professional boxing match.

Silva could fight again before year’s end, after such a quick finish. But, it’ll be interesting to see if the alleged illegal strike to the back of the head of Ortiz is investigated any further. Since the fight ended up being an exhibition and not sanctioned by the Florida State Commission, it could pass regardless of whether or not Silva’s punch landed illegally.

Do you think Tito Ortiz has a point regarding his knockout loss to Anderson Silva?