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Ortiz will be officially inducted at midday on July 7 at the
UFC Fan Expo, meaning he will fight the final bout of his 15-year career
against old nemesis Forrest Griffin at UFC 148 on July 7 as a confirmed UFC
Hall of Famer. Ortiz is the first inductee since 2010, and joins Matt Hughes,
MMA pioneer Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis, Mark Coleman, Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Dan
Severn as well as contemporaries Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture in the
pantheon of Octagon immortals.
“It is a huge honor to be recognized as one of the greatest
fighters of all time by the UFC,” Ortiz said. “To be inducted into the Hall of
Fame is final proof that all the hard work and dedication, all the pain and
sacrifices, were all worth it. To be able to walk to the Octagon one last time
as an official UFC Hall of Fame level fighter is going to be humbling and
awesome. I’m very grateful to have this opportunity to end my career on such a
high like this.
“I want to thank my family for all their love and support
and my fans for sticking with me through the bad times when being a Tito Ortiz
fan wasn’t the coolest thing to be. Finally, I want to thank Lorenzo Fertitta
and Dana White for giving me so many opportunities over the years and for
securing the future of the sport I love and have dedicated my life to.”
A brash, polarizing presence with bleached blonde hair and
devastating takedowns, Ortiz made his UFC debut on May 30, 1997 at UFC 13. He
smashed an entrant named Wes Albritton in 31 seconds and, within three years,
had annexed the UFC light heavyweight title by beating the also soon-to-be
legendary Wanderlei Silva. The Huntington Beach Bad Boy would go on to reign
for a record three and a half years and had some of the biggest fights of his
or any other era.
UFC President Dana White said: “Everyone knows the story of
me and Tito and all the things that went on between us. A lot of it wasn’t fun
at the time, but all that controversy and craziness is now part of the story of
the UFC, and there’s no question that in his prime he was a huge star and one
of the greats of his era.
“You can’t write the story of this era of mixed martial arts
without Tito Ortiz, and that’s why he belongs in the Hall of Fame. He’s been in
the UFC for 15years – and sticking around that long is an achievement in itself
– and now he’s down to just 15minutes at UFC 148. Believe me, I know how proud
and stubborn this guy is and I expect him to use everything he has left as a
fighter to go out as a winner at UFC 148.”
UFC Chairman & CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said: “Tito is part
of the fabric of our sport and of the history of our company. He’s given his
life to mixed martial arts and gave all of us some hugely memorable moments as
both a fighter and a personality outside the Octagon. He was a lock to go into
the UFC Hall of Fame at some point, and I’m happy we could make this happen now
so he gets to enter the Octagon for the final time as a reigning Hall of Famer.
I think this will be an emotional goodbye for Tito and one final special moment
for his fans.”
Ortiz aims to leave UFC 148 – and his career – as a winner.
“My name will probably always be linked with guys like
Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell and especially Ken Shamrock,” Ortiz said. “But
the fights with Forrest were as good and competitive as any of them. When I
first fought him, he was inexperienced and made a name for himself in doing so
well against me. The next time we fought I was supposed to be over the hill,
and I showed that I wasn’t finished by long shot.
“Now, I just want to prove I was the better fighter all
along by winning the rubber match. I don’t want to go out on a sour note – I
want everyone’s last image of me to be me in the center of the Octagon with my
hand raised.”
UFC® 148: SILVA vs. SONNEN II will be available live on
Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH
Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada
on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a
suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and
$54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition.
For more information or current fight news, visit
www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.
About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Universally recognized for its action-packed, can’t-miss
events that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across the
globe, the UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization.
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las
Vegas and with offices in London , Toronto and Beijing ,
UFC produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest Pay-Per-View
event provider in the world. In 2011, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a
landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group. The agreement
includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, with
additional fight cards and thousands of hours of programming broadcast on FOX
properties FX and FUEL TV. This also includes the longest-running sports
reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®, which now airs on FX.
In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is
broadcast in over 149 countries and territories, to nearly one billion homes
worldwide, in 20 different languages. UFC content is also distributed
commercially in the United States
to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions, in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports Broadcasting Inc. and
in French throughout Quebec
via Interbox. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its
website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter. UFC
President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed
executives in sports, with over two million followers on Twitter. Ancillary UFC
businesses include best-selling DVDs, an internationally distributed magazine,
UFC.TV offering live event broadcasts and video on demand around the world, the
best-selling UFC Undisputed® video game franchise distributed by THQ, UFC GYM®,
UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and
trading cards.
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