The Ground and Pound 03.02.06: The Rise and Fall of Tito Ortiz

Posted by S. Hernandez on 03.02.2006

You'll be seeing a lot of him on The Ultimate Fighter 3 but who is Tito Ortiz? And why does Ken Shamrock hate him so much? The first of a two-part look at the career of "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy."

Part One: A Star Is Born

For many years, Zuffa, the company behind the UFC, built up Tito Ortiz as their golden child. Already the Light Heavyweight Champion since UFC 25, Zuffa plastered Ortiz's face on posters and video boxes. In fact, since Zuffa took over at UFC 30, Ortiz has headlined 8 pay-per-views including his UFC 40 main event against Ken Shamrock, which broke all sorts of records. It is still the fifth largest gate for a mixed martial arts event in Nevada. Tito Ortiz seemingly had it all.

So where did it all go wrong? As the old saying goes: "Money is the root of all evils." It seemed Ortiz wanted more of it after dismantling Shamrock. And why not? UFC 40 was the biggest event ever for the company. The pay-per-view was a phenomenal success with over 150,000 buys while ticket sales brought in over 1.5 million dollars. And trust me, people weren't turning in to see Matt Hughes or Carlos Newton, no matter how good these guys are. It was all about Tito and Ken.

Before we get into that, let's look at Tito pre-stardom. Ortiz was born in Huntington Beach, CA in January of 1975. The son of Mexican and American parents, his formative years were less than ideal. After moving to Santa Ana when he was five, his parents dabbled in drugs and were never financially stable. Ortiz and his parents were living out of motels and Ortiz has admitted to hanging out with gangs around that time. Finally, in a decision that probably saved Tito's life, his mother split from his father and moved them back to Huntington Beach.

Ortiz enrolled in Huntington Beach High and joined the wrestling team as a sophomore. He excelled at the sport and he placed 4th in the state championships his senior year. Fourth place is nothing to sneeze at especially when you've only been wrestling for three years and most especially in a state as large as California. This achievement was the first glimpse at Ortiz's dedication and natural athleticism.

After high school, Ortiz continued to wrestle. The more he wrestled, the better he got. While attending Golden West College, he won a state junior college title. Again, a lofty accolade for a relative newcomer to the sport. He then spent some time at Cal State Bakersfield honing his craft. During this time he also became interested in the growing sport of mixed martial arts. He began to cross-train, using his wrestling background as his core.

His MMA debut was at UFC 13: Ultimate Force. The card consisted of two four-man tournaments, one for Heavyweights and the other for "Lightweights" (under 200 lbs., in the pre-weight class days). Ortiz fought in the first fight of the night, an alternate bout, against fellow newcomer Wes Albritton. Ortiz destroyed Albritton 30 seconds into the first round. Albritton never competed in MMA again. An injury to another fighter inserted Ortiz into the finals of the Lightweight tournament against the Ken Shamrock-trained Guy Mezger.

Mezger had been in the MMA scene for years now, spending most of his time in the Japanese promotion Pancrase. Ortiz had been training for a little over six months. What should have been an easy victory for the more experienced Mezger became an almost one-sided beating as Ortiz's superior wrestling ability kept Mezger on his back. Ortiz began delivering knee after knee to Mezger's head before referee John McCarthy stopped the fight. Most thought Mezger had tapped due to the strikes but McCarthy simply wanted a doctor to look at a cut. A controversial call by McCarthy put both fighters back on their feet instead of the position they were previously in. Ortiz then showed his inexperience and ended up getting choked out seconds later. Many felt that the young Ortiz was on his way to a victory against the more experienced Mezger and it wasn't too long before they fought again.

With Ken Shamrock in his corner, Mezger once again took on Ortiz at UFC 19: Young Guns. This time, with more submission defense under his belt, Ortiz easily bested Mezger. In typical Tito Ortiz fashion, he took Mezger down and pounded the hell out of him.

This was a turning point in Ortiz's career. He had beaten a legitimate contender in Guy Mezger and proved his mettle in the cage. The fight, however, isn't what fans really remember. It was what happened after. After winning, Ortiz put on a homemade t-shirt that read "GAY Mezger is my Bitch" Proper capitalization aside, Shamrock was infuriated at the lack of respect shown by Ortiz. Shamrock climbed halfway up the cage and yelled at Ortiz, shaking his finger in Ortiz's face as if he were scolding a child. The brash Ortiz simply smiled back at Shamrock saying only a few words. Eventually Ortiz was pulled away but the seeds of rivalry had been planted.

For three and a half years, Ortiz and Shamrock took any opportunity they got to badmouth the other. In the UFC, Ortiz was on a hot streak. Ortiz was destroying the Light Heavyweight division having racked up four successful defenses. Shamrock was belly-to-belly suplexing The Rock and Bret Hart in the then WWF. Ortiz was unbeaten since the turn of the century with victories against future UFC and Pride Middleweight champions Evan Tanner and Wanderlei Silva, respectively. His defeat of Evan Tanner was particularly impressive. He slammed the number one contender to the mat within a minute of the first round rendering him unconscious. Shamrock's fight record in the meantime was a fairly mediocre 2-2. He fought three times in Pride, dropping two of the fights including one against Kazuyuki Fujita. Shamrock clearly dominated the bout but could not finish Fujita off. Completely gassed out, Shamrock had his corner throw in the towel.

Despite their careers going in seemingly opposite directions, fans clamored for a match. They got their wish on November 22, 2002. At UFC 40: Vendetta, Ortiz and Shamrock finally got their chance to settle their differences in the cage.

The fight went much like Ortiz's past fights had gone. He took Shamrock down and punished him with punches and elbows until the 38-year old simply could not take any more. After the third of five schedules rounds, Ken Shamrock's corner threw in the towel. Youth had beaten experience. The last remnants of the old guard were finally cast aside to make way for the new UFC. Tito's UFC. And how else would Tito celebrate?

He put on a homemade shirt that read "I Just Killed Kenny, You Bastard!"

Yes, Tito Ortiz seemingly had it all.

In next week's Part Two: To All Good Things..., we will look take a look at Ortiz's career post-UFC 40. We will examine his supposed ducking of Chuck Liddell, his subsequent losses to Randy Couture and Liddell himself and his temporary banishment from the company that made him a star.

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Thanks for reading my first column here on 411 Sports. I've been a huge fan of MMA since 1996 so to write about a sport I care so much about on such a huge and influential site is nothing short of a thrill. I did a rough count and I figure I have somewhere in the ballpark of 1,000 to 1,500 MMA fights on DVD and VHS. Any feedback, suggestions or questions would be appreciated. Again, thanks!