Okay, deep breath. Let’s get this out: Tito Ortiz is fighting Chael Sonnen in Bellator this January. Or more specifically, Chael Sonnen is fighting Tito Ortiz in 2017. We should not ask why or how this is happening, we just need to accept that the MMA Gods have given us this gift, and we cannot reject it.
And so, the Legends Ass-Kicking Tour begins in earnest. Of course, like many of his words, Chael may be prophetic. Here’s what he said during Bellator’s introductory conference call:
“I’m on a legends ass kicking tour, and I hope they book two guys because one of them is going to pull out. All I can tell you is as for myself, no matter what happens I will make that walk when my music hits those speakers. Anybody, anytime, at any weight class and that isn’t bravado or tough guy talk. I’ve just had it man. I thought my race was ran. I wrote the book on this thing and I can tell there’s a couple of chapters left.”
Will Tito make that walk? Can he? He’s been injury-ridden for years (decades) and there’s plenty of time for something to go wrong here. Maybe it’s best we get someone on deck as a backup? Scott Coker added on the call that the “American Gangster” was down to fight in three divisions (middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight, presumably) during the Legends Ass-Kicking Tour which I will continue to reference:
“When we were in the process of signing him, Chael was adamant that he wants to compete in three divisions here. He already has unfinished business with Wanderlei Silva, but he also wants to fight guys like Tito Ortiz, Fedor Emelianenko and even Rory MacDonald at middleweight. These are all fights that I’d be very inclined to watch, so hopefully we can put some, if not all of these matchups together starting before the end of the year.”
So while this is all well and good, and on paper damn fun, we should probably check our expectations here. Chael is going to bring the goods, but I don’t believe Tito is going to fight him until he’s in the cage.
Now let’s pour one out for Inside MMA, who gave us one final cool exclusive before shuttering its doors.
On the finale of Inside MMA, @titoortiz breaks the news that his fight with @ChaelSonnen is going down in January of 2017!
— Inside MMA (@InsideMMAaxstv) October 1, 2016
(Via MMA Mania)