Last July at UFC 148, Tito Ortiz was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame right before he lost what was presumably the last fight of his career, a rubber match with Forrest Griffin. Griffin and Ortiz first met at UFC 59, which Ortiz won, and then they faced off again at UFC 106, which Griffin won. And with a unanimous decision, Griffin closed the book on their intense rivalry, and he even added some dick words to rub salt in Ortiz’s retiring wounds. So it’s pretty safe to say that Ortiz didn’t necessarily retire the way he would have liked to.
That said, as Ortiz is currently recovering from neck surgery and awaiting yet another ACL surgery, the 38-year old has plenty of time on his hands to think about the future and even a little about the past. He also has had a few chances to talk about it all which gives us people who have twice as much free time on our hands the opportunity to break down random quotes and freak out about them like this…
TITO ORTIZ WANTS TO FIGHT AGAIN! Okay, not really. Maybe.
Stephie Daniels: You used to compete in BJJ for a while. Now that you’ve stopped MMA, will your fans be able to see you compete anywhere on the grappling circuit?
Tito Ortiz: There’s a possibility of me doing jiu jitsu again. I’ve been going to a lot of these amateur wrestling meets with my son, who’s 10 years old now. Maybe we could do a father / son wrestling meet or something. Right now, I’m only four weeks out of neck surgery, and then I have to get the ACL surgery. I still need to recover from that before I start thinking about anything, and if I’ll compete again. You never know, I may come out of retirement. (Via Bloody Elbow, H/T to Cage Potato)
Look, I’m a huge Ortiz fan. Guys like him and Chuck Lidell are personalities that I sorely miss, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I want them back in the ring as part of some UFC senior circuit. Wait…
*thinks about old people fighting with walkers and canes, smiles*
Hmm, that’s not a terrible idea. But it needs work, so let’s not just go rushing back yet, Tito. I’m excited for this new era of Tito Ortiz: Fighter Manager and Trainer and what may come of a new breed of MMA fighters with that Ortiz attitude. Hell, I’m excited to see if he can whip Cris Cyborg into shape so she can fight and eventually lose to Ronda Rousey this year.
Just out of curiosity, though, who would Ortiz want to fight if he did mount a comeback?
Stephie Daniels: You said something earlier that caught my attention. You said ‘maybe I’ll come out of retirement’. What fight could inspire you to come back for one last fight?
Tito Ortiz: [Note that when he answered this question, it was without any hesitation] Frank Shamrock.
Yeah, okay, I’d watch that. Make it happen, Dana White.
(Be sure to read the rest of that Ortiz interview, because it’s really good.)
