Tito Ortiz retired from MMA in a way many fighters don’t which is victorious when he defeated Chael Sonnen in the main event of last month’s Bellator 170.
Ortiz was a pioneer in the sport. At the time, Ortiz was the longest reigning UFC light heavyweight champion, making five consecutive title defenses. He generated the first million dollar gate and million buy pay-per-view for the UFC. “The People’s Champion” faced legends like Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell and Ken Shamrock.
When the sport needed a jolt to help propel it to the next level and get in the conscience of the people’s minds, Ortiz was one of the catalysts.
“I think I’ve been there for pretty much the whole time and even talking about as a fan looking at him from the outside looking in and being in the fight business and being on the outside looking out,” Bellator MMA president Scott Coker told MMA Imports. “And this guy really hasn’t aged at all. Honestly, I think that if he wasn’t around and had those big fights with Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, that was the group that really the UFC rode those guys’ back to healthy heights of MMA. Because at that time, it was still a little bit shaky.
“The pay-per-view buys back then were around 100-200,000. And Tito was one of those three guys that kept the sport alive because there was times when this sport could have easily passed on and been around anymore. And I think Tito helped save it. And those big fights he had fought with those guys and the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” persona were the things that helped propel MMA to the next level and keep it going.”
