Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz (born January 23, 1975) is an American mixed martial artist competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). While with the UFC, he was the Light Heavyweight Champion from April 14, 2000, to September 26, 2003. Ortiz became one of the sport's early-on stars, becoming the biggest pay-per-view draw of 2006 and "the most decorated fighter in the history of mixed martial arts." Outside the octagon, Ortiz is the CEO of the Punishment Athletics mixed martial arts equipment and clothing line. Ortiz is also opening up his own MMA training gym called Team Punishment Training Center located in Huntington Beach, CA.
Jacob Ortiz was born to Samuel and Joyce Ortiz. He received his nickname "Tito," which means "tyrant," from his father when he was a year old. Joyce has three sons from a previous marriage. His mixed heritage (Mexican father, American mother) is reflected in his ring entrances as he bears both Mexican and American flags.
Ortiz began wrestling in his sophomore year at Huntington Beach High School under coach Paul Herrera, finishing fourth in the state high school championships as a senior. Ortiz continued his wrestling career at Golden West College, winning a California state junior college title. Following his stint at Golden West, Ortiz wrestled at Cal State Bakersfield. Ortiz trained with future NCAA, World and Super Bowl champion Stephen Neal.
Ortiz has had fights as a submission wrestler and competed in the 2000 Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling tournament, in the under 99 kg division. He finished in third place after winning 4 fights before losing in the semi-final by decision to Ricardo Arona. During the tournament he defeated Matt Hughes, Mike van Arsdale, Rumina Sato and Rostyslav Borysenko.
Mixed martial arts
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Prior to his UFC career, Ortiz was Tank Abbott's training partner. Ortiz's mixed martial arts debut was at UFC 13 in 1997. Still in college, Ortiz competed as an amateur for no prize money or contracts. He beat Wes Albritton in an alternate bout by referee stoppage at 0:31 of the first round. He was selected to face Guy Mezger in the Lightweight final after Enson Inoue could not continue due to injury. Ortiz lost the fight at 2:00 in the first round by submission. After returning with a TKO victory over Jeremy Screeton at West Coast NHB Championships 1 and a doctors stoppage due to cut against Jerry Bohlander at UFC 18, Tito avenged his loss to Mezger at UFC 19 by TKO in round 1.
Ortiz has credited former UFC Heavyweight Champion Bas Rutten for inspiration during his early days. Ortiz said; "I looked up to Bas Rutten. Bas was my idol. People were just so scared of fighting him, he was like the man. I thought that was what I need to do now. If I train as hard as he does then one day I’ll be as good as him and two years later look where I am, I’m on top of the world. I’m got to say thanks to him, (Bas) for helping me out by making me believe in dreams."
In 1999, Ortiz fought Frank Shamrock for the UFC middleweight (199 lb) title at UFC 22, losing via submission due to strikes. Following the victory, Shamrock retired and vacated the championship. The middleweight division was then renamed the light heavyweight (205 lb) division and Ortiz was chosen, along with Wanderlei Silva, as a top contender. Ortiz defeated Wanderlei Silva for the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 25 via unanimous decision. He went on to defend the light heavyweight belt a record five times in the following three years, defeating Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko and Lion's Den head Ken Shamrock.
At UFC 44, after a near year-long layoff from the sport, Ortiz fought the new interim light heavyweight champion Randy Couture, who had defeated Chuck Liddell for the interim title at UFC 43 in September 2003. Couture defeated Ortiz via unanimous decision. The loss ended Ortiz's near three and a half year title reign, which is still the longest light heavyweight championship reign since the title's inception in 1997. Following his loss to Couture, Ortiz faced Chuck Liddell at UFC 47, losing by second round knockout. After six months off, Ortiz returned and took a unanimous decision victory over newcomer Patrick Côté at UFC 50 and a split decision over Vitor Belfort at UFC 51.
In February 2005, Ortiz took time away from the UFC and was offered deals with several promotions, including PRIDE Fighting Championships and the Don King-backed World Fighting Alliance, but none came to fruition. Ortiz opted to try his hand at professional wrestling, signing with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a guest referee.
In November 2005, UFC president Dana White announced Ortiz and Ken Shamrock would coach The Ultimate Fighter 3 reality TV series on Spike TV, which premiered in April 2006. Ortiz's first fight in his return occurred at UFC 59 on April 15, 2006 against previous The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner Forrest Griffin. Ortiz won via split decision. His next fight was against UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock at UFC 61 on July 8, 2006, a match which was to conclude a main storyline in The Ultimate Fighter 3. Ortiz won in the first round by TKO due to a stoppage by referee Herb Dean due to strikes. Shamrock protested that the stoppage was early. On August 25, 2006, at the UFC 62 weigh-ins, Dana White announced a rematch between Ortiz and Shamrock for October 10, 2006 on Spike TV, as the main event of The Final Chapter. Ortiz beat Shamrock for the third time in this fight, which was stopped in the first round due to strikes. Ortiz's rematch with Chuck Liddell (for the UFC Light Heavyweight championship) at UFC 66 (December 30, 2006) ended in defeat via referee stoppage in the third round.
He then fought against undefeated The Ultimate Fighter 2 winner Rashad Evans on July 7, 2007 at UFC 73. The fight ended in a draw after Ortiz was penalized for grabbing the fence. Ortiz's last fight on his contract with the UFC was a unanimous decision loss to the then undefeated Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 on May 24, 2008. With all three judges scoring the fight 30-27 to Machida. Ortiz came close to submitting Machida in the third round with a triangle choke before transitioning to an armbar. However, Machida managed to escape and survived the round, winning a unanimous judges' decision. The fight concluded Ortiz' stay with the promotion as he chose not to re-sign, citing his frustration with UFC president Dana White as a major factor in the decision.
Outside the UFC
After leaving the UFC, Ortiz was approached by multiple promotions, including the now defunct EliteXC, Affliction and the American Fight League. However, a clause in his old UFC contract forbade him from signing with or fighting for any other organization until approximately April-June 2009. Until his return to the UFC, Ortiz was considered the biggest free agent on the market.
On October 6, 2008, Ortiz underwent back surgery in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to his website, he had been experiencing back pain since his fight with Randy Couture.
On Wednesday, December 17, 2008, Affliction Entertainment announced that Ortiz would be part of the broadcast team for the Day of Reckoning. Ortiz had said he would fight again in August 2009, but this did not occur.
Return to the UFC
As part of his comeback to the UFC, Ortiz began training with his original Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo instructor Cleber Luciano a student of Royler Gracie. Ortiz originally briefly trained with Luciano back in 1997, when he was still a student at Golden West College.
On July 17, 2009, both Ortiz and Dana White stated that the pair had made amends. One week later, White announced that he re-signed Tito. Ortiz stated he is returning for a six fight deal he and White have worked out. White officially announced Ortiz's return in a conference call on July 31, 2009. White mentioned that "everyone wants to see Tito fight" and "Tito will retire in the UFC." Mark Coleman was named as Ortiz's opponent for his return to the octagon at UFC 106.However, Mark Coleman pulled out of this bout due to a second-degree tear of his MCL, and was replaced by be Forrest Griffin.
Due to an illness to heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, Ortiz's fight with Griffin was promoted to the headlining event for UFC 106. Griffin won the fight via split decision, showing superior striking ability. Whilst Ortiz was able to secure takedowns in the first and second rounds, Griffin showed considerable improvement since their first fight and kept the fight standing throughout the third, leading to the split decision victory.
On December 5, it was announced Ortiz would coach the 11th season of The Ultimate Fighter, with the opposing coach being Chuck Liddell. He was scheduled to fight Liddell again for the third time at the end of the season and later pulled out of the bout. On April 7, 2010, UFC president Dana White said Liddell vs. Ortiz 3 was scheduled to be the main event for UFC 115. However, on April 12, 2010, the UFC confirmed the main event for the card was Liddell vs. Rich Franklin.
Ortiz will fight Matt Hamill at UFC 121. Hamill was Ortiz's first overall pick during Season 3 of the Ultimate Fighter. Tito Ortiz confirmed the matchup via his youtube channel on the 23rd of July.
Professional wrestling
In May 2005, Ortiz made an appearance for the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). On May 15, 2005 at Hard Justice Ortiz served as special guest referee in the NWA World Heavyweight Championship title match between champion Jeff Jarrett and challenger A.J. Styles at the behest of Director of Authority Dusty Rhodes. Ortiz (kayfabe) knocked out Jeff Jarrett with a right hook after Jarrett shoved him. This allowed Styles to hit his "Spiral Tap" for the pinfall victory and claim the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Jarrett. Ortiz returned to TNA on the October 1 edition of TNA Impact! and the following week he was revealed as the special guest referee for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship match between Jeff Jarrett and Kevin Nash at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view, in a segment, where he grabbed the number one contender Nash in a rear naked choke in order to prevent him from brawling with Jarrett. On October 23 at Bound for Glory Ortiz refereed the match for the title between Jarrett and Rhino, a last minute replacement for Nash. Ortiz (kayfabe) knocked out James Storm and Chris Harris, two of Jarrett's associates, who attempted to interfere in the match, and then counted the pinfall, which made Rhino the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
In 1998, he was sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to charges of "battery with serious bodily injury". The case was tried at Orange County Superior Court in Orange County, California, with Ortiz sentenced to three years probation, 29 days in jail and 232 hours of community service.
Ortiz was married to his first wife, Kristin, for nearly 10 years. The couple has a son named Jacob together. In 2006, he began dating former porn star Jenna Jameson, whom he met on Myspace. Ortiz cancelled a November 12, 2006 appearance as the guest of honor at the United States Marine Corps birthday ball at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, when the Corps refused to let him bring Jameson as his guest."Miramar ball guest cancels; wants to bring porn-star girlfriend", By John Hoellwarth, Marine Corps Times, October 27, 2006. On November 30, 2006, in an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Ortiz stated that he was in love with Jameson, that she was no longer acting in pornography, and that they were in a monogamous relationship.
Ortiz announced in August 2008 that he and Jameson were expecting twins together in April 2009.On March 16, 2009, Jameson gave birth to twin boys.
Ortiz was arrested April 26, 2010, for suspicion of domestic violence, at his and Jameson's home in Huntington Beach, California However, local authorities later chose not to pursue the case, citing a lack of collaboration from the witness.
