Paying for Tito Ortiz is like “buying a pair of expensive jeans and paying for a label.”
August 23, 2008 by Adam Morgan
Not too long ago I wrote a piece about Tito Ortiz and whether or not he was worth Affliction’s money. My feeling is that he’s not and while he is worth a good deal and big bucks, he’s not worth a deal that pays him more than any MMA star in the game. It looks like someone in the MMA industry agrees with me and lays it out perfectly. From NBC Sports:
“The problem with signing Tito is how do you judge his value now?” said an MMA executive who didn’t want to be named. “It’s a balance between name and performance. He knows you’re after him for his name value, but at the same time, you know his best days are probably behind him. So what are you really paying for? It’s like buying a pair of expensive jeans and paying for a label. They’re really not any better than Gap jeans. You just hope people notice them more, but you can’t make them notice.”
This is exactly the feeling that I have about Ortiz. Yes he is worth a big deal because of his name value and his proven track record for PPV buys. But he is not worth a ridiculous amount of money because he is past his prime and has never evolved as a fighter. He hasn’t had a significant victory since the first quarter of 2006 and hasn’t won a fight since late 2006 and both of those wins came against a washed up Ken Shamrock in the first round. Ortiz is a star, there’s no doubt about it. But you paying him an inordinate amount of money is a truly risky thing for a promotion to do because all you’re getting is a name.
If you’re anyone but the UFC, paying for Tito Ortiz is like buying a pair of expensive jeans that will eventually cause you to be bankrupt.
But in all seriousness, the analogy from unnamed MMA executive is pretty spot on.
Whether or not he will ever admit it I bet deep down he regrets not signing an extension when Lorenzo offered him one. 6 fight contract I believe was the rumor?
HE IS WORTH A TON OF MONEY EVEN THOUGH HIS BEST DAYS ARE BEHIND HIM. PEOPLE WILL BUY HIS PPV JUST TO SEE HIM GET HIS ASS KICKED. PEOPLE WILL ALSO BUY HIS PPV IN HOPES OF SEEING THE OLD TITO. HE CAN DO NOTHING BUT HELP A PROMOTION. THE PROBLEM IS TIM “36 SECD” SILVIA GOT $800,00 TO GET HIS ASS WHIPPED. NOW EVERY FIGHTER WITH DRAWING POWER WILL SAY “IF HES GETTING $800K WHO HOW MUCH CAN I GET IF I TAKE MY SHOT.
If Tito really wants to fight he will come crawling back to the UFC. Just liek Dana said before that Tito was broke adn etc, etc…..
Since no one else has the money or will give him the money he wants, I wouldnt be surprised to see Tito BACK in the UFC. That is IF he REALLY wants to continue on fighting.
He will make it sound like the Ferttitas saved teh day and gave such a great offer that no one could refuse.
I hope the UFC can get Tito back. I just love watching him lose. And then make every excuse in the book why he lost and why he SHOULD NEVER lose. It would be awesome to see him back in the Octagon getting KTFO by all the up and comers that beat him into more and more excuses
“Yeah I lost to a guy who would kick me and run away! What am I supposed to do, chase him around?” That was an interview he had in Boston w a radio station. It is called evolving u pompous ass!!! He sprawled when u shot, u couldn’t take him down! U have 0 standup! So u got ur ass kicked, quite literally! I hate Machida as well, but it is call “Mixed Martial Arts” for a reason. If he goes anywhere but UFC he will fight second class talent and still get his ass handed to him, at least in the UFC he can say he is fighting the best fighters on the planet! So pick ur poison, get paid a ton and get embarassed or get paid a lot and get ur ass whipped.
Tito is Tito. You can brag how much you paid to a expensive pair of jeans to give yourself or your organization some credibility. Tito is still a upper level fighter at 205, no matter what his record indicates, He just need to evolve before his run is over.
Tito won’t evolve, that’s the problem. He’s had ample opportunity, but is either unwilling or unable.
“Tito is still a upper level fighter at 205, no matter what his record indicates,”
based on what then?
name one top 15 LHW (i like to use HDNET FIGHTS rankings, my style) you think he could beat?
they have him 15 and i think i would bet against him verse any of the fighters before him.
and i’m one of those guys that basis my pick in a fight on what i have taken from previous fights thats it i could careless what a guy say or thinks or dresses, ect
The old Ken shamrock would of handed tito his ass. Ken has no chin left. You tap him and he goes down. A 30 year old ken vs tito would of just been a beating for ortiz
well if its ok to post stuff from other sites i read this on mmalinker.com
Former UFC star Ortiz signs with rival Affliction
August 23, 2008, 12:02 pm
It seems that former UFC light heavyweight champion, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz, has finally signed with rival promotion Affliction in time for their next PPV event on October 11th.
I am a tito fan because he is so charismatic.
Remember Tito fought at UFC 30 under the new regime after SEG sold it to Zuffa. I believe that many of the comments are correct, he represents the “old school” MMA. He has to evolve. But his star power is undeniable.
Highest paid, no, but a draw, yes.
Expensive jeans? Just a label?
Nice, the same can be said for about 50% of the UFC’s PPVs in the last two years. All name, no substance. How many second rate TUFers will make up future cards? What a joke, and I suspect that was Dana who said that.
Tito has options… do a deal with Affliction and let them both claim there were “other” considerations and people can speculate all they want about how much extra money Tito got (in actuality, the word NOTHING would come to mind).
Or Tito can go to Elite and help them huge with TV ratings and cut some sort of crazy deal and end up fighting Kimbo after they feed Kimbo 2 more donuts. In this case, he has HuGe value and that’s a legit PPV event!!!
Finally Tito can go back to the UFC, in which case, he becomes Dana’s personal Vodoo doll and Dana has him go against guys who will shred him like Machida and embarrass and punk his ass for 3+ more fights… I think we can rule out option #3.
It appears Tito might have just signed with Affliction, too bad for Elite. Elite should have made this happen…it made too much sense
Tito is not washed up by any means. I will buy whatever ppv he is on just to see what happens. Quit hating.
LOL
you are so right about the ufc
i have been saying shit like that on this site for a while and ppl get mad and i don’t know why?
maybe because they only watch the ufc and you can sit her and tell me about the ufc great production ect ect
well the bottom line is its about the fights and the ufc isn’t using their fighters to put on the best fights possible. they don’t care about the fans and what they want. i understand smart business decisions but they go way beyond that.
Dana white makes a comment after FERDOR beats tim saying that tim has been a bore for years, well during that time the ufc was giving us sylvia v. arlovski 1-3 and putting tim as co headliner!!!
what does that tell you???
but the bottom line is they feed us garbage a lot of the time and like LOL said give use these boob as tuf fighters that ppl think are on the rise because they were on the ufc tv show.
I have an idea that might actually save Tito, although personally I could care less about his future:
“Camp Ortiz” A TV show where Ortiz travels the world to accumulate the best of training from the world’s best fighting camps. Tito would go to Israel and spend a week taking on the best Krav Maga practicioners, then on to Brazil for BJJ, Japan for Karate, ect. At the end of the show, Tito then goes on to fight any of the major organization’s best in his weight class (1 fight) to see if he has “evolved”. Of course the UFC would not go for this unless Tito were to re-sign, but it would be an interesting show, you must agree….
I think tito should go WWE. Earn himself a ton of money and continue the osmosis of fans to MMA.
Tito is the same fighter he always has been. No better no worse. His style has just become obsolete.
He may be a dinosaur, but Forest and Rashad couldn’t beat him.
He’s good at making a champ look even better. Chuck Liddell is one of the all-time greats, but would he be as popular if he never got to use Tito’s big head as a punching bag?