The UFC's Hottest Rivalry - Ortiz vs White

I just added this article from the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer regarding the apparent final chapter to the Dana White/Tito Ortiz saga to my Google Reader news over on the right sidebar so go check it out if you want to read it in full.

Me? I want to dissect the article and give you all my expert opinion!

Let me preface this by saying I love Dana White. He always cracks me up and his balls-to-the-wall promotional style makes him a hero to me. He shares a lot of the same qualities with Vince McMahon - another personal hero... okay, go ahead and mock me now. By the same token, I'm also a Tito Ortiz fan... sorta. I think he's a prick and believes his own hype too much but I think he used to be a top level fighter and no one can deny his ability to put asses in the seats.

That being said... MY EXPERT OPINION!
NOTE: Anything in bold was written by the esteemed Mr. Meltzer

Whether he wins or loses May 24 in Las Vegas against Lyoto Machida, it certainly appears Tito Ortiz will end his 11-year Ultimate Fighting Championship career. But there will be no televised celebration of his accomplishments when the fight is over.
UFC president Dana White will want it to end as quietly as possible, with Ortiz as an afterthought, and the crowning of the undefeated Machida as a new top star.

The huuuuuuuuuge problem with this scenario is that it likely will end quietly - but it'll be the crowd that is silent after three rounds of grappling that end in a decision for Machida. Yeah, I think Machida will pull off the win but he just happens to be one of the most boring fighters I've ever seen. What Dana needed was someone to KO Tito flat on his way out - unfortunately, there's no sure bet on that one. So, what he did was put Tito in there in a no-win situation. Even if Tito wins, it's likely to be a boring fight that'll lower his value in the eyes of the fans. The problem for Dana is that the fight is likely to be so bad, even a Machida win won't be enough to make him a star.

"He's one of the most dishonest human beings I've ever met," White said. "I put up with him when he was a good fighter. He's not anymore. He's done. I'm no longer in the Tito Ortiz business."

Okay, so... you have to take everything Dana says with a large grain of salt. After all, his goal is to sell his product and shit on everyone elses. This is the same guy who after months of courting Fedor turned around and ran him down, saying he couldn't hang with any of the UFC's top heavies. With that in mind, I don't know how much Tito has left in the tank. Enough to make a lot of money somewhere else I'm sure - but so does Ken Shamrock for that purpose. Does Tito want to be the next Shamrock? Or does he want to take his considerable outside-the-cage talents and ability to be controversial to an arena that may provide him more longevity - pro wrestling anyone?

The war of words between the two is nothing new, as they've had issues since 2003, when UFC wanted to put together the first Ortiz vs. Liddell match and Ortiz claimed he didn't want to take the fight because the two were close friends and had an agreement not to fight each other (Liddell claimed there was no such agreement).

As a side comment, I hate these "agreements." Your job is to fight. Get in there and fight no matter who the opponent is. You're not trying to permanently injury your opponent so who gives a shit if it's your friend? I'd punch every single one of my friends right in the damn throat for the kind of pay day Tito and Chuck got... guaranteed!

Ortiz's contract expires with this fight. Things got so bad that Lorenzo Fertitta, the company's co-owner, and not White, was involved in trying to negotiate a new deal. But they couldn't come to terms.

"They told me I wasn't worth as much as I was in the past," Ortiz said.

Well, honestly... that's probably true. You're not beating Rampage. You're not beating Chuck. You're probably not beating Wanderlei. So, unless you wanted to do Dana a solid and drop down to go fight Anderson Silva or GSP, there's not a lot of "big fights" left for ya at the moment, pal.

Technically, there is a 30-day period after the contract expires where he can only negotiate with UFC, and then a period where UFC has the right to match any outside offer.

...

"There's not going to be any bidding war," White said. "Gary Shaw (promoter at Elite XC) should offer him $30 a fight because we're not going to match it."

I need an emoticon showing me laughing my ass off. That's the kind of Dana White throwdown that I like. You know it's bullshit but it's a funny as fuck soundbite. It really will be interesting to see if it's Elite XC, Dream, or the new Affliction group that ends up with Tito's services. It would be huge for EXC or maybe even IFL. Dream will pay a nice chunk of change but I don't know how Tito sells in Japan. Affliction can probably land him but they will only commit to doing three shows before deciding where they stand.

"This guy went on Howard Stern and said he was getting $200,000 a fight," White said. "That was such a lie. Tito made $5.8 million in 2006. He only fought once in 2007. He made $710,000 for that fight (with Rashad Evans) and that was the third match from the top (on the card). He goes around saying we made $231 million last year. He's a moron. This guy talks about what a businessman he is, and he was on ‘The Apprentice' and he doesn't know the difference between revenue and profit."

Ehhhh. I don't want to get into the dollars and cents because none of us know the actual numbers. The only thing I want to actually say on this is that much like pro wrestling, the MMA game seems to be one of those businesses where the talent's piece of the pie is considerably less than the public would imagine. So, I'm going to guess the truth is somewhere in the middle. I doubt Tito was Latrell Spreewell trying to feed his family but... he's probably not A-Rod either.

Ortiz has been unhappy with White's public comments, in which the UFC president called both Ortiz and girlfriend Jenna Jameson, who had done some negotiating with UFC for him, "morons."

What the fuck? He's got Jenna negotiating for him? I... I don't even know how to respond to that. I mean, I suppose it's possible she's a smart business woman but doesn't he gave an agent for this purpose? A manager? Having your semi-retired porn star girlfriend negotiating with a boss you hate seems to be asking for trouble.

From a business standpoint, Ortiz in 2006 was pure gold. But in 2008, it's very much a question. Ortiz hasn't had a win against a true top opponent in years. Even Ortiz's 15-5-1 record is interpreted completely different by both.

"In the last eight years, the only people who have beaten me are Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, two of the best fighters in the world," Ortiz said.

"Look at his record," White said. "When was the last time he beat a legitimate top contender? Forrest Griffin was right out of ‘The Ultimate Fighter' and a lot of people think Griffin won that fight. You have to go back to Vitor Belfort (in early 2005). He's not ranked in anyone's top 10."

You can count me among those people who think Forrest won the fight with Tito. So, it's much like I said earlier - there's just no big fights left in him for the UFC. There's plenty of "interesting" fights that I'd like to see him in but he needs to realize that he probably does need to drop his price a little bit at this stage until he proves otherwise [for the record, the article states the UFC's final offer was for six fights and Tito admit it's probably more than he'll get elsewhere.]

And even White concedes Ortiz can help them and come across as a top star on the outside.

"He'll probably dominate, because he won't be fighting the same level of competition," he said. "Kimbo Slice? Three months ago he was fighting in your backyard."

Ortiz feels he's got several potential big fights outside of the UFC.

"There's a rematch with Randy Couture, a rematch with Frank Shamrock, and maybe (heavyweights) Kimbo Slice or Fedor Emelianenko," he said. "Yes, they are (except Shamrock) heavyweights, but we can fight at a catch weight. Babalu (Renato Sobral) is another one. I have three or four years left."

First, Dana got the killer Kimbo soundbite - so, so accurate by the way. Let's look at what Tito thinks are big fights for him. Randy? Sure, I'd like to see it. Frank Shamrock? After the loss to Cung Le, I'm not sure how big of a draw Frank Shamrock's going to be. The Frank/Ken match will sell big when/if it happens because people aren't going to get that they're not blood brothers. Babalu? No fucking way. The big two on the list obviously are Kimbo and Fedor. I don't doubt that Tito can beat Kimbo - which is why that fight probably would not happen any time soon. EXC thinks Kimbo's celebrity status is going to be the wagon they tie their horse to so they are going to be very careful about who they match him with. In fact, I have a hard time seeing EXC booking Kimbo with anyone who isn't going to stand and throw. Tito will not stand and throw with Kimbo Slice. Tito will take him down, hold him down, and pound out a stoppage or decision. Fedor? Interesting. Fedor will beat him but... interesting.

It's no secret why UFC booked Machida, 12-0, a highly respected but uncharismatic relative unknown to the casual UFC fans, as Ortiz's last opponent. The expectation is Machida would get a win over a huge name opponent, and hopefully become a star in the process, and become someone who can draw if challenging for the marquee light heavyweight title.

I don't believe that for a second. This fight is designed to bury Tito win or lose, period.

The match has more intrigue within the MMA world than any fight in a long time, because Machida is seen as White's surrogate fighter, and the question becomes, if Ortiz wins, what will he do, and what will he say, in his final interview. Or will White allow him a final interview?

Nope. No chance in hell he gets anywhere near a live mic.

It'll be an interesting fight Saturday night - not because it'll be good by any stretch of the imagination but because of all the chaos surrounding it. As a fan of the MMA business [and not just the fights,] I'm looking forward to seeing what happens.