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The ongoing saga between UFC President Dana White and Light Heavyweight Fighter Tito Ortiz is approaching a boiling point that may spill over at UFC 84. With heavy media coverage and fine tooth scrutiny being applied to all sides of the story, neither White or Ortiz seem to be holding back their various pot shots, something that is overriding the real bout, between Ortiz and undefeated Brazilian Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida.

This past Thursday on The Fan 590, Ortiz told me the only he would return to the UFC is if Dana White either quit or publicly apologized for what he has said about him and girlfriend Jenna Jameson. Dana’s response during a recent UFC conference call this past week was nothing new or surprising to anyone who has been following this story for years:

“Tito is a f—ing idiot. He’s one of the dumbest human beings I’ve ever met. Everything that comes out of his mouth makes no sense.”  It also appears White has enough of Tito’s act as well. “I put up with his s— when he was a good fighter,” White said. “He’s not anymore. He’s not in anybody’s Top 10.”

While most promoters would never publically display who they favour in a fight, White overlooks this image and could care less about being impartial.  He stated “I have no interest whatsoever in being in the Tito Ortiz business. … I’ve never wanted to see anyone get their ass kicked worse than I want to see Tito get his kicked next Saturday night.” 

Everyone knows that next Saturday night at the MGM Grand, Tito Ortiz will be making his final appearance in the UFC Octagon. With many MMA organziations vieing to become the next ‘big show’, Tito Ortiz’s name and marketability could be the next step for some of the up and coming promotions. Widely regarded as the #2 organization in North America, Elite XC and their frontman Gary Shaw, make no bones about the fact they would love to have Tito Ortiz on their roster.

“Of all my years in the fight game, I know one thing that I could see, touch, smell and feel, and that is a star and a superstar,” he said. “Every time I see Tito Ortiz, he reeks of stardom. I think I can even better his days in the UFC. I think I can reincarnate Ortiz. He is a talented fighter and has all the mechanisms that you need to make someone a superstar.”

“Can you imagine Tito Ortiz and Kimbo (Slice) in the cage together one day?,” Shaw asked. “My door is open. I hope that he’s able to negotiate one day because I would never interfere with a contract. I hope he’s sitting right next to me, not across from my desk, but right with me.”

I firmly believe that Elite XC is where Tito Ortiz will end up, but will Dana White and the UFC try to convince Ortiz otherwise in hopes to work things out with their former Light Heavyweight Champion. “There’s not going to be any bidding war,” White said. “Gary Shaw should offer him $30 a fight, because we’re not going to match it.

Not surpising when you think about it, but business is business and if there is any way the UFC can prevent their competition from increasing their market share, they will do whatever it takes to do so. If that means signing Tito Ortiz, they will. Then again, White also believes that there is no promotion out there that can (or ever will) compete with the UFC.

Bottom line, this scenario will continue to heat up and will definetly reach an all time high at UFC 84: ill will. Win or Lose, Ortiz will be a headlining story for weeks to come and it will be interesting to see what the UFC does to sign or impede the next chapter in Tito Ortiz’s career.

At UFC 84: ill will, Tito Ortiz will most likely make his final appearance in the Octagon. His on-again, (mostly) off-again relationship with UFC President Dana White will reach it’s boiling point on Saturday May 24th. These two have barely minced words when speaking to any media outlet that they know will broadcast whatever they have to say.

The battle between these two parties has been going on for years. As opposed to doing whatever they can to not air their dirty laundry, they take great satisfaction in getting it all out there for public viewing and consumption. Remember, the one hour documentary where they agreed to fight one another to settle a bet they had between them. The fight never happened as Dana said Tito backed off with Tito coming on The Fan 590 calling it ‘The Dana White Show’.

Of course, there is the online bickering all across the internet with various pot shots added in on radio shows, TV spots and Dana White’s sarcasm and jabs about Ortiz in various UFC press conferences.

In just over a week, these two will collide in what promises to be an epic battle of employer and employee…with the irony being Tito Ortiz has already given his two weeks notice of resignation. On May 24th it will be his last day at work and we’ve all been there thinking ‘Should I or shouldn’t I?’. 

With all of these thoughts going on in Tito’s head, there is still Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida, the undefeated Brazilian who will be his opponent in the Octagon that night. But it’s not just the real fight that he’s thinking about’ it’s Dana White who may prove to be his toughest opponent that night.

Sponsorhip Issues

At UFC 84, Bud Light will be debuting it’s logo to mark the beginning of it’s massive marketing campaign to brand the UFC with their product. Tito Ortiz knows this, so rumour has it he has signed on with Mickey’s Brewery, the former beer sponsor of the UFC and now a direct competitor of Bud Light.

The UFC is pretty strict and does not allow any fighter to wear any logos from competing sponsors. On that note, I am very interested to see how Ortiz will be able to pull off being dressed head to toe in not only his own Team Punishment logo, but that of Mickey’s Brewery as well.

We all saw what happened to Matt Lindland, the dominant middleweight wrestler who was consensus #1 (pre-Anderson Silva) when he wore a logo from a competing sponsor. He was banned from the UFC and never fought for them again. We see it now with Affliction, as they have been banned by the UFC forcing guys like GSP to wear all black shorts with just a ‘Fleur DI Li’ logo on his right hip.

This time it’s different. This time it’s Tito Ortiz knowing full well that this will most likely be his last fight for the UFC. He is probably counting the ways that he can ’stick it’ to the them, and wearing a competing sponsor is just one way of doing so. Getting on the mic is another way, so it’s pretty safe to say that the UFC production staff have been told (and will be reminded) to keep Tito Ortiz away from all microphones and any extra camera shots before and after his bout.

While most fighters will stick by the rules, this time its different as this is the renegade employee on his last day on the job with nothing to lose. He doesn’t care what the UFC thinks. He could care less what Bud Light has to say, but above all, he doesn’t really care what Dana White has to say, just as long as he can stick it to him.

It will be interesting to see how the UFC will prevent Tito Ortiz from wearing the Mickey’s logo, seeing as Bud Light is paying big money to sponsor the show with ‘exclusivety’ as part of the agreement. Does Dana White explain to them that Tito is a rebel? Does he explain to Bud Light the checkered past between the two of them? No matter what, Bud Light will not care as their contract with the UFC has nothing to do with Dana White, Tito Ortiz and their soap opera dilemmas.

As mentioned earlier, lest we forget that Tito is fighting the 11-0 Lyoto Machida, a fight many are saying will be an easy victory for Machida. It’s also the same card as Vanderlai Silva (coming off a loss to Chuck Liddell) vs Keith Jardine (coming off a victory over Chuck Liddell) as well as the Lightweight Championship main event between champ BJ Penn and former champ Sean Sherk.

This event will be one for the ages…

It continues to surprise me how MMA fans in Ontario continue to get the political snub when it comes to the sanctioning and regulation of their favourite sport. The Ontario Athletic Commission continues to impose its dictatorship over a democratic society, all the while hiding behind a veil of laziness and ignorance.

The OAC’s interpretation of Section 83 of the criminal code is ludicrous and borderline ridiculous. How is it that the vast majority of provinces in this country see it differently, whereby they see the need to regulate MMA, sanction it according to the agreed upon North American MMA Rules and understand that has a government body, they must work FOR THE PEOPLE, while making the sport as safe as possible for the fighters and fans.

I am thoroughly disgusted and quite frankly embarrassed to be living in a province whose bureaucrats, for the past 25 years, have been allowed to destroy the combat sports scene to the point where it is nearly non-existent. They did what they could to destroy boxing and kickboxing and now they are doing the same for Mixed Martial Arts. Prior to this regime, Ontario was a province that saw Muhammed Ali take on George Chuvalo at Maple Leaf Gardens. Since this regime took office, it has single handily destroyed the combat sports scene.

Under this regime, we have lost so much. When Lennox Lewis was champion of the world, he could have fought at the ACC or at the Rogers Centre, but instead, chose to fight elsewhere. When Carlos Newton was the UFC Welterweight Champion, he could have defended his title in his home province, but was not allowed to due to the OAC refusing to sanction and regulate MMA. The Vanderpool brothers had to travel abroad to make their names in boxing as the OAC could not be bothered holding regular MMA events. We have had legendary kickboxers in this province who were all forced to ply their trade outside of Ontario, and today, we have current and budding MMA stars who have to pack their bags and head out to Quebec, Vegas and all points in between to build their careers.

The ignorance and interpretation of Section 83 by the current regime at the OAC must come to an end. We live in a democratic society, not a communist or fascist system where we are forced to bow our heads because what they say, goes. We the people, must stand up and demand they review their policies and look at sanctioning the sport of MMA immediately. What exactly do they do today? Seeing as there are barely any professional boxing events in this province, next to no pro kickboxing events and definetly no pro MMA events…what exactly do they do? Something tells me that they sit behind their government salary and ride the waive until retirement. Time for some changes.

The OAC talks about wanting to see a safety record in MMA, well, I have signed paperwork from doctors all across North America explaining why MMA is much safer than other main stream sports. I have a copy of the most recent study conducted by the John Hopkins University of Medicine breaking down the injury trends in SANCTIONED MMA competition and showing EVERYTHING the OAC claims they are looking for. BUT THEY DO NOT WANT IT. They talk, but they do not walk. I, along with many other media, promoters, doctors, lawyers, lobbyists, fighters and fans have ALL of the info the OAC claims they want…but they refuse to accept it when offered. 

I have documents from other commissioners in North America stating WHY they have gone ahead and sanctioned MMA in their state/province. There is also an incredible website the UFC has put together at www.mmafacts.com . This site is chalk full of information the OAC has complete access to, but completely refuses to read. Everything the OAC needs to sanction and regulate MMA, is on this site, but they do nothing about it.

This same regime turned down the UFC’s offer to attend last weekend’s show in Montreal. Yes, the same show that saw 21,389 fans sell out the Bell Centre in Montreal. The same show that brought in a $5 million dollar gate for the UFC. The same gate that was taxed by the Quebec Athletic Commission to a maximum of $200,000, which they received for their services in sanctioning the event.

Again, that was $200,000 in revenue the QAC garnered for hosting the UFC event. That figure officially pays of the salaries of their Athletic Commissioner, their Secretary of Affairs, as well as all of their refs, judges and inspectors FOR ONE FULL YEAR.

HELLOOOOO!!!!!!

What does all of this mean? Well, for the rest of the year, every boxing, kickboxing and MMA event held in Quebec will be considered GRAVY to the commission and government bank account. From a government and business perspective, that’s how you run an agency for the people and a division of the Ministry.

Need I also mention how much the Montreal  economy made during the UFC event? That many hotels were sold out months in advance, that their were packed restaurants, bars and shops, as well as the transportation revenue streams all received a huge boom due to all the of the tourists that headed to La Belle Province!!

Ironicially enough, based on ticket sales and hotel info, it appears over 60% of the tourists were from Ontario. Good for Quebec, embarassing for Ontario.

Most recently, there is no doubt in my mind that the Ontario Athletic Commission influenced local Six Nations police in charging the promoters of IQMMA, as well as the Grand River Athletics Corp, for holding MMA events on the sovreign land outside of Hagersville, Ontario. Instead of looking at this situation and realizing they need to sanction and regulate MMA in Ontario, they are too busy charging people who are doing a pretty good job of putting on a safe event for the fighters and fans. Due to the OAC’s weak interpretation of Section 83, as well as hiding behind Ontario’s Sports Control Act, they would rather spend their time and resources making money for Ontario’s Judicial System, as opposed to generating revenue for their own Ministry.

Anyone else see the sad irony in what they are doing? As opposed to making money for the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, they take money from their allocated budget and basically give it to another ministry. As opposed to generating enough monies to pay off their salaries, services, etc, they take what little they have and justify spending it on upholding and enforcing archaic definitions of the law. If they were in the regular business world, they would have been terminated and released decades ago. 

For the better part of 10 years, I have had conversations with the Ministry of Consumer and Business Affair’s OAC office, as well as the office of the Ministry of Health, in hopes to sanction and regulate both professional and amateur MMA. To say I am saddened and embarrassed to be living in a democratic society where the government imposes their hard fisted will is a travesty to the original morals and values this country was built on. The fact that their are people in office who take advantage of their duties and positions makes my stomach turn. I am a firm believer in Karma. I simply hope it comes back to them sooner than later.