UFC 84 is a mere 10 days away and just ahead of the May 24 scheduled bouts, veteran UFC fighter,
Tito Ortiz, speaks out about his future.
Ortiz, who once sat loftily atop the UFC as Light Heavyweight champ for several years beginning in April 2000, when he won over
Wanderlei Silva in UFC 25. He went on to successfully defend his title a total of five times in the span of three years. Come May 24, Ortiz, now considered a dinosaur in the league, will once again take to the ring, this time against the rising Lyoto Machida. It will be a fight for honor for the veteran, who will set out to prove to fans and most especially, Dana White of the UFC, exactly what he's still worth.
Ortiz spoke with FOX Sports about the match, the state of things between him and the league, and also his plans for the rest of his career in mixed martial arts. He addressed the question of whether his fight against Machida in the approaching UFC 84 will be his final one ever.
“I think that May 24 will be my last fight with the UFC,” Ortiz told FOX Sports. “I plan on continuing my career though. I plan on fighting for three more years. That is what is in my mind and it is set in stone in my mind - still competing. I am just sick of being taken advantage of (and) I am sick of being treated the way I have been treated with the UFC.”
“Over the last two years, I have really been kind of forgotten about by UFC,” the former champion added. “(Fans) were saying, ‘Does Tito Ortiz still fight?' Well, it just shows how much the UFC used me. I am just sick of a lot of things that they do on the sides to try to keep me down, and if I will fight again with the UFC, it will be under my own terms.”
-Rosario Santiago, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source:
FOX Sports
(Image Courtesy of 84.ufc.com)