What Kind of Champion are You?

THE BATTERED CHAMPION

TITO ORTIZ
Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Won: UFC 25 – April 14, 2000 def. Wanderlei Silva (Unanimous Decision)
Title Defenses: Five – UFC 29 (def. Yuki Kondo), UFC 30 (def. Evan Tanner), UFC 32 (def. Elvis Sinosic), UFC 33 (def. Vladimir Matyushenko), UFC 40 (def. Ken Shamrock)
Lost: UFC 44 – September 26, 2003 to Randy Couture (Unanimous Decision)

The Skinny: Now that it’s been nearly eight years since Ortiz wore championship gold, he joins former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia at the top of the list of most maligned former champions ever. Seriously, no one gives Tito any credit anymore.

Now, Ortiz himself is partially to blame. He makes it hard to remember the days when he had the most vicious ground-and-pound in the 205 pound division or that he was one of a select group of fighters to carry the UFC during “The Dark Ages.” With his winless drought closing in on a full five years and the string of injuries and excuses that have plagued his over that time, Ortiz has permanently transformed into persona, and it detracts from his past success.

Did he avoid fighting Chuck Liddell for as long as humanly possible? Absolutely, and you would too; “The Iceman” was a monster in his prime. But he also went 8-1 during a nine-fight stretch that included one of the greatest matches in UFC history (UFC 22) and came away from six straight title fights with the gold in his possession.

Is the bickering with Jenna on Twitter and the “I fought with a broken skull” the most annoying combo ever? Absolutely, but that doesn’t change the fact that Ortiz was once the best in the world.

THE FORGOTTEN CHAMPIONS

CARLOS CONDIT
Former WEC Welterweight Champion
Won: WEC 26 – March 24, 2007 def. John Alessio (Submission-RNC, R2)
Title Defenses: Three – WEC 29 (def. Brock Larson), WEC 32 (def. Carlo Prater), WEC 35 (def. Hiromitsu Miura)
Lost: Never

The Skinny: Yes, you read that right; Condit never officially lost the WEC. When the UFC absorbed the top end of the WEC in 2008 to allow the company to focus on the lighter weight class, Condit’s belt simply disappeared. So too did his standing a former champion in the eyes of his new audience.

For the fact geeks like me out there: Georges St. Pierre theoretically unified the UFC and WEC titles by beating Josh Koscheck at UFC 124.

Prior to moving to the UFC, Condit was considered a top 10 welterweight and a serious threat in the 170 pound division. Everything he’s done since then has confirmed that, yet people seem to forget his championship pedigree. Such is the curse of the smaller circuit champion.

Condit might be on his way to changing the way people remember him, however. He won three straight heading into Saturday’s meeting with unbeaten Dong Hyun Kim, and with the recent Nate Marquardt debacle, could position himself at the top of the heap with another convincing win.

Maybe then people will remember that he was once the WEC welterweight champion and a guy pundits had pegged for championship greatness.

BRIAN BOWLES
Former WEC Bantamweight Champion
WON: WEC 42 – August 9, 2009 def. Miguel Torres (Knockout, R1)
Title Defenses: None
Lost: WEC 47 – March 6, 2010 to Dominick Cruz (TKO-Doctor Stoppage, R2)

The Skinny: Bowles has the double whammy of how to become a forgotten champion, having reigned in the WEC and never defended his title. To add insult to injury, literally, a lot of people criticize the former bantamweight champ for “quitting on his stool” against Cruz.

Of course, there are a great number of those critics who have never tried to fight another man with a severely broken hand before, but why should that stop them from judging, right?

Regardless of how his championship run ended, how it started deserves to be remembered. In just the eighth fight of his career, Bowles stopped Torres’ nearly five-year unbeaten streak in emphatic fashion. A little more than three years after his first professional fight, Bowles was the top bantamweight fighter in the world.

Bowles is in an interesting position now. With the move to the UFC and the bantamweight ranks growing, he has a longer road back to the title than previous former champions.

On one hand, it’s not the most fair scenario to befall a former champion. On the other hand, since no one really remembers his title reign anyway, don’t be surprised if Bowles sneaks up on a few people on his way back to championship contention.