Getty Tito Ortiz & Forrest Griffin
Even though he’s 47 years old, fans haven’t seen the last of former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz inside an MMA cage.
In fact, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” recently told “The Schmo” that he’s back to training and preparing to fight later this year. Ortiz said doesn’t want his final combat sports appearance to be his last bout when he was knocked out by ex-UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva in a boxing ring last September.
“I’m 47 right now,” Ortiz said. “I won’t be 48 until next year. I feel good, I feel strong. I just started training this week. I’ll fight one more time this year, before the year’s over. I want not to go out the way I did with Anderson.
“It’ll be an MMA fight. But like I said, just started preparing this week. I’ll be getting ready here for the next four months and we’ll see, maybe September, October, another Tito Ortiz in the cage.”
When asked where his bout could take place, Ortiz responded: “Florida or Arizona, not really sure yet. We’re still in the talks right now.” The Huntington Beach Bad Boy (21-12-1) did not reveal a potential opponent.
His last MMA bout occurred in December 2019 when he submitted Alberto Rodriguez during a Combate event. He’s riding a three-fight win streak including a KO over former UFC 205-pound champion Chuck Liddell and a rear-naked choke against multiple-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen. Further, Ortiz is 5-1 in his last six bouts.
Ortiz Said He Wished He Had More Time to Train for the Silva Boxing Match, Said the Weight Cut Was ‘Really, Really Hard’
Ortiz and Silva met on September 11 and The Huntington Beach Bad Boy was viciously knocked out. While speaking with The Schmo, Ortiz said that because he took the match on one month’s notice, he didn’t have much time to prepare because he had to focus on cutting weight.
“His boxing career has been amazing,” Ortiz said of Silva. “When I took the fight against Anderson, I had a month before the fight to prepare for it. And the whole month was literally to cut weight and Anderson was a smart guy, tried to get me down to 195.
“I’ve never been down to 195 since I think my freshman year in college. But, making that weight to 200, it was really, really hard.”
Speaking of the actual fight, The Huntington Beach Bad Boy said: “I just got too overzealous in the moment. I was trying to knock him out within the first round and he caught me and hit me with some punches behind the head and knocked me out.
“I made a mistake, but kudos to him. That’s why Anderson is one of the best.
Ortiz Believes Silva Would ‘Shred Jake Paul’ in a Boxing Match
Silva appears to be high on social media superstar Jake Paul’s list of potential opponents, and Ortiz would love to see that match unfold.
“That would be amazing,” Ortiz said. “I think he would shred Jake Paul. I don’t think it would last two, three rounds. Anderson’s really, really good. He’s a very good counterpuncher. He has very angles, and he’s got some power on his hands. So, I’ve got nothing but respect for the guy.”