It’s 2023 and UFC President Dana White still has some harsh words for Tito Ortiz.
It’s no secret that Ortiz and the UFC have had a rift for many years. “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” was once a top star under the UFC banner. Things unraveled between the two sides, and at one point, Ortiz even wore a “Dana is my b*tch” t-shirt to a weigh-in. Ortiz and White initially agreed to a boxing match, but the former UFC light heavyweight champion withdrew because he claimed he wasn’t going to make money off it.
Dana White tells the story of Tito Ortiz’s first sparring session with Chuck Liddell.
Things didn’t go as expected 😬 pic.twitter.com/DEKoiTUlGH
— 30 for 30 (@30for30) September 27, 2019
Dana White Blasts Tito Ortiz In 2023
During an interview for BigBoyTV, Dana White unloaded during a new rant on Tito Ortiz.
“He’s very, very f*cking stupid, let’s start there,” White said.
White went on to make quite the claim that Ortiz would demand more money just before his fights despite already agreeing to the terms months in advance.
“We’d be coming up to a big fight, it was on Saturday,” White said. “Deals have been done for months, Tito would call and say, ‘I’m not gonna show up unless you pay me another 150,000,’ or whatever the number was. He would do this on the regular and I would go f*cking crazy. Tito was always the type of guy that would step over dollars to pick up dimes because he thought he was smart, but he was the complete opposite of smart. He’s not a smart guy. So, he destroyed what could’ve been an incredible relationship because we loved Tito at the time.”
The UFC boss mentioned how Chuck Liddell is still being taken care of to this day for his loyalty to the UFC. White insists Ortiz could’ve had that same treatment if he simply played his cards right. White admitted business deals aren’t always perfect, but he’s had “great relationships” with many UFC fighters past and present.
Dana White: Tito's just a really dumb human being. pic.twitter.com/kSZv7MOmYQ
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) September 12, 2023
