The Doggy Bag

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I was listening to the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” program recently, and TJ De Santis and Jon Luther were bringing up some interesting points about Tito Ortiz being legendary. I do not feel Tito is a legend, based on the level of competition he fought as a champion. Yes, he can be considered one of the most dominant champions in light heavyweight history, but look at his run: defenses over Elvis Sinosic and Ken Shamrock; not the stuff of which legends are made. -- Gabe from Grand Rapids, Mich.

TJ De Santis, Sherdog Radio Network program director: I agree with you when it comes to not calling Tito a legend. However, that shouldn’t take away from his greatness. The “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” has cemented his place in mixed martial arts lore as the first dominant light heavyweight champion in UFC history. He did have some great moments in his career, as well.

His bouts with the Shamrocks should never be forgotten, and his epic battle with Frank Shamrock was one of the first fights that really mattered in my eyes. It was a giant step in the evolution of high-level fighters fighting one another. Before that bout, Tito’s toughest fight was against Guy Mezger -- a bout that saw Ortiz get caught in a guillotine. After learning from his mistake, Tito rebounded to avenge his loss with relative ease. The battle between Ortiz and Frank Shamrock saw Tito get ahead early but ultimately gas out, allowing Shamrock to finish him in the fourth round. Ortiz used that loss as motivation to develop one of the best gas tanks in the game.

Tito’s other career-defining moment, to me, was his bout against Ken Shamrock at UFC 40. “Vendetta” was the first UFC pay-per-view that I ever watched live. Finding the sport through the rental racks at my local Hollywood Video, the Tito-Ken matchup was something over which I salivated. It was the first time I had paid $29.99 -- a bargain in hindsight -- for a live event. I remember not being able to sleep the night before because anticipation and excitement consumed me. I wasn’t the only one feeling this way, as UFC 40 set the benchmark for the Zuffa era and proved to be one of the most important events in North American mixed martial arts history.

With that said, Tito, to me, is not a legend. He lacks the luster of a Fedor Emelianenko, a Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic or a Randy Couture. “The Natural’s” efforts against Pedro Rizzo, the Chuck Liddell trilogy, his return after retirement to defeat Tim Sylvia for the heavyweight title; that’s legendary. Fedor’s ice-cold run through the sport’s top heavyweight talent -- legendary.

Is the book closed on Tito Ortiz? No. If Tito puts together another run at the title after his win over Ryan Bader, I might re-consider. However, he would have to win the title and defend it for me to call him a legend. Someone who dominated in two decades is the stuff of legend.

I have gotten a lot of emails telling me that my opinion of Tito is wrong, that his participation in UFC 40, combined with the Shamrock rivalries, is enough to put him on the shelf with Royce Gracie, Kazushi Sakuraba, Couture and other “legends.” I think people confuse the words “legend” and “pioneer.” The sport is young. Every five years seems to usher in a new era of mixed martial artists. It’s quite possible that we can’t call anyone in the sport a legend yet, but it’s a fun discussion that will have fans and journalists alike debating for years to come.

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One thing that always drives me nuts in MMA is when a headline fighter gets hurt, a promotion starts looking for a replacement and I see people criticizing these fighters for not taking fights on short notice.

I think it’s a brave move for certain fighters to come into fights on short notice, and it even pays off sometimes, like we saw for Charlie Brenneman. But seeing people criticizing Lyoto Machida for not wanting to fight a former champion on three weeks’ notice without extra financial compensation makes me crazy.

Everybody thinks that Rick Story made a mistake taking his last fight on short notice, so why when a guy turns down a fight or wants extra money, is he either scared or being greedy? -- Chris from Des Moines, Iowa

Chris Nelson, associate editor: I’m constantly baffled by the things over which some MMA fans and journalists choose to get irrationally furious, but the invectives I’ve seen hurled at Machida in the past few days for his decision not to fight at UFC 133 might just take the cake.

Now that Tito Ortiz has stepped in to salvage the show’s main event -- along with, presumably, Rashad Evans’ sanity -- let’s look at the situation with cooler heads. Machida, who only just regained some momentum with his knockout of Randy Couture at UFC 129 after suffering the first two losses of his career back-to-back, was summoned to fight on four weeks’ notice against a man who he’s already beaten decisively.

Whether or not Machida agreed to the fight initially -- and I have to assume it was rather tentative on both parties’ sides, since Phil Davis was reportedly still “in the mix” pending doctor’s clearance -- it is absolutely within his rights to demand Anderson Silva money, Tom Brady money, or cast of “Seinfeld” money. It’s also well within the UFC’s rights to refuse him, as, clearly, it did. An aside on the absurdity of reported payouts: Machida and Silva each officially earned $200,000 in base pay for their most recent fights; Ortiz banked $450,000.

As for why folks have chosen to get so up-in-arms about this, I can think of a few reasons. For starters, fans are upset about losing yet another main event, one which, while only moderately anticipated, was still more relevant than what we’re getting. Nonetheless, with Evans coming off the shelf after a 14-month layoff, Ortiz seems a far more compelling rematch than Machida at this point.

Beyond that, Eric, I see what you see: people rushing to accuse Machida of cowardice and greed. To the former, I say ... uh, what? Let’s forget the part where Machida already brutally KO’d Evans. These are high-grade athletes who constantly put their bodies at risk for our entertainment, and a former champion stands accused of gutlessness for not wanting to fight with less than half of his normal prep time? I think it speaks to a larger point, which is that many fans barely view this sport’s competitors as human beings.

The latter complaint, Machida’s supposed greed, is one which was released into the public purview entirely by UFC President Dana White and the UFC, and it was run with by upset followers. Why did White feel the need to disclose private negotiations and in such a callow fashion? Why do fans -- many of whom, like me, do not have a family to support, let alone managers and trainers to pay -- choose to side with a multi-billion dollar company over an individual simply looking out for his own best interests? To quote my friend E. Casey Leydon of AllElbows.com: “Damn these prizefighters, fighting for money!”

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