Tito Ortiz: 10 Signature Fights
UFC 19
March 5, 1999 | Bay St. Louis, Miss.
All fires begin with a spark.
Guy Mezger at UFC 13 had become the first man to beat Tito Ortiz, and their volatile rematch a little less than two years later ignited one of the most heated and lucrative rivalries in MMA history. A late replacement for the injured Vitor Belfort at UFC 19, Ortiz stopped Mezger (Pictured, Above. File Photo) on punches 9:56 into the first round. In the immediate aftermath, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” unfurled both middle fingers in the direction of Mezger’s corner. His antics incensed Mezger’s Lion’s Den teammates and their frontman, Ken Shamrock, touching off a conflict that lasted for years.
Ortiz went on to fight and defeat Shamrock on three different occasions, putting untold millions into the UFC coffers and drawing widespread interest in MMA in the process.
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