When asked about the fans recent reaction to him and how he feels about his current situation, he offered myriad answersin one paragraph:
Im trying to work on other things. Im trying to get into the theatrical side of it doing movies and stuff like that because I think thats where the big money is. Im sick of beating up my body and sick of doing things that Ive been doing. Im kinda bored, man. Kinda bored. Its just time for me to move on with my life and when I beat down Vitor, Ill sit back and see if the UFC wants to renew my contract. I really want to. I do want to fight again, but you know Im going to get paid what I expect that Im worth. I love fighting.
If after that reply you have any idea what hes planning to do, congratulations. Counting Ortiz, youd be the only one.
Even though hes convinced people are going to want to watch Tito Ortiz no matter what, it is clear from speaking with people inside and outside the UFC, that in order for him to make the most of his professional emancipation, he must defeat Belfort.
I dont know how you make money at fighting without winning, observed Oyama.
If he falls short, said UFC insiders, he might have ruined any chance of resurrecting a career that started to hit the skids following the November 2002 beating of Ken Shamrock.
We gotta cross that bridge [if] we get there, Ghahremani said. I dont think it would be the end of the world because I think Tito still would have enough draw to be fighting at a high rate.
If he loses to Vitor, hes lost three of his last four fights, White said. But the thing is I think weve put enough money behind Tito that he would be the guy that PRIDE, K-1 or any of these other organizations would try to bring to have their new stars beat him up. Whats that worth? Who knows.
Should he defeat Belfort, its expected that Ortiz will ask for least $300,000 per fight, said Ghahremani. At that price he would become the highest paid fighter in the history of the organization, a scenario that seems highly unlikely, especially after the last two years.
I dont see why Zuffa wouldnt be able to, challenged Ortiz agent, because if you look at it with a lot of the pay-per-view incentives people are doing nowadays its not too far from [$300,000]. So why not?
When you see a guy like Tank Abbott get $150,000 guaranteed to show and Tito doesnt get that guaranteed to showand Titos draw is a gazillion times stronger than a Tank Abbottwere looking realistically $300,000-ish.
We just dont like the win-bonus stuff. When youre starting out to show and win, thats beautiful; fine, thats your incentive. But when youre up at the higher echelonTito, Randy, Chuck, Wanderleithese guys, you dont need to give em show money because you know theyre going to show up and fight and win. Theyre not going to show up and patty-cake it.
The problem for Ortiz stems from the fact that he is no longer the only show in town. Just last Monday, more viewers tuned in to see Bobby Southworth knock out Lodune Sincaid on Spike TVs Ultimate Fighter than have watched Ortiz in all his pay-per-view appearances combined.
With variables like that, Ortiz bargaining power is definitely diminished. Yet despite the Liddell soap opera, Ortiz still fills seats and sells pay-per-views. The coming months will undoubtedly provide an answer to just how much hes worth on the open market.
Is he still the same fighter who once captured Whites imagination?
Tito and I have a lot of history, said White, and Id like Tito to be a part of the UFC forever. I started this thing with Tito and Chuck and Id like to see Tito end his career with the UFC. But along this road we travel, Tito has kind of lost himself in my opinion.
I think [my] focus is making money for my son, Ortiz said. I want to make sure he has a really bright future for college and everything. Thats the most important thing. I was already world champion, man. I won five world titles and winning the title again, thatd be nice to happen, but if it doesnt in the future Im not going to be down on myself; Im not going to kill myself over it. Ive done my job so far.