Tito Ortiz: 10 Signature Fights

Wanderlei Silva came up short at UFC 25. | Photo: Taro Irei/Sherdog.com

UFC 25 “Ultimate Japan 3”
April 14, 2000 | Tokyo
When Frank Shamrock vacated the UFC light heavyweight championship, he left the door wide open for Tito Ortiz. All that stood between “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” and the gold that had once eluded him was a young Brazilian striker with an axe to grind.

Ortiz took down Wanderlei Silva repeatedly at UFC 25 and withstood a furious third-round assault from “The Axe Murderer,” picking up a five-round unanimous decision at Yoyogi National Stadium. The brutish wrestler failed to sufficiently penetrate Silva’s defenses with the kind of ground-and-pound necessary for a finish, but he did enough to earn the nod on the scorecards.

The victory marked the beginning of a historic reign for Ortiz, as he held the light heavyweight crown for more than three years.

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