While no one at UFC would comment on the record, we have been lead to
understand that UFC has not made any counter offer or attempt to keep Tito in
the Ultimate Fighting Championships.
"I guarantee you that my contract will be like no other," said Ortiz,
who wouldn't reveal the specifics of the proposed deal but was still fielding
calls from rival promotions EliteXC and the American Fight League on Tuesday.
"It will be a ground-breaking record contract for sure, without a doubt. There's
so much money to be made right now in mixed martial arts and it's all about the
fighters trying to make that money. It's going to be a long-term deal where I
put my heart and soul into the company and help build them. That's something I'm
interested in doing. They're going to bring me on, not just as a fighter but
also doing some of the back work also."
Ortiz, who became a free agent on Monday after an 11-year career with
Ultimate Fighting Championship, said he planned to meet with Affliction
stakeholder Donald Trump on Tuesday to work out the details of the deal and if
signed would face Renato "Babalu" Sobral in his first match outside the UFC in
October.
"Babalu has been in my crosshairs," Ortiz said. "He's already been
talking smack, saying if he sees me he's going to kick my ass, but right on if
he keeps thinking that. He'll get his face caved in sooner or later. I know
Frank Shamrock is another person who's been opening up his mouth. He beat me the
last time we fought and I think that would be a great revenge fight where I kick
his ass and finally shut him up. As time goes we'll see who Affliction signs
besides me. I don't know. I might even go up to heavyweight if the bigger pay
days are there."
Ortiz attended Affliction's first card, on July 19 in Anaheim, and
has been in contact with Trump since his last fight in the UFC about the
possibility of joining Affliction after the two forged a friendship during
Ortiz's stint on The Celebrity Apprentice.
"Mr. Trump works fast and gets busy in a lot of the things he does
and he's going to give me the best deal possible,"
said Ortiz. "I know they want
to make some money and I know they got over 100,000 pay-per-view buys on their
first show and with me it's guaranteed to be over 500,000 pay-per-view buys just
by the number of fans that are going to follow me no matter where I go so
they're going to get there money's worth just in pay-per-view no matter
what."
Trump addressed the possibility of Ortiz joining Affliction last
month in a conference call with reporters.
"I think Tito is terrific," said Trump. "He not only was a nice guy
and very different from the way he is in the ring, he was really talented,
really smart, and yes, I think he likes me a lot. And I like him a lot. That
doesn't mean he signed a contract [with Affliction], but I think Tito would love
to deal with us."
Ortiz's deal was structured in a way that would make it impossible
for the UFC to match, as they contractually have that right to do so. However,
UFC President Dana White, with whom Ortiz has had an ongoing feud for the past
five years, said that there would be no bidding war and that he wouldn't even
match an offer if Ortiz was paid "$30 a fight."
"They have the right to match the offer, so I'll be getting a deal
that no other fighter has ever gotten. It's going to be some ground-breaking
news for sure," he said. "I'm going to a company that's going to take care of
me, a company that's going to respect me, a company that's going to put me in
the forefront and make me the ambassador that I've always been. I think Mr.
Trump respects me at that value to get it. My heart's not with the UFC anymore
because of how bad they treated me. They don't respect me and they don't see me
as a businessman. All they think is that I'm a punk fighter that's going to
fold, and I've already proven that I'm not going to fold to anything by not
resigning with them."
Trump made his first play for Ortiz after his last fight in the UFC,
a unanimous decision loss to Lyoto Machida on May 24 -- Ortiz's second loss in
three fights to extend his winless mark to nearly two years. His last win in the
Octagon was on Oct. 10, 2006, a TKO victory over Ken Shamrock.
"We talked a little bit about [Trump getting involved in MMA] when I
was on the show," Ortiz said. "I know he did a couple things with WWE and a few
boxing events and after the show he said, 'One day, I may be interested in
getting into your business and I want to sign you' and that's pretty much where
it was until he signed with Affliction and once he signed with Affliction I got
a personal call from him saying he was going to come to my last fight in the UFC
and support me and after my fight was over he walked up to me and said, 'Tito
you may have lost tonight, but you won in my eyes no matter what. I just signed
with Affliction and we want to sign you next.' He sees the power that I have and
he's going to respect me for it."
With big names such as Ortiz, Randy Couture, Fedor Emelianenko and
Tim Sylvia giving credibility to Affliction combined with the financial backing
and business savvy of Trump, Ortiz believes it's only a matter of time before
Affliction makes the UFC, and White in particular, regret not giving the
fighters a bigger cut of the profits when they had the chance to.
"Mr. Trump sees it as a business and no more than that," said Ortiz.
"He understands that and there's nothing personal to it at all and that's what
the UFC has problem with. The UFC takes the work they do very, very personal and
in any business once you let your personal feelings get involved with it
everything goes to [crap]. Mr. Trump is a strict businessman who respects the
fighters. This is going to be one of the biggest losses [the UFC] has ever had
to date and one of the worst mistakes they've ever made."
I ran an idea past a close friend of Tito's today that either the Jenna
Jameson pregnancy rumor has been set to garner interest in Tito's announcement
this Friday with Affliction, or that they will announce it at the press
conference to get even more publicity for Tito's big jump away from Affliction.
The close friend of Tito, who said Tito is very happy with Jenna, told me that
the couple have not confided in many people about the reported pregnancy, and
that if it's just a rumor, they sure didn't plant it. As for the theory that
Tito will announce the pregnancy officially at the press conference, the friend
said it was a pretty good idea and he didn't know if Tito and Jenna were going
to do that, "but it's pretty cool, isn't it?"
Well, yeah, I think it's cool, but I thought of it. Not that they didn't
think of it on their own. Well, you get what I mean, hopefully.
Much more discussion about this today in our E-Newsletter, which you can
subscribe to easily by signing up HERE . There's
never any spam, and we respect your privacy so will never sell the list to
online marketers. It's simply the best way to keep up to date and even ahead of
everyone in the worlds of MMA and pro wrestling.
