Tweet
It's finally going to happen. I heard it was part of the deal to get Tito to come back to the UFC, but I never thought it would actually transpire.
In this corner, fighting out of Huntington Beach, Calif., and coming in at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, with a MMA record of 16-5, the Huntington Beach Bad Boy and former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz.
And in this corner, fighting out of Las Vegas, and coming in at 5-11, 196 pounds, with a record of ... um ... 0-0 ... the UFC president and ... um ... 37-year-old former amateur boxer ... Dana White?
Doesn’t quite sound right, does it? In an event akin to David Stern duking it out with Kobe Bryant, or Bud Selig trading punches with Barry Bonds, UFC president Dana White does intend to step into the ring with Tito Ortiz on March 24 for a boxing match the two privately arranged when White convinced the former champ to return to the UFC last year.
As you read here in September, the bout was written into Ortiz’ contract after he and White smoothed the bumps that had led to Ortiz’ departure from the UFC. They were working together again, but that didn’t mean they’d completely forgotten their differences. The three-round “exhibition” was supposed to have taken place last year, before Ortiz’ much-anticipated title fight with light heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell. But when White went to the Nevada State Boxing Commission to get an OK for the match, the board told him no way.
“It looked like I wasn’t going to get the license,” said White, who once ran a boxing gym in South Boston. “They saw it as a mismatch. I have no pro fights and Tito is Tito. He’s in phenomenal shape. He looks amazing.”
White’s been filming his entire training regimen for a Spike TV show, so he was able to produce footage for the board showing his sparring sessions and convincing the members that he wasn’t completely insane. The board finally green-lighted it.
So on March 24, at the UFC training center, the two will privately box in front of friends, family, UFC employees -- and cameras.
The scheduling delay actually helped White get in better shape. His old Southie boxing pal, Jimmy Gifford, has been with him since June, hammering him into form. White’s no dummy, he realizes if this was a mixed martial arts bout, “(Ortiz) would rip my (expletive) head off. But it’s not, it’s boxing.”
So what’s in it for the UFC fan? Well, the week of April 9, Spike TV will air “The Dana vs. Tito Countdown,” a documentary about the up-and-down relationship between the two men, complete with a retrospective and footage of the two training for the match. The following week, the entire three-round exhibition will be aired on UFC.com.
“I feel good,” White said. “I’m not saying I’m going to go in and knock Tito off. But I’ve got a good chin and I guarantee this: He’s not going to knock me out or stop me. We’re going to go at it.”
In this corner, fighting out of Huntington Beach, Calif., and coming in at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, with a MMA record of 16-5, the Huntington Beach Bad Boy and former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz.
And in this corner, fighting out of Las Vegas, and coming in at 5-11, 196 pounds, with a record of ... um ... 0-0 ... the UFC president and ... um ... 37-year-old former amateur boxer ... Dana White?
Doesn’t quite sound right, does it? In an event akin to David Stern duking it out with Kobe Bryant, or Bud Selig trading punches with Barry Bonds, UFC president Dana White does intend to step into the ring with Tito Ortiz on March 24 for a boxing match the two privately arranged when White convinced the former champ to return to the UFC last year.
As you read here in September, the bout was written into Ortiz’ contract after he and White smoothed the bumps that had led to Ortiz’ departure from the UFC. They were working together again, but that didn’t mean they’d completely forgotten their differences. The three-round “exhibition” was supposed to have taken place last year, before Ortiz’ much-anticipated title fight with light heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell. But when White went to the Nevada State Boxing Commission to get an OK for the match, the board told him no way.
“It looked like I wasn’t going to get the license,” said White, who once ran a boxing gym in South Boston. “They saw it as a mismatch. I have no pro fights and Tito is Tito. He’s in phenomenal shape. He looks amazing.”
White’s been filming his entire training regimen for a Spike TV show, so he was able to produce footage for the board showing his sparring sessions and convincing the members that he wasn’t completely insane. The board finally green-lighted it.
So on March 24, at the UFC training center, the two will privately box in front of friends, family, UFC employees -- and cameras.
The scheduling delay actually helped White get in better shape. His old Southie boxing pal, Jimmy Gifford, has been with him since June, hammering him into form. White’s no dummy, he realizes if this was a mixed martial arts bout, “(Ortiz) would rip my (expletive) head off. But it’s not, it’s boxing.”
So what’s in it for the UFC fan? Well, the week of April 9, Spike TV will air “The Dana vs. Tito Countdown,” a documentary about the up-and-down relationship between the two men, complete with a retrospective and footage of the two training for the match. The following week, the entire three-round exhibition will be aired on UFC.com.
“I feel good,” White said. “I’m not saying I’m going to go in and knock Tito off. But I’ve got a good chin and I guarantee this: He’s not going to knock me out or stop me. We’re going to go at it.”
Comment