UFC President Dana White: This Is Tito Ortiz's Last Stand (original) (raw)

One last shot. That’s what Tito Ortiz asked for, and that’s what Tito Ortiz is going to get.

One last shot.

That’s what Tito Ortiz asked for, and that’s what Tito Ortiz is going to get.

After losing a three-round decision to Matt Hamill at UFC 121, most people felt that Ortiz, after years of calling the UFC home, would be shown the door out of the Octagon. Mounting a record of 0-4-1 in his last five fights, that is what UFC president Dana White thought about Ortiz’s future as well.

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“I thought I was gonna cut him, too,” he told MMAWeekly.com, when posed with the idea that most people thought Ortiz would be cut loose after UFC 121.

But just last week in Germany, White said that Ortiz would be returning to the Octagon in early 2011 to fight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. The UFC president didn’t reveal a date or location, but it is widely believed to be taking place in Abu Dhabi in March.

There is an extremely short list of fighters that would get such an opportunity, not having won in their last five outings, but Ortiz is one of them. His entire professional career – save for an underground fight or two in the dark days of MMA – has taken place in the Octagon, dating back to 1997. That surely played into White’s thinking, as did Ortiz’s personal plea.

“Tito said, 'I'm not done,'” White recounted. “And he asked me for one more chance, so I'm gonna do it.

“This is definitely his last chance. And he knows that, too.”