Tito – Now What?
Published by on May 24th, 2008 in Operation Cleanup

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Charles Jay
Commentary on MMA history….as it’s happening
TITO – NOW WHAT?

I’m not expecting Tito Ortiz to emerge victorious in his fight against Lyoto Machida at UFC 84, for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that the UFC will do everything in its power to make sure he leaves the organization tainted in some way. Perhaps its was a mistake for him to speak out with such vitriol before his last fight with the UFC, because this is not going to be a clean getaway. This isn’t professional wrestling, where when it comes down to it, winning or losing isn’t the real story. In the MMA business, as it should be, the results of fights impact on the rewards for, and stakes on, subsequent fights, so a defeat unquestionably puts him in jeopardy of being “damaged goods.”

Sure, Tito loves his reputation as a “bad boy.” But it’s not too wise to bite the hand that is feeding you at the moment, because that meal can turn poisonous. And for someone who continually refers to himself as a “good businessman,” that’s pretty bad business.

Look, the UFC is not stupid. They understand that after helping to create Ortiz as a “brand” (a word that can’t be overused within the context of talking about all this), they are seeing something of value depart. That has the potential of helping the competition, which, from their perspective, takes away from their considerable piece of the pie. So if they are in a position to affect the degree of value Ortiz actually leaves with, they are going to take advantage of the opportunity. That’s part of the rationale in putting Ortiz against Machida, who has gone undefeated in twelve MMA fights and holds wins over Rich Franklin and B.J. Penn, among others. Machida could well be someone very marketable for the organization, and there aren’t too many better ways to “put him over” than to use him in a winnable fight against someone often referred to as a “living legend.”

I would never say that it was in Ortiz’s best interests to stay with the UFC. I have no idea one way or the other. But in going “independent,” well, he’s not doing it under the best of circumstances.

He is not on top of the game. He is not on top of HIS game. He’s not a champion, and there is dispute about how long it has been since he’s been a championship-level fighter. He’s most likely on the other side of the hill, and has not looked good for a while.

Here he is being used as a stepping stone. Of course, he can pull off an upset, which would allow him to deal from a lot more strength, wherever he goes from here. But if he doesn’t beat Machida, where will he be positioned on the world scene?

It is perfectly understood on this end that pay-per-view is a name game, or more accurately put, since the UFC has changed the parameters a little, a “brand” game. In the world Ortiz envisions for himself, the fighter is the brand who will carry the strength, not the promoter.

There’s nothing wrong with that kind of thinking. But I have seen boxing follow that model for years, and I can tell you that fading stars are behind the eight-ball, because invariably they have to be matched with opponents who are designed to keep them viable for a little while longer. That doesn’t promote overall quality, and fans, who have multiple choices in that big pay-per-view menu these days, aren’t likely to have a whole lot of patience for too long with that kind of thing. It really takes two to tango, and you can’t just trot Ortiz out there against anybody. He’ll need competition to challenge him, and that could reduce his shelf life.

And what compounds the problem is that an organization hungry for a star to call its own may find it counter-intuitive to kill what they consider a golden goose. Then they’ll try too hard to protect their product in order to prolong it. And how many fights does this guy really have left in him?

So good luck, Tito. The UFC may have short-changed you, but they’ve also done a lot of the heavy lifting. You didn’t pay a high ticket price on the way in, but you could wind up paying through the nose on the way out.