Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz said he had considered stepping back into the ring to fight Youtuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
Ortiz had an interview with Chris Van Vliet, in which he said he’d “love” to box Paul. However, he still considered himself an amateur in boxing.
“I would love to,”
Ortiz said.
“That’d be amazing. That would be fun. Once again, I have an 0-1 record, he has a [5-0] record. I still feel like I’m an amateur in boxing. I do a lot in mixed martial arts, but I still feel myself as an amateur but I’m competitive. I’m very competitive.”
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From boxing to MMA
Ortiz debuted in professional boxing back in September. He took on Anderson Silva, another former UFC champion. Unfortunately, Silva defeated him thoroughly in the first round.
Eventually, Ortiz (21-12-1 MMA) has shown himself to be much more successful in mixed martial arts than boxing. He has been on a three-match winning streak, with his most recent win is on the first-round against Alberto Rodriguez in December 2019.
Ortiz made his MMA debut at UFC back in May 1997. During an interview, he mentioned that he actually fought for free that night.
“I fought in UFC 13… I fought for free as an amateur, no UFC fighter in history has ever fought for free,”
Ortiz said.
“I did it just to kinda test myself, see how good I truly could be. J.C, junior college wrestling state champion…was 199 [pounds] and thought I’d give it a try. I was training with Tank Abbott who fought in the UFC at the time and thought hey let’s give this a try… so I fought May 30th, 1997, stopped my first guy in seconds.”
Ortiz has won five out of six MMA bouts since he left the UFC in July 2012. While he and UFC president Dana White started off on the wrong foot, Ortiz said in May that he wanted to return to the Octagon for one more bout. He also mentioned that he wanted to fight the former 205-pound UFC champion, Shogun Rua.
“It was never over and I think I made that mistake with the UFC when I said I would never fight for the UFC again. Now thinking about it, this will be one amazing final fight for myself and the Shogun Roa,”
Ortiz said.
“I have a lot of respect for the Shogun, I think he’s an amazing former champion, and a great fighter. I watched his last fight. I thought he won the fight, but they ended up giving it to OSP
(Ovince Saint Preux).
Let’s see what happens in the future.”
Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell has been considered as Ortiz’s biggest MMA competitor and he has defeated Ortiz twice decisively. He eventually got a chance for a rematch in November 2018 in a three-part match under the Golden Boy promotion.
Additionally, Ortiz’s recent three-game winning streak also had Rodriguez and Shel Sonnen.
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Paul’s cancelled bouts
Meanwhile, Paul has arguably become one of the most highly sought after fighter in boxing. Recently he was set to fight Tommy Fury and Hasim Rahman Jr. at Madison Square Garden, although both bouts were cancelled.
For the latter, it was cancelled after The Problem Child stated Rahman Jr. had been unable to maintain his weight effectively, which caused a breach of contract.
As of late, he is still looking forward to the six fight of his professional boxing career. Paul has been undefeated so far, having won by knockout against the former MMA champions Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley.
Additionally, Ortiz is not the only one who wants to fight Paul. Liddell has been reported to be interested in fighting Paul as well.
“I’m ready anytime for that clown,”
Liddell said on Twitter.
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