Tito Ortiz admits Sakuraba was better than him, trashes Rickson Gracie

Love the old interviews everything he said was pretty accurate
 
Having beaten Yuki Kondo the previous night, perhaps he didn't want to appear too brash to the Japanese public. Nonetheless, it's still a great display of humility on Tito's part.
 
This was an era when the sport was about to explode and talent got WAY better. Tito was a beast but literally got spanked by Couture and Chuck. SO would have all the guys he mentioned besides Hendo.
 
cant believe this isnt the OP
Sakurabakiss.gif
 
This was an era when the sport was about to explode and talent got WAY better. Tito was a beast but literally got spanked by Couture and Chuck. SO would have all the guys he mentioned besides Hendo.
He was lucky he got that ken fight. He needed a big name win
Tito wasn't top 5 even when champ
 
He was lucky he got that ken fight. He needed a big name win
Tito wasn't top 5 even when champ

FightMatrix has him to 5 LHW from April 1999 to April 2004. He also makes sporadic appearance's in the top 5 from there.

POST #5000!
 
Cool old school interview.

Oh and 2000 era Tito would have smashed Rickson IMO
 
Having beaten Yuki Kondo the previous night, perhaps he didn't want to appear too brash to the Japanese public. Nonetheless, it's still a great display of humility on Tito's part.
So ur saying he just gave sakuraba props because sakuraba is Japanese/Asian? And not because of his skills? Btw, kondo almost ktfo Tito.
 
Honestly thats nothing new. I had contact back then to pro mma fighters in Pride via Netherlands and Rickson always was the laughing stock with his big mouth and constant ducking. No one took him serious at all and they knew he would never fight. Rutten joked about him. When Rickson talked about how he would defeat Fedor that was a running joke. Its like a mouse talking about how it would fuck up a bengal tiger.

It was clear that Renzo is by far the best Fighter out of the Gracies. Rickson did the Same regarding all the high level bjj tourneys in Brazil as soon as Skill level had risen. Constantly ran his mouth and never delivered.
 
Honestly thats nothing new. I had contact back then to pro mma fighters in Pride via Netherlands and Rickson always was the laughing stock with his big mouth and constant ducking. No one took him serious at all and they knew he would never fight. Rutten joked about him. When Rickson talked about how he would defeat Fedor that was a running joke. Its like a mouse talking about how it would fuck up a bengal tiger.

It was clear that Renzo is by far the best Fighter out of the Gracies. Rickson did the Same regarding all the high level bjj tourneys in Brazil as soon as Skill level had risen. Constantly ran his mouth and never delivered.
Not really.

For instance, Henzo wouldnt have won the 1st 3 UFCs, probably, but that´s a projection,

One thing is for sure> He wouldnt have been able to eat Kimo´s bomb in the guard, stay composed and still secure the sub. Henzo would have been KTFO.

You´ve gotta hespect Hoyce´s toughness & chin, this is part of what made him great.

About Hickson, his career was obviously flawed, not coz he didnt take the Bas fight, but coz he ducked Ruas when he was still in his prime.

On a sidenote, Dutch fighters makin´fun of someone responsible for the restart of the Vale Tudo scene (Rei Zulu fights), which led to the BJJ vs Luta Livre Challenges in the 1980s and then to the UFC in the 1990s... is laughable.
 
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Rickson should take notes on how to mess with Tito:

Bonnar_ortiz.0.0.jpg
 
Not really.

For instance, Henzo wouldnt have won the 1st 3 UFCs, probably, but that´s a projection,

One thing is for sure> He wouldnt have been able to eat Kimo´s bomb in the guard, stay composed and still secure the sub. Henzo would have been KTFO.

You´ve gotta hespect Hoyce´s toughness & chin, this is part of what made him great.

About Hickson, his career was obviously flawed, not coz he didnt take the Bas fight, but coz he ducked Ruas when he was still in his prime.

On a sidenote, Dutch fighters makin´fun of someone responsible for the restart of the Vale Tudo scene (Rei Zulu fights), which led to the BJJ vs Luta Livre Challenges in the 1980s and then to the UFC in the 1990s... is laughable.
Renzo would've won the first UFC's easily. His grappling is just as good as Royce's (won ADCC, which Royce never did) and he was bigger and stronger.
 
Q: Well then, for you who are the world top five in the middle class?

Tito: Let me see.... First, the top is Sakuraba, and next is me.

Q: Do you admit that Sakuraba is better than you who is the champion of UFC?

Tito: Yes, I do at this moment. He has left a great result so far. But I promise that I will go beyond him in the near future. And I think Frank Shamrock, Dan Henderson, Renzo or Tamura will follow me. If Randleman can lose weight, he will also join us.

Q: What about Rickson Gracie? Can't he be one of the top five?

Tito: Rickson? I'm eager to fight with him. If the fight between Rickson and me is realized in Japan, I will get fond of Japanese people much more than I do now. But I think he will never fight with me. If he fights with me, his fate will be the same as Kondo. No, he will get more bloody. That's why he will never, never, never fight with me! If he has enough courage to fight with me, he is worth being respected only for that. But he is afraid of me. He calls himself "the strongest in the world", doesn't he? Then why doesn't he fight with me, who is the world champion and always ready to fight with him? I never think that he is the strongest. The strongest is Sakuraba. He is the best. So defeating Sakuraba is a goal for me. It's easy to defeat Rickson. What is most difficult for me is not to defeat him, but to fight with him. He is the most difficult fighter in the world to fight with. (laughing)

Q: "The most difficult fighter in the world to fight with"...... Exactly right! (laughing) Do the top fighters of NHB considers Rickson just like you?

Tito: Yes, everybody thinks so. When he does a fight, he chooses an opponent, doesn't he? He fights only once a year with a not so strong fighter. Naturally he can keep a non-defeat record under this condition.. (laughing) He has never fought with a fighter who is good at both standing and ground techniques. His strategy for victory is to choose an opponent whose technique is limited to only attacks and finish him with choke. He is an artificial champion, after all. I am different from Rickson. Whoever comes to me, I will make a record of a real successive victory in the future. So I want the Japanese fan to pay attention to the real champion, Tito Ortiz, from now on.

http://www.global-training-report.com/tito.htm

<{Joewithit}>
^The moment when I realized that Tito's answers may not be clunky due to translation, but because the interviewer was holding a mic. (We all know what "Tito plus mic" = , so I won't even.)
 
Renzo would've won the first UFC's easily. His grappling is just as good as Royce's (won ADCC, which Royce never did) and he was bigger and stronger.
Could have, but definitely not all of them 1st 3, Hoyce had a better chin, Renzo wouldnt have survived the Kimo bomb.

On a sidenote, to beat Ken even with him using a wrong gameplan, u needed to have very good scrambles, and Hoyce´s were better than Renzo´s.
 
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Does anyone really care what came out of Cheeto's mouth EVER?

I mean, he makes a big stink about not wanting to fight his "friend" Chuck Liddell and holds the UFC LHW title hostage while ducking him (all the while knowing he can't beat Liddell.) Then says he has no problems whatsoever fighting his "friend" Rampage years later.

Oh yeah, anyone remember his "soft skull" comments about Matt Hammill? Talk out your ass much?

And if anyone already posted videos of his Affliction commentary, thanks.
 

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