How good was Tito Ortiz?

[LilNicky95]

Taking an objective look at his career, he beat up mostly undersized guys, MWs (even lost to a few, Frank Shamrock) and a WAY over the hill Ken Shamrock X 3.

Ortiz’s primary rivals Chuck and Randy destroyed Ortiz when they matched up in their Primes.

I know their will inevitably be the simpletons that will jump on this thread and call Ortiz a “legend” and that he carried the UFC in the early days.

But if I recall correctly, Ortiz avoided fighting Liddell for like 3-4 years and fought guys like Elvis Sinosic and Patrick Cote??

I would say Ortiz ranks behind guys like Serraldo Babalu and definitely Machida in the all time UFC LHW greats.

What say you?

 

[MeatWagon06]

Before or after the cracked skull?

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

For his time he was good - pretty well rounded. Dumb as a brick though.

 

[LilNicky95]

Before or after the cracked skull?

The cracked skull and his interview “skills” make Ortiz a legend of some sort.

To Fedor: “Let me tell you how you are feeling right now buddy”.

 

[DeeDubb]

obligatory

 

[KotaroTheWolf]

He was good for his era but once the sport moved on, he got left by the wayside fast.

 

[Lanky0]

His best win was bader via luck as well

 

[Memeojima]

Get good

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

He was decent for his time. His fame comes mostly from his personality rather than his fights.

 

[textwarrior]

Taking an objective look at his career, he beat up mostly undersized guys, MWs (even lost to a few, Frank Shamrock) and a WAY over the hill Ken Shamrock X 3.

Ortiz’s primary rivals Chuck and Randy destroyed Ortiz when they matched up in their Primes.

I know their will inevitably be the simpletons that will jump on this thread and call Ortiz a “legend” and that he carried the UFC in the early days.

But if I recall correctly, Ortiz avoided fighting Liddell for like 3-4 years and fought guys like Elvis Sinosic and Patrick Cote??

I would say Ortiz ranks behind guys like Serraldo Babalu and definitely Machida in the all time UFC LHW greats.

What say you?

He was like a bull in wrestling but not at Randy's level. He was a champ for a reason but not the greatest champ to run that division. Also, you have to look at the time he did MMA, it was not at the level it is now. He had good ground and pound and you just have to look at the time he was in.

The MMA learning curve was lower in the past, as in any sport. I don't compare the learning curve between two MMA fighters but how well one was in contrast to others in their time. For example, the gap between Babe Ruth and others was amazing in his home run ability. Even to this day, if you look at the number of bats to home runs, I think he has the highest percentage ratio still. But add the time he was in makes it even more compelling.

 

[PlanetFitness]

Speaking respectively, he was decent

 

[JSN]

He was good enough to be a mid carder in the modern era. He was actually pretty damned good on the ground and had modern LHW size. He just didn’t have the athletic prowess to compete at the highest level a few years after TUF. The exposure that show brought lead to a much deeper talent pool.

 

[Winbot]

Tito may not have been an amazing fighter all round but the guy found a strategy that consistently won fights. A big part of success at the higher end of the sport is understanding your strengths and weaknesses and finding a way to make as many fights as possible your type of fight. For that Tito deserves a lot of credit. Dude had a T-Rex build and made it work in a sport where range is a huge factor in who wins a fight.

 

[D'z]

Meh. It would have been better to have Frank Shamrock in the mix in that era. Tito to me was so-so.

 

[Small Town Andrew]

He was one of the first stars that brought big fight hype. A pioneer for his time. No one use to talk shit like Tito.

He is a really good fighter and even the past few years since he has been old he still displays a solid chin and skills that are hard for a lot of guys to deal with.

 

[DeeDubb]

The only thing really positive I can say about him is that he continued to learn even as he got older in the sport. He wasn’t championship level, but the fact he remained competitive and even had a quality win against Bader was impressive. Beating Chael. who was relevant way after Tito. Was also impressive.

 

[TGArthur]

Hindsight I think he was more of the product of the times where Wrestlers/GNP specialists took advantage of the lack luster TDD back in the day that allowed wrestlers to dominate and become champions in the divisions

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Best light heavyweight of the night...

 

[Ancient Warrior]

Tito was definitely talented, but he was a huge lightheavy.

Really good grappling, pretty good striking, but his physicality was usually overwhelming for most.

 

[mjfan23]

He was competitive against the next generation too in fights against Forrest and Rashad. Won’t even mention Bader lol

But I absolutely agree he was a product of favourable competition and marketing. There is no way he should be ranked ahead of machida as a fighter.