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Fight Finder question for Admin

Provocateur

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I would like clarification on Tito Ortiz' record. His fight with Guy Mezger at UFC 13 is listed on his Pro fight record but Tito was still in college at the time and competed as an amateur.
 
Is there such a thing as an "amateur" college MMA fighter..?

I'll take a stab in the dark and say he was registered as an amateur wrestler at college, but fought as a professional MMA fighter in the UFC.
 
Is there such a thing as an "amateur" college MMA fighter..?

I'll take a stab in the dark and say he was registered as an amateur wrestler at college, but fought as a professional MMA fighter in the UFC.

Had he fought as a "Professional MMA fighter" he would have been banned from participating in any NCAA competition and thus removed from his wrestling team. Any NCAA athlete accepting money or any other compensation removes them from eligibilty.
 
So I got clarification on the issue from my sensei. He said an Amateur can fight a Professional in a professional fight but that as long as the amateur does not accept prize money he remains classified as an amateur. Because Tito did not fight for money he was fighting under amateur status...even though it was a pro fight. It sounds confusing but perhaps another example will help. When an amateur golfer competes in a professional event like the US Open, they are playing for no prize money(even if they win) which means they are still an amateur competing in a pro event. If Tito had accepted prize money for those fights he would not have been able to continue wrestling in college.

It was in the UFC, it was a pro fight.

Yes it was still a professional fight, but since he had never fought professionally and did not accept money he was an amateur fighting in a professional event. Just like the amateur golfer competing in a pro event like the US Open.
Its only considered an "amateur fight" if both fighters are amateur. But since Mezger was a pro it was a pro fight.
It is confusing I know.
 
Further clarification. As far as NCAA eligibility is concerned a person is permitted to be a professional in one sport, yet retain amateur status for another, provided the money they receive is only a salary or purse, and no endorsement money was accepted. Chris Weinke played pro baseball for several years before returning to FSU to play football. Last year Tom Zbikowski, safety for Notre Dame, had a pro boxing match at MSG which he collected a purse for. Both of those guys remained eligible for their sports in the eyes of the NCAA.

Jeremy Bloom (football player for Colorado and pro skier) lost his case with the NCAA to remain eligible for football because he received endorsement money to offset his ski training, which is not permitted by the NCAA.

As far as Tito is concerned, it is probable (but I have no way of knowing) that he received a purse for his UFC fight, but was allowed to compete as an amateur wrestler by the NCAA, since MMA and wrestling are different sports. The NCAA does these things on a case by case basis, and they make some odd rulings sometimes (just my opinion), so who knows, really.
 
Sounds like we need clarification from Tito himself.
 
More proof-

"Tito Ortiz began his combat sports career as a wrestler during his sophomore year in high school, and made his MMA debut as an alternate fighter for UFC 13 while he was still in college.Tito competed in that UFC as an amateur and for no money or contracts. Tito won his alternate bout against Wes Albritton in just 31 seconds after Albrittons corner threw in the towel."

source http://mmafighterlegends.com/mma_fighters/tito_ortiz.htm
 
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