Tito Ortiz’s feud with UFC boss Dana White almost boiled over into an actual fight back in 2007. An exhibition match between the two was scheduled, but the bout was supposedly canceled upon Ortiz’s failure to show up to weigh in. Tito Ortiz, however, says that’s not even close to the truth, and revealed his side of the store on Paddy The Baddy’s Chattin’ Pony podcast.
“It was supposed to be 50/50 [split] on any money that was revenue from the fight. And then when it came about to the contract to sign — and I’ve always signed a bout agreement for a fight that I was doing — that wasn’t in it. I wasn’t making nothing of it. It was a lose-lose situation for me.
Ortiz Tells The Story Behind His Failed Boxing Match Vs Dana White
They were negotiating one of my contracts and I said to Lorenzo, ‘We need to put this clause in that me and Dana will box. On TV.’
We were supposed to do it on Spike and ended up … the contract came and said I was making zero off of it. I was like, ‘Hold on a second, I thought you said we’d do 50/50?’ He’s like, ‘No, we can’t do that.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m not fighting. But just don’t go on the scale and say Tito’s a no-show and he’s afraid to fight me.’ Well, s***. That’s exactly what he did.
I’m not fighting anybody for free. And he was doing it to make a name for himself, and he did well. It was a lose-lose situation for me and a win-win situation for him.”
Ortiz continued, claiming that White was once a sparring partner, until Tito got too big and strong for the UFC boss. “Me and Dana used to spar a lot when I first got into it, because I never knew how to box.
And as I got the better of him, and I got bigger and I got faster and I got stronger, I was the world champion, he’s like, ‘Alright, me and you can’t spar anymore.’ And I go, ‘Why??’ He goes, ‘Because you’re f****** hurting me, man!’ I’m like. ‘Alright, that’s fine.’”
Ortiz and White had no shortage of bad blood over the years, and Tito Ortiz lamented the loss of a friend. “We had good times together, and I miss those.
He was a really good dude, but business comes first, I get it. He was en route to making UFC huge to what it is today, and I really didn’t see that vision that he had. I wish I would’ve.”
Would you have watched Ortiz vs White? Let us know in the comments.
