I’m boss of the UFC and was so glad to see an ex-champ who I HATED get knocked out I framed his rival’s fight gear
UFC president Dana White has had several public rifts with fighters down the years – but none more bitter than his feud with Tito Ortiz.
White used to manage the former UFC light-heavyweight champion but their relationship soured after the MMA mogul became president of the promotion in 2001.
The pair didn’t see eye-to-eye during Ortiz’s three-reign as 205lb king, so much so that they eventually agreed to box one another in 2007.
The fight, which was going to be sanctioned by the Nevada Athletic Commission, didn’t come to fruition as Ortiz no-showed the weigh-ins at the Ultimate Fighter gym.
And White – who boxed for several years in his native Boston – firmly believes he would’ve done a number on The Huntingdon Beach Bad Boy.
He said: “Nobody has p****d me off more than Tito Ortiz, I was gonna f**k him up and make him look stupid.
“When Chuck Liddell knocked Tito Ortiz out, that was my favourite that has ever happened in UFC history.”
White took immense pleasure in Ortiz’s defeat to Liddell, so much so he wanted The Iceman’s fight gear from their Sin City showdown.
He continued: “I told Chuck, ‘I want your gloves and your trunks that you beat the snot out of him in.’
“I put them in a glass case and hung them up in my house.”
When recalling Ortiz’s withdrawal from the fight in 2014, White said: “Believe me. I’m not trying to sound like a tough guy and I don’t talk about the thing a lot.
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“But I was ready, in great shape and Tito bailed on that thing because Tito knew he was going to get his ass whooped on national television.”
White and Ortiz have yet to publicly bury the hatchet, something the latter is eager to do.
The 48-year-old told Chris Van Vilet: “I don’t want to say no.
“I think I’ll give that to Dana to say no.
“I think I made a mistake a while back saying I’ll never fight in the UFC, and it came back to bite me in the a**.
“It is what it is. I think he told me that. I wish we could get over the hard feelings.
“That’s life. Life is too short to hate.”
The UFC resumes pay-per-view action a fortnight on Saturday in Boston.
The showpiece fight will see men’s bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling defend his 135lb crown against surging superstar “Suga” Sean O’Malley.