This Is Gonna Hurt (16 page)

How the Story Ends

T
here's always something going on in my life. If I tried to make this book totally up-to-date, the book would never come out. At some point I just have to say enough is enough.

So it's finally time to close the door.

I just got back from New York, where I filmed the television series
Celebrity Apprentice
. It aired in January, so you all know how it turned out and how I did. It was a good opportunity to learn a lot about business, plus being on a primetime network television series didn't hurt my profile.

I accepted the
Celebrity Apprentice
gig at a time when circumstances beyond my control caused me to step back and just think about things. Circumstances that began with my having to back out of the Rashad Evans rematch.

I had been having recurring back problems for quite a while, and it finally boiled down to my wanting to be one hundred percent healthy before I competed again. I wasn't going to fight at seventy percent and make some other fighter look good, so I called up the UFC and told them I wasn't in any condition to fight. I'm sure you heard a lot of stories and smack going down about my pulling out of the fight. But the reality was that, physically, I was in no condition to fight.

The UFC is trying to set up a fight for me in February 2008. At this point I wouldn't mind fighting Shogun or any other top-five fighter. It's typical of the UFC not to let me know who I'll be fighting until the last six weeks. So my opponent is still a mystery to me at the time of this writing.

But if and when I have my next fight, that will be the last fight on my current contract. Because as of mid-November 2007, talks with the UFC have broken down. We've been going back and forth for a while but, all of a sudden, I haven't heard from them in weeks. You know how it goes. It's what I want versus what they want to give me. And right now, that's the big stumbling block.

If the UFC is making twenty million per fight, I want a big chunk of that. My feeling is that when I start making twenty-five to fifty percent of the gate, that's when it will all start to make sense.

I've got about three more years left as a fighter. I don't want to look back later and think,
Damn! I should have taken advantage of my last few years of competition in every possible way.

A couple of months ago, I was invited to Washington, D.C., by the USO to present an award to a soldier at this big gala dinner. While we were in Washington, I went on a tour of the Capitol Building with Jenna. We were led around by Senator Arlen Specter, which was totally cool. We got to sit in on one of the congressional sessions and I got to see things like the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. I was seeing things from our country's history that I had only ever seen in books. It was a totally amazing experience for me.

There. You're pretty much caught up on my life. And we're at the end of the book. I've wanted to write this book for years. I wanted to let people know that it is possible for somebody to start out living a life as a total zero and end up living a life that most people dream about. It's a happy ending…hell, it's a great ending. But I'm only thirty-two. Getting to this point only makes me want to survive and to work even harder. I'm stoked to have been able to tell my story.

I'm still standing. There's more to come.

—Tito Ortiz, November 2007

NAME: Jacob “Tito” Ortiz

NICKNAME: The Huntington Beach Bad Boy

BORN: January 23, 1975

HEIGHT: 6 ft. 2 in.

WEIGHT: 205 lbs.

TEAM ASSOCIATION: Team Punishment

FIGHTING STYLE: Wrestling, Submission Wrestling, Muay Thai

MMA FIGHTING RECORD

15 Wins

8 by Knockout

2 by Submission

5 by Decision

5 Losses

1 Draw

T-SHIRTS

UFC 18, Jerry Bohlander: I Just Fucked Your Ass

UFC 19, Guy Mezger: Gay Mezger Is My Bitch

UFC 22, Frank Shamrock: Tito put on a Frank Shamrock T-shirt and had Shamrock sign it.

UFC 25, Wanderlei Silva: I Just Killed The Axe Murderer!

UFC 29, Yuki Kondo: RESPECT I don't earn it I just fucken take it

UFC 30, Evan Tanner: If You Can Read This I Just Stomped His Ass!

UFC 32, Elvis Sinosic: That's American For “Whoop Ass” Mate

UFC 33, Vladmir Matyushenko: Fighting For America

UFC 40, Ken Shamrock: I Just Killed Kenny! You Bastard!

UFC 50, Patrick Côté: Who's Next!

UFC 51, Vitor Belfort: Bring Home Our Troops!

UFC 59, Forrest Griffin: With Great Sacrifice Comes Great Rewards

UFC 61, Ken Shamrock: If You Fight Tito Ortiz You Lose! Ortiz vs Shamrock 3, Ken Shamrock: Punishing Him Into Retirement

UFC 66, Chuck Liddell: Thanks…U.S. Troops For Fighting For Our Country

UFC 73, Rashad Evans: Bad Boy For Life

ENTRANCE MUSIC

UFC 30: “Rollin',” Limp Bizkit

UFC 32: “Break Stuff,” Limp Bizkit

UFC 33: “Break Stuff,” Limp Bizkit

UFC 40: “Break Stuff,” Limp Bizkit

UFC 44: “Let's Do This Now,” KoRn

UFC 47: “Bad Boy For Life,” P. Diddy

UFC 50: “Bad Boy For Life,” P. Diddy

UFC 51: “Mosh,” Eminem

UFC 59: “Mosh,” Eminem

UFC 61: “Mosh,” Eminem

Ortiz vs Shamrock 3: “Mosh,” Eminem

UFC 66: “Mosh,” Eminem

UFC 73: “Mosh,” Eminem

PROFESSIONAL FIGHTING CAREER

UFC 13 vs Wes Albritton: Win: TKO (strikes), May 30, 1997, Augusta, Georgia

UFC 13 vs Guy Mezger: Loss: Submission (Guillotine Choke), May 30, 1997, Augusta, Georgia

West Coast NHB vs Jeremy Screeton: Win: Submission (Strikes), December 8, 1998

UFC 18 vs Jerry Bohlander: Win: Decision, January 8, 1999, New Orleans, Louisiana

UFC 19 vs Guy Mezger: Win: TKO (Strikes), March 3, 1999, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

UFC 22 vs Frank Shamrock: Loss: Submission (Strikes), September 24, 1999, Lake Charles, Louisiana

UFC 25 vs Wanderlei Silva: Win: Decision, April 14, 2000, Tokyo, Japan

UFC 29 vs Yuki Kondo: Win: Submission (Neck Crank), December 16, 2000, Tokyo, Japan

UFC 30 vs Evan Tanner: Win: KO (Slams), February 23, 2001, Atlantic City, New Jersey

UFC 32 vs Elvis Sinosic: Win: TKO (Cut), June 29, 2001, East Rutherford, New Jersey

UFC 33 vs Vladimir Matyushenko: Win: Decision, September 28, 2001, Las Vegas, Nevada

UFC 40 vs Ken Shamrock: Win: TKO (Corner Stoppage), November 22, 2002, Las Vegas, Nevada

UFC 44 vs Randy Couture: Loss: Decision, September 26, 2003, Las Vegas, Nevada

UFC 47 vs Chuck Liddell: Loss: KO (Punches), April 2, 2004, Las Vegas, Nevada

UFC 50 vs Patrick Côté: Win: Decision, October 22, 2004, Atlantic City, New Jersey

UFC 51 vs Vitor Belfort: Win: Decision, February 6, 2005, Las Vegas, Nevada

UFC 59 vs Forrest Griffin: Win: Decision, April 15, 2006, Anaheim, California

UFC 61 vs Ken Shamrock: Win (Strikes), July 8, 2006, Las Vegas, Nevada

Ortiz vs Shamrock 3 vs Ken Shamrock: Win: TKO (Punches), October 10, 2006, Hollywood, Florida

UFC 66 vs Chuck Liddell: Loss: TKO (Punches), December 30, 2006, Las Vegas, Nevada

UFC 73 vs Rashad Evans: Draw, July 7, 2007, Sacramento, California

Tito checking out the world at age one.

Joyce is all smiles as newborn Tito naps.

Tito's parents, Samuel and Joyce, hard at work taking the leaves off marijuana plants.

Tito, age five, flanked by older brothers Mike, Marty, and Tiger the dog.

Tito, age four, on the beach at Corona Del Mar, California.

Tito's kindergarten class photo. That's Tito on the far right, top row.

Tito in a hard-fought match with Rico Martinez during his sophomore year in high school.

Tito on top during a junior college wrestling tournament.

Tito's high school wrestling team photo. Tito is in the first row, dead in the middle.

Tito graduates high school. Brothers Mike and Jim can't believe it.

Tito and his mom celebrate after Tito captured his first world title. Tito was twenty-three at the time.

Tito and former wife Kristin are all smiles during a pre-fight dinner.

A very big Tito and a very big Kristin just hours before the birth of their son, Jacob.