It’s 12 years since Tito Ortiz first took in the thin air of Big Bear. Fresh into the new millennium, a 25-year-old ‘Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ had just climbed atop the niche, and politically controversial, cage fighting universe by claiming the light heavyweight belt of the cash-hemorrhaging Ultimate Fighting Championship.
He was now the poster boy of an entertainment spectacle that was fighting a losing battle against the authorities. Yet while Ortiz was following in the footsteps of a wealth of California’s greatest world boxing champions by conditioning himself in the mountain range around Big Bear Lake, two brothers from Las Vegas were negotiating a deal that would go down as one of the most monumental in the history of sports.
The Zuffa takeover of the UFC would ultimately prove to be the rebirth of the attraction. The days of cage fighting were numbered, and the dawn of mixed martial arts had arrived. And no other fighter in history did more to sell the brand, sell the sport, than the original heel himself, Ortiz.
Unlike most of his peers from that first or second generation of UFC superstars, Ortiz has spent his entire incredible career fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, save for one bout. When he finally calls time, the longest reigning light heavyweight champion in the organization’s history will complete a record-extending 25 consecutive appearances inside the Octagon.
Like any loving relationship there have been tears, arguments and public fall-outs. But Ortiz’s commitment to the cause – that of selling the UFC brand and promoting the sport of mixed martial arts – has been unwavering. And now, at the age of 37, riddled with surgery scars, and after literally breaking his back for the sport, he stands on the edge of self-imposed retirement.
“It’s great to be back up here in Big Bear preparing for my final fight in the UFC,” Ortiz says, as he begins his preparations for an Independence Day weekend rubber match with old rival Forrest Griffin at UFC 148. “Big Bear holds a lot of history for me. For my first title defense I came up here and I realized what focusing for a fight was truly about. I realized that going away to camp like that was what champions do.
“[Oscar] De La Hoya was up there, Lennox Lewis, a lot of the greatest boxers all go up here for better cardio, due to the altitude, and also to get away from the city and all the distractions. And I figured that out more than ever last year when I didn’t go up to Big Bear for the first time in 12 years. It holds a ton of history for me. It’s the place where I can get in great shape and for this fight I want to give it my all. I need to give everything possible to get the win, and heading up to Big Bear will make that happen for me.”
Big Bear has witnessed the ageing of Ortiz. The past decade has been tough on the former champion, with major surgeries nearing the 20s and including often potentially career-ending broken back and broken neck operations. His once glittering career has been tainted by a succession of defeats. But he proved what an injury-free Ortiz is capable of last summer when, as a 6/1 underdog, he steamrolled rising star Ryan Bader.
That performance, on top of the fact Ortiz has been arguably the greatest servant in the organization’s history, has led to this summer’s swansong finale. Ortiz asked for one last hurrah, he asked to fight on Independence Day weekend, and he asked for Forrest Griffin. And on Saturday 7th July he’ll be rewarded with his fairy tale finish.
He says: “Forrest is a very, very tough guy. He’s exciting, he likes to fight and he doesn’t run away from a fight. He stands in the pocket and throws punches and that’s what I want, and that’s what the fans want. And they deserve it. I beat him the first time, I thought I beat him the second time but they gave it to him. So let’s do the trilogy, let’s do the final one.
“We’ve got this split decision with us both having one win, so let’s see who can win by a decisive manner. And I know I’m gonna. I’m not gonna let this go to the judges this time either. This fight isn’t going past the second round. I’m going to give it all my will and all my might to stop him inside two rounds. Or, I’m going out on my shield. But in my mind there is no way I’m gonna lose. If he’s willing to die for the cause then great, ’cos I’m willing to die for mine.”
So what if… What if Tito does to Griffin what he did to Bader? Surely walking away then will prove way too much of a opportunity for the business-savvy Punishment Athletics CEO? “No. It’s my time to go out on my own terms. It’s my time to walk away, knowing that I’ve done great things over the last 15 years,” Ortiz states with a nod of his head.
“If I did beat him in a devastating manner then, of course, I’ll be thinking, ‘Should I go one more.’ That’s only the competitor in me. But it’s all about my family. I’ve made enough money, and I want to be there for my kids. In 15 years I’ve broken all kinds of records and everything, and Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta have given me the opportunity to make my name and make who I am today.
“Maybe one day, if Chuck comes out of retirement, I may come back out of retirement too, you never know. But right now I’m happy to walk away on my own terms and move on with my life.
“I’m satisfied looking back over my career; I’ve done some great things. But I want to be a father. I want to use my brain instead of my brawn now and maybe be a manager, help the next generation become brands; become the next Tito Ortizes. I would like to do that, because I’ve got so much experience and knowledge of this sport that I know I can help others become equally as successful.”
The Tito Ortiz of 2012 is a million miles away from the infamous heel that used to run around Las Vegas with boxing’s own bad boy, Mike Tyson. No longer the self-styled, trash-talking, bleached-skull bully boy of the sport, today Ortiz is a fan favorite, a role model and an inspiration to fans and fighters alike. And he reveals the change in persona is not just on the outside either.
“My life as a kid I had so much negative stuff around me. I was always trying to prove people wrong. Proving people that I can be successful that I can be something I’m not. But I worked hard to make this happen. I worked really hard to make this happen. Then last year I kind of went full circle and decided I no longer want to be fueled by negativity. I was done with negative stuff. I’d achieved everything I’d hoped for, so I wanted to be all about the positive,” he says.
“I decided that all the positive stuff I was going to believe in 100%, I just wanted to prove people right. All the people around me that were negative, I turned them off. And it was like a snowball effect. The more positive I started thinking I just felt better, and better, and better. And I’ve just not stopped believing in myself since then.
“If you wake up thinking you're going to have a horrible day, or that you're going to have a horrible practice or that you're going to have to deal with negativity, then your day is going to turn out like that no matter what. You wake up and say, ‘Today I’m going to do something great,’ or ‘Today I’m going to do something to help somebody,’ then you’re going to do that. It’s self-fulfilling prophecy.”
This new outlook on his career, and life in general, led to the stunning performance against Bader, and the changing of his nickname to ‘The People’s Champ.’ But it’s not the only change that has come about with age and maturity. Big Bear fight camps these days are also a long way from the early 2000s when Tito, Ricco Rodriguez and 'Rampage' Jackson would smash each other to pieces all day.
Tito says: “These days it’s definitely more quality than quantity. When I first used to come up here it was just quantity, training as much as I possibly could. I’d train six days a week, eight hours a day. But as I’ve gotten older and I’ve had injuries I’ve got to get the quality in now rather than the quantity. I need to do the perfect amount of training where I’m not killing myself, because I’m not young any more.
“I’m not Johnny ‘Bones’ Jones - I’m a little older than that and I’ve had some major surgeries. Some of the stuff I’ve had surgery for, fighters have never come back from. But I’ve proved that I’m strong willed and dedicated by coming back. Those comebacks as much as anything else I’ve achieved in my career have helped me get to where I am today.”
So what is it about Big Bear that keeps Ortiz, and many other fighting champions, coming back? “The altitude makes the body generate more red blood cells, which help your body recover a lost faster, so you’re able to push yourself harder. And I really noticed that recently because I ended up going to Toronto for the weekend and I was on the treadmill and I couldn’t get my heart rate over 140, and that was doing a full sprint. That was because I was up in Big Bear for like a week and a half before I went.
“Being up in Big Bear for six weeks means that my cardio will be great. That also means I can get much more focused. Knowing that you’re not going to tire during the fight, knowing that I can go 100% for 15 minutes without getting tired, that’s something that Big Bear gives me. It keeps me focused, not just on the fight in general, but everything.
“I mean physically all us fighters are capable of great things, but mentally some fighters are weaker than others and some are stronger. I’m one of those guys with a strong mental game and maybe that’s why I’ve been able to go so far in the last 15 years. A lot of guys would have quit and gone to do something else. But I stuck with it and kept my nose to the grindstone, and now it’s paid off.”
Jason Parillo takes over coaching duties alongside Ortiz camp regular Saul Soliz, and they’re joined by S&C coach Paul Lockamiou, wrestling coach Brandon Halsey and Muay Thai master Aaron Rosa. Soliz has been with Ortiz pretty much every fight camp throughout his career, and, Ortiz insists, was the true originator of the now staple caveman-style training that has become synonymous with MMA conditioning. “All that climbing ropes, flipping tires and stuff, Soliz had us all doing that years ago. I remember Pat Miletich coming and recording us, me and Ricco Rodriguez. Saul is the one who pretty much put all that stuff together, and people would just copy it.
“All that resistance stuff, like getting pulled by chords, we did that years ago. People now are claiming they made that stuff up, but we were the ones doing it first. It’s just become more noticeable as these guys are making champions now with it. But Ricco, Rampage and me, we were the ones back in February 2000 doing all that. I’ve learned that that stuff is really hard on the body and there are plenty of other ways to do some great stuff. But it makes me laugh when people hail guys like Greg Jackson for just copying what we were doing.”
One thing Tito has done his entire career is lift weights, although nothing heavy, just high-rep conditioning weights. “I try to lift seven days a week,” he reveals. “I do one muscle each day and try to do legs twice a week. So I do the full body throughout the week, I blast high reps, like 20–30, with weights to try and push for endurance. So I’ll do five minutes of weight training, then take a 20-second break, then do five minutes again.
“I lift weights kind of like a fight. Rather than laboring with big heavy weights, I blast out reps fast and strong and use it as part of my overall conditioning.”
He also swears by roadwork, or more accurately, stadium work! “I’ve always been more of a stair runner then jogger. I love to run in stadiums, so it’s always been more about that conditioning for the legs. Stadiums make men. You know, stair running tests your heart too. But when I’m up here in Big Bear we run the mountains.
“You start out at 7,500 feet and end up at 10,000 feet. And talk about heart rate racing and a lack of oxygen. And it’s not like the lack of oxygen you get from the gas mask, because the gas mask stuff will cause a breakdown of muscle. But in Big Bear its not that you’re being restricted from oxygen, it’s just that there isn’t enough in the air up that high. That’s the difference.”
And yet for all the beautiful scenery and the serenity Big Bear offers, when asked what his favorite part of fight camp is, Ortiz typically refuses to pull any punches.
“What is my favorite part of fight camp?” he muses… “Driving down the mountain on the last weekend knowing that it’s all done (laughs). I’ve been in the game for 15 years, man. I’ve just been away at a signing event and everyone was asking, ‘Man you’ve been in the game for 15 years why are you giving it up, why?’ But they don’t understand how demanding it is to be a fighter.”
He adds: “People say I’m retiring, but I don’t see it like that; I see it more of a graduation. I’m graduating with my masters in marketing and promotion. Over the last 15 years I’ve been working with the UFC and that’s all I’ve been doing. I’ve been working to put this sport on the map and trying to educate the fans and teach them what this thing is truly all about. And no matter how bad people thought that I was, the people who really know me know about all of the good things I’ve done for the sport. And that’s all I ever tried to do.
“Making money has always been a side note, but it has been a business, and was always about training this sport and showing people that it’s for real. When I get done with a camp, I’m happy because I know I’m ready to fight. When I’m up in Big Bear that’s part of camp, I wake up every day and think ‘Oh man, why do I do this, why do I do this?’ And I’ve been doing that for 15 years. Don’t get me wrong the first 10 years were great. I used to jump out of bed to go training. But once the injuries and the surgeries came it gets hard.
“I’ve got three boys to take care of, and I wanna run with my boys when I get older. I want to be able to wrestle with them when I get older. But if I continue at the pace I am now, with like 18, 19, 20 surgeries, then I’ll hardly be able to climb out of bed. Luckily I’ve never suffered any blunt-head trauma. I’ve never been knocked unconscious. I got my heart bruised when I got hit by Rashad, but nothing more serious than that. I’ve been lucky. I ain’t punch drunk I know that.”
No doubt part of that incredible punch resistance is down to the fact that, unlike most veterans, Ortiz has always campaigned as a light heavyweight. Despite opportunity and the temptation to cut corners, he’s campaigned throughout his career in and around 205lb, and it’s also something he’s clearly very proud of.
“I am a true light heavyweight, six-two and 225lb,” he says. “I walk around now at 220–225lb and I wrestled 190lb in college. Eating clean, man, not eating junk food, that’s how I’ve been able to maintain this weight. I’ve been around this weight class my entire adult life. I’m not really a big drinker, I’ve just stayed focused on what I put into my body. I treat my body like a machine.
“I’m big on sushi, I eat that a lot, and it keeps my weight down. My walk-around weight is just a few pounds over 205lb so it’s great. Some of these guys are like heavyweights and are 250, 245 and are cutting to 205lb, that’s way too much. Instead of worrying about cutting huge amounts of weight, my cut takes place while I do my conditioning. My conditioning alone is enough to get my weight down and that’s been key to me having such a long career at the highest level.”
On July 7th Tito Ortiz will enter the UFC Octagon for the final time… And whether fans inside the MGM Grand get to see his infamous ‘gravedigger’ celebration routine one last time or not, surely a standing ovation has never been more of a requirement.
Postscript: Tito lost for a second time to Forrest Griffin by unanimous decision in the Fight of the Night, despite landing two knockdowns and two takedowns to Griffin's zero. And that was that...
Hell, no! Two years later Tito was back and fighting in Bellator - notching up victories over Alexander Shlemenko, Stephan Bonnar and Chael Sonnen - the latter announced once more by Ortiz to be his final MMA bout.
You guessed it. In 2018 Tito climbed into the octagon once more to defeat Chuck Liddell by knockout. The Tito Ortiz story continues...
Q&A: Saul Soliz Talks Tito Ortiz
As UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz prepared to face Forrest Griffin in UFC 148, his coach Saul Soliz reveals what it takes to train a champion fighter.
Q: How far back do you go with Tito?
Saul: “I actually met Tito when I was training Ricco Rodriguez for his world title shot against Randy Couture. That was probably around 2002. But I actually had met him the year before that at King of the Cage with Ricco, when Ricco was fighting for Pride.”
Q: When did you start training him?
“It was around the end of 2003, or the beginning of 2004.”
Q: What were your first impressions of Tito?
“When I originally started training Tito, when he was working with Ricco Rodriguez, basically we used him in a limited capacity. But when I got to train him exclusively I was really amazed at his work ethic, his physical attributes and how dedicated he actually was to the sport.”
Q: Tell us a little about the progression of Tito in those early days, once you started working with him.
“When we first got together he had less injuries and the physicality was there, and he was able to evolve and basically grow into a more skilled and more technical fighter. I mean, just the Shamrock fight alone was a reflection of that. He went the distance with him when he was training previously, and once we started training together, he took him out in less than a minute, both times.”
Q: When did you realize this guy was something different than some of the other guys, like a champion?
“It’s true when coaches say there's something absolutely different about a champion. All the ones that I've had the opportunity to train, and it's all been blessings, the one attribute that is in common is that they never quit, and they always try to strive to be better than they were in their last fight.”
Q: He's back in Big Bear, and now you're back in the team as well after you guys separated for a while. How does it feel to be a part of Tito’s team once more?
“I'm thankful Tito contacted me and asked me to come up here again. Though, what people need to understand is that taking into consideration the training camps prior and the training camp now it's always going to be a reflection of what his physicality is at that time. I've always had to organize our training camps around his injuries, which have been numerous, and most of the general public don't know.
"I know it's, 'Wah, wah, wah, basically every fighter is injured,' but he's had serious injuries where he actually should have pulled out of shows. With me being the organizer of his training regimens I've had to basically adapt as opposed to training him like we trained for the Vitor Belfort fight, when he was without any major injuries. They were all minor in comparison to the way they are now.
"And I think the training videos that people have seen in the past of what we've done is a reflection of what we can do, but once again it depends whether he is injured or not. If he's not injured then, of course, we'll go full board, and if so then we have to make some sacrifices and some changes in his training regimen that will compliment what he can do.”
Q: This is more than likely Tito’s last fight camp. What does this mean to you to be back in Big Bear with him?
“Well, first and foremost, we're friends, and I want him to go out on top and I want him to win this fight, and again I'm very thankful that I'm a part of it. And I think he still has the physical attributes and definitely the skill level. Hopefully, his body will hold up through the camp and we're going to train just as hard as we always do and I think Forrest is going to do the same. He is a perfect compliment for Tito's style, as well as Tito is for Forrest’s, so I think it will make for a great fight. I truly believe it will be a historical matchup.”
Postscript: Tito lost to Forrest Griffin and duly retired. However he came out of retirement in 2014 to fight in Bellator, since when he has won 4 of his 5 subsequent fights.
Q&A: Jason Parillo Talks Tito Ortiz
Longtime friend, ally and coach Jason Parillo reveals the training secrets of UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz.
Q: What has changed since you started working with Tito in his training?
Jason: “Well I guess I should first start off that I've known Tito for many, many years now. We both grew up in the same neighborhood for the most part so I've always worked with Tito on and off. I started working with him right before he went on TUF 3. I started messing around with him years ago, but we never committed as far as me coaching and working with him full-time.
What I've seen change mostly in Tito is his attitude. He's been able to humble himself for the most part and really focus on the right things of this game and try to focus on winning so much and not be as big of a showman as he has been in the past. Even though you can't take that out of him, I mean that’s just part of him, that’s who he is. But he's focused more on doing the right things in life and trying to focus on winning his fights and what the future has for him.”
Q: As a coach how do you approach that type of mentality, when you know the guy needs to maybe reign it in a little bit and get back to the basics?
“Well, especially with a guy like Tito Ortiz, it is very difficult. There's high-level fighters and then there's high-level fighters that are famous, so there's a little different mentality with these guys. A lot of times you've got to, in a sense, not in a negative way, but you've got to be manipulating.
You've got to sometimes make their decisions, make them think things they're doing and choices they're making are their decision. Which they are at the end of the day, but as a coach you've got to remind them of what they've done in the past, how they've got there and what the important parts of training are and get them ready for a fight.”
Q: What sets Tito apart from your average fighter?
“His mentality. He's a bright guy, and he's got a lot of attention. At the end of the day that separates him from a lot of people, but he handles it well. He spreads himself in a lot of different directions and he's able to do it. It's hard to separate any man from another man, as far as being a fighter because we're all flesh and blood at the end of the day.
I don't think anything separates anyone from anybody else, it's just how they handle it. Tito has the ability to handle all the pressure he's got on his shoulders. He's able to handle the negative, he's able to handle the positive, and he does it very, very well as opposed to many other fighters.”
Q: Tell us a little bit about Tito's work ethic in the gym.
“His work ethic is great. When Tito's mind is where it's supposed to be when he wants to work, and even when he doesn't want to work. When he's in the gym the cliché is 110%, but he puts in 110% and he pushes himself to the point of puking. It's putting him here, it's getting him there."
Q: What type of psychology do you use when it comes to keeping fighters focused?
“I have the ability to bring the best out of fighters physically as far as my mitt-work and whatnot in the gym. But it's all psychological. You've got to let the fighters believe you would do what you're asking them to do. So when my fighters get to know me they know I would put myself in a position that they're putting themselves in. I would do the work that they're going to do. I would do everything I'm asking them to do.
As far as training, that's where the psychology of getting to know the heart of my fighter comes in, I share them my heart. I'm very honest with the guys that I work with, and I think I get to know them on a personal level. I'm able to talk to them.
“My passion is fighting, my passion has always been boxing and fighting and it's come over into the MMA game. I'm passionate about it and they believe that because I get to know them and I get to talk to them and I try to plant as much as I can in their subconscious that will give them those extra inches at the end of the day.”
