MMA Ring Report’s East Coast representative Mike Doyle had a chance to speak to one of the UFC’s biggest draws Tito Ortiz before his upcoming headlining fight against Forrest Griffin. In a candid interview where he talks about all things TIto, Mr. Ortiz sets the record straight regarding his feelings for Forrest Griffin’s reality show stardom, the Ultimate Fighter T.V show, his upcoming bout with Ken Shamrock, and much more.

MMARR: Due to a contract standoff between yourself and the UFC, it’s been over a year since you last competed in the Octagon. Your manager Mykalai Kontilai was instrumental in your return to the UFC, are you able to discuss any of the terms of the deal?

Ortiz: It’s pretty much a 3 fight deal, contributing as a coach on (Season 3) The Ultimate Fighter and my last fight will be for a world title, if I win my next two fights.

MMARR: You’re opponent at UFC 59 is Forrest Griffin, who have you been training with in preparation for this fight?

Ortiz: Actually, I got 3 of my regular guys, Ricco Rodriguez, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Justin McCully, (as well) Kit (Cope) and from the Ultimate Fighter, Kendall Groves, he’s 6-5” and 210 (lbs), and Saul Soliz my kickboxing trainer.

MMARR: Is Dean Lister also training with you?

Ortiz: Yes

MMARR: What concerns you most about Griffin as an opponent?

Ortiz: He’s young, he’s aggressive, he has nothing to lose, and I think the kid is going to go in swinging for the fences.

MMARR: If everything goes according to plan, how do you see this fight unfolding?

Ortiz: Either referee stoppage, (Big John) McCarthy ripping me off, a vicious cut, pounding him out, you know, there’s a lot of different situations that could happen. I just hope for a really exciting fight, and I think Forrest has trained really hard so I expect it to be a tough fight.

MMARR: Are you averse to standing with Forrest, or would you be looking to take this fight to the ground?

Ortiz: I think it will be a mixture of both, you know, my standup will set up takedowns, I’m not going to look past the takedowns of course, so I think standing up will be an option for sure.

MMARR: While you were away from the UFC, Dana White mentioned he felt Forrest Griffin was now a bigger star then Tito Ortiz, do you harbor any resentment toward Griffin heading into this fight?

Ortiz: No, I have nothing against Forrest at all. I know the kid has been put in a great position and has a great opportunity with Xyience, the UFC, and being on The Ultimate Fighter and everything, and he deserves everything he’s got. But we’ll see on April 15th how much of a bigger star he is then myself and see how much tougher he is then me. But the biggest thing of all, we’ll see what kind of pull power he has, I mean selling out the (Anaheim) Pond in California with like 16,000 seats in an hour and a half, I don’t think any other fighter has done what I did, and I guarantee you it wasn’t Andrei Arlovski that was the person selling those tickets.

MMARR: On that note, what does it mean to you to be featured in the UFC’s first ever event in California?

Ortiz: You know, the first event in California just really makes me excited, I’m living my dream it seems every time I step into the Octagon, and to be one of the guys to sellout the first show in California, you know, it’s just really, really exciting and a dream come true.

MMARR: You are known for having one of the best weight cutting techniques in MMA, what weight will you be cutting down from to get to 205 lbs?

Ortiz: I’ll probably be cutting down from about 215 (lbs), that’s only a 10 pound cut, I think I’m the only fighter that really lets known that I do cut weight, which every fighter does cut weight already, everybody in every weight class cuts 10-15 pounds, but their just not as exposed to it as much as I am. I think Forrest came down from 230 down to 205, he’s a lot bigger then I am, he’s a lot taller then I am, so this will be one of the biggest opponents I have ever fought against. Right now I’m walking around at about 213 – 214 (lbs), so it’s not really that big of a cut, I’ve just got to rehydrate myself the right way, and it only takes me a day and a half to make the weight. 

MMARR: Season 3 of TUF debuts April 6th, you’re featured as one of the coaches along with your good friend Ken Shamrock, what can you tell us about the taping of the show?

Ortiz: I think this will be one of the most exciting shows on Spike TV and The Ultimate Fighter history, this will be the best show they have ever done to date and it will be the best one until I do another one. It’s not the fact just because I did it, I really put my heart into it, revealed my coaching strategies, I had two great assistant coaches with Dean Lister and Saul Soliz, and we really put a great game plan together to pick apart Ken Shamrock’s guys. Each match was really, really tough and you’ll get to see the outcome of the whole season. 

MMARR: At the conclusion of the season Shamrock will get his long awaited rematch with you, are your thoughts about Ken heading into the rematch any different then when you fought him in 2002?

Ortiz: Not really, you know, I’ve gotten a lot better and I know he’s stayed the same, but one thing between both of us is that we bring an exciting match, I may beat him down but I think he’ll give me all I can handle. But at the same time, I can’t pass up a free beating that I definitely want to give out.

MMARR: There have been rumors that Rampage Jackson might be signing with the UFC, hypothetically, if Rampage signed – with him being a member of Team Punishment, would you be willing to fight him?

Ortiz: Yeah, there’s a possibility of us fighting, I mean if were making a couple million a piece to fight each other, but if not we’ll probably never fight each other.

MMARR: Do you still have any ambition of starting your own MMA promotion in the next few years?

Ortiz: Not any time soon, there’s a possibility of it because this sport has grown so huge and competition is always great, and I’m always willing to get my hands into something new. But right now the UFC has made me happy, I don’t plan on going anywhere and I plan on finishing my career with the UFC.

MMARR: Anything else you have on the horizon?

Ortiz: There’s a possibility of me doing a week deal in a big budget film in August, nothing is etched in stone yet, but right now I have to get in shape for these next two fights because they really pertain to my future in the UFC and for some big sponsors.

MMMRR: Thanks for your time Tito, is there anything you would like to mention about Punishment Athletics?

Ortiz: Of course, we got new gear for all my fans out there at www.punishmentathletics.com or you can go to PA99.tv, we revamped the whole website and we have a bunch of new gear in there. Actually, we have some stuff from The Ultimate Fighter, Team Ortiz stuff that I just started making. All my fans out there that support me through my wins and of course through my losses, no matter what they have been sticking behind me. I have to thank them because they are the ones who make me hungry to get my world title back, and by the end of October I’ll have my title back in my eyes. I’ve got 3 more fights and I plan on fighting my ass off to make it happen, and giving my fans what they want to see, and that’s fans of the world champion Tito Ortiz.

MMARR: Best of luck April 15th.

Ortiz: Thank you man, I appreciate that very much.