Former UFC hall-of-famer and current Bellator fighter Tito Ortiz has revealed that he’s on the verge of retirement, but he still has one fight left in him, and he’s got an odd suggestion for who it should be against.
“This is the last fight on my contract, it’s the last fight that I want to compete,” Ortiz said during an interview with SiriusXM Rush Fight Club. “I’m 41 years old. I was supposed to be retired and done with this business at 40. Nineteen years I think is good enough for me. So let’s go out with a bang. Let’s go out with one of the biggest names in the world of mixed martial arts.
“Royce Gracie is here, he’s competing. He just stopped Ken Shamrock super quick. I think that would be a fun fight. I got caught with a submission by a black belt, Liam McGeary. Royce Gracie’s a black belt. Can he catch me? That’s a question. We’re both old pioneers of the sport, legends of the sport. I think the names would sell. Let’s give the fans something exciting.”
Gracie did fight at light-heavyweight in a one-off bout with Ken Shamrock in the Bellator cage earlier this year, but the former UFC 1 winner spent most of his storied career several weight classes below Ortiz, has only fought once in the last nine years, and not to mention the fact that he’s now 49 years of age!
The fact that Ortiz is even suggesting this is bound to raise some eyebrows, and will no doubt lead to suggestiosn that the former UFC champion is just looking to manufacture a way to end his career with a win.
