Tito Ortiz Announces Retirement After Knocking Out Chuck Liddell
Last night, Chuck Liddel and Tito Ortiz stepped into the cage for the third time, and Ortiz knocked Liddell out in the first round. When interviewed in the cage, Ortiz was noncommittal regarding whether he was going to fight again, but at the post fight press conference, Ortiz said he was done with the professional fight game.
As transcribed by BJPenn.com, Ortiz said, “I’m done. There is nobody left I want to fight. I just want to continue to help the sport grow as a promoter. I want to help give back to the fighters.”
The fight last night lasted 4 minutes and 24 seconds before Tito Ortiz landed a big shot at the end of a four punch combination that put Liddell down. He jumped on top of the downed fighter for a couple extra shots before referee Herb Dean stepped in and called a stop to the action.
While he might be done in the cage, it definitely doesn’t sound like Ortiz is done with MMA. Instead, it appears that he wants to promote fights, presumably under the Golden Boy Promotions banner headed up by former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya. After the fight, Ortiz mentioned that he’d love to have Chuck Liddell fight again under the Golden Boy banner, so it sounds like the fighter is already doing some promoting.
Before the fight with Golden Boy, Tito Ortiz fought under the Bellator MMA organization. He won three of four fights, with his most recent fight coming in the form of a submission win against Chael Sonnen. Ortiz has a 20-12-1 record in professional MMA fights.
For his part, Liddell didn’t announce whether he’d come back for another fight or not, simply saying that he’d need to sit back and think about it. It’ll be interesting to see if Liddell decides to step in the cage again, and if he does, how much interest there will be from fans after he suffered such a devastating loss.
.@titoortiz isn't sure it was the right move for Chuck Liddell to fight again. #LiddellOrtiz3 https://t.co/p7NyjlDsO6
— bjpenndotcom (@bjpenndotcom) November 25, 2018
Liddell retired from professional MMA competition back in 2010. He retired after suffering three straight knockouts, with the final one coming in a fight against Rich Franklin at UFC 115. The fight against Ortiz was the seventh knockout of his professional career. Liddell’s last win came in a fight against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79. His record is 22-9 overall.
Both Liddell and Ortiz are former UFC light heavyweight champions, and are generally regarded as top fighters in that weight class for their time.
