Anybody calling him a never-was needs to head on down to Blockbuster and grab an armload of VHS tapes of UFC events from the late 90's/early 00's. If they still have a VCR. Or if those have been released on DVD, then get them on DVD. Hell is Blockbuster even around? Netflix then. I'm so out of touch...:yep Look at the man's resume. Look at who he lost to, and consider that of all those greats that beat him (mostly HOF shoe-ins) he beat a couple of them in turn, and was pretty competitive with all except Chuck who had his number. Hell, he was blowing Frank out on points when he got himself in a bad spot. He's a bridge between the pioneers and the modern hybrid fighters. A lot of people don't like his personality, and his unimpressive W/L record belies his prime talent, but he deserves utmost respect from any self-respecting student of the mixed martial arts.
A never was? So is Matt Hughes a never was because he can't compete with GSP and Alves? Tito still took Machida to a decision and almost subbed him at the end, a "never was" couldn't last 15 minutes with him and almost pull off that triangle. He also beat Forrest and shouldve beat Evans (two former champs)
Former UFC LHW champion. Holds victories over: Mezger Kondo Wand Shamrock (3 times) Tanner (RIP) Matyushenko Cote Belfort Griffin And should have beaten Evans if not for a bull**** point deduction. His losses came from stud fighters. F. Shamrock (former champion, future hall of famer & ATG), Couture (former 2X HW champion, former 2X LHW champion, future hall of famer & ATG) , Liddell (future hall of famer, former LHW champion) Machida (current champion) Griffin (stud fighter, former LHW champion) Anyone who questions what he's done isn't to bright.
a "has been"...yes (personally i don't think his career is finished though.) He he did good against Rashad imo. i haven't seen his fight vs griffin...it ended by split dec... was he robbed or was this a legit win for griffin ?
He's glorified due to good charisma and personality but he is a legit ultimate fighter aswell. I have a lot of respect for tito. And those tweets that jenna writes sometimes, means he's landed a pretty fkn shmick girlfriend too.
Damn straight just look at all the former or current Champions he has fought. UFC/Pride Champions he faced Forrest Griffin 2x, Frank Shamrock, Ken Shamrock 3x, Evan Tanner, Wanderlei Silva, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell 2x, Vitor Belfort, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida. That is 14 Champions from the most elite fighting organizations and his record is very good in those 14 fights IMO 7-6-1 agianst all Champions isnt bad **** what anyone says. Also he defended his Championship successfully 5 times so add in all the guys he has fought that earned title shots Elvis Sinosic, Patrick Cote, Yuki Kondo, Vladimir Matyushenko. Throw in Guy Mezger 2x who was a legitmate contender and Jeremy Bohlander who was 5-2 in the UFC, Tito has had exactly 2 MMA fights out of 23 agianst guys who werent really qualified.
Well considering that Tito was exiting or clearly out of his prime for all three of those, you can grade them on a curve. :good
Well Cote was a late replacement at UFC 50 because Mezger had to pull from the bout. They had to find someone. Considering Tito knew nothing about Cote when they fought, and Cote knew everything about Tito, makes it a quality win. And no, Ken Shamrock wasn't really qualified, but the 2nd fight for whatever reason was a contraversial stoppage, and the company made them fight again. Not Tito's fault.
Tito may still be quality. Not everyone can do to Griffin what Silva did. Ortiz looked to run out of gas against Griffin, and I've heard others say they thought Ortiz won. I was tanked when I watched it, so I would have to give that fight a sober look before questioning the decision. What's sad is that I think Ortiz has some fights left in him, or at least some interesting fights to be made, and Liddell probably still has Tito's number. Liddell doesn't really have any intriguing match-ups left. If Liddell wins, watch what happens. Kimbo vs Liddell will headline a, what will be, huge pay per view card. Or that fight will be the UFC's foray into network television.