Would you consider TITO ORTIZ as a legend?

Well he's a destined HOF'er and if that makes you a legend I guess so.....

 

Legendary name, but not ATG talent - though he was a top-tier talent for his time in his prime.

 

yes I would, his been the face of the UFC for a long time, his also arguably the biggest superstar the UFC produced.

 

I don't think his talent ever matched his persona. He's extremely well known, and he's "branded" himself quite well. Tito Ortiz and the UFC go hand in hand. But in his heyday, I don't think he was as good as Couture or Liddell (partially evidenced by the fact both men beat him). He has some nice wins on his record, but it seems he largely built his career on thrasing an over-the-hill Ken Shamrock.

So, I think he's a legend in the fact he held the title and used his personality/flair to garner a ton of attention. However, I don't think he was an ATG fighter by any stretch of the imagination.

 

he was like Hughes in the fact he used wrestling and gnP to beat a better strikers back a few years...but with most top fighters becoming better all around ,guys like him and Hughes will fall behind being 1 dimensional. I lost respect for him when he fought Chuck...not because he lost...but because he looked like he was going to cry he was so scared...and almost fell down on his own without getting hit in 1 occasion. I guess I could see why he ducked him for so long....but he was a pioneer and brought alot of publicity to the UFC.

 

I don't think he was the most talented nor the most skilled but he was a top guy.

Sure he lost some to the Coutures and Liddells but Shamrock, Silva and Belfort are nice names on the record.

 

imo atg for sure I rember a time when tito was the the face of ufc stop and he owned the ground and pound style. Im not saying he was the best fighter but legend for sure. A very famous face for sure.

 

He didnt own the GNP. Mark Coleman and Mark Kerr perfected that.All Tito is famous for was bashing up ken Shamrock in there 1st bout which was fairly brutal for old Ken.The rematches after that arent really worth talking about.

He was the face of the UFC for some time but thats more because of the image it portrays and the demographic it caters tther than that his resume is fairly weak.His only real notable bout is his first one with Ken.His win over Belfort was disputed and his win in the early days over Wandy was before Wandy came into his prime when he joined PRIDE and really established his own style.A good win nonetheless but certainly not anything remotely close to elevating him to HOF status let alone an ATG.

 

Yes, I would consider him a legend. But like others said, it is more a reflection of the persona he created than his in ring talent. He was always basically a B grade Randy Couture. And for the record, I still think he lost to Belfort.

 

Dehyrdation was his biggest talent.

 

The thing with MMA is that it has still not met it's peak as far as talented fighters go. Much the same way that Royce is a legend, but would probably lose prime for prime against the top MMA athletes today, Tito is a legend.

Tito Ortiz was one of the greats in an era where being very very good at only one thing was enough to be great. Before he blew out his knees, Tito was an absolutely amazing wrestler with the best GnP in the business. Sure he lost to Couture and Lidell, but Frazier lost to Ali twice and Foreman twice. He beat Wanderlei and he had a good run as LHW champ. I think Tito is a legend.

 

Definitely below Couture and Liddell, but he's young so might come again.

 

I wouldnt call him a legend like Couture or Liddell as in they are A grade fighters and rockstars of the UFC. Titos a very good fighter and dominated 2000-2002 but that was a more one dimensional era. I would take his accomplishments and defeintally consider him a Hall of Famer he beat some good guys Ken Shamrock 3 times,Forrest Griffin,Vitor Belfort,Vlad Matsushenko,Evan Tanner and Wanderlei Silva plus he was the longest regining UFC Light Heavyweight Champion 5 defenses that still stands nearly 5 years after it ended. However I wouldnt call his resume legendary but because of his attitude or personality hes made the UFC alot of fans and became like the Yankees people hate him or love him and hes a UFC legend.

 

Tito was a rockstar/posterboy before Chuck, and possibly for a longer period of time. Randy has been a major face/name for longer than both (starting before Tito came along and seems his time at the top is outlasting Chuck's). In order of legendary status it goes Couture, Ortiz, and Liddell (probably in order of well-rounded talent as well). Don't let Chuck's supernova popularity among the white trash hordes of new MMA fans in the last couple of years cloud that.