How Much Is Tito Ortiz Worth?

    The iconic former UFC light heavyweight champion known for his blond hair and bad boy attitude Tito Ortiz departed from UFC earlier this year. He is now rumored to be negotiating a deal with newly established Affliction.

    Now the rumor mill is churning out all kinds of things;from Tito had a done deal with Affliction;to Affliction claiming there is no deal and that what Ortiz is demanding is outrageous and no one would pay the amount he is asking. So the real question is how much is Tito Ortiz worth? Lets put that in perspective. Tito was one of the first to take the sport seriously as a job and begun to expand on his wrestling to become a rounded MMA fighter. He is now 33 after 11 years of fighting his record stands as follows:

Titos career record stands at 15-6-1 starting in 1997 and last fighting in 5-24-2008.

The list of opponents is a whos who in MMA to a certain degree, with wins over Wanderlai Silva (2000), Guy Mezger (1999 he lost to mezger in his debut in 1997),Ken Shamrock (2002, and twice in 2006), Forest Griffin (2006), notable loses to Frank Shamrock (1999) Randy Couture (2003), Chuck Liddell (2004,2006), and Lyoto Machida (2008).

    The fact is that Titos image is worth more than his fighting ability at this point in  his career.  No doubt that he can still rake in the pay per view buys, some of UFC's biggest money events had Ortiz on the card.  He knows how to sell himself and any fight he is in.  He has cultivated that image to super stardom, in recent years with appearances on the Apprentice and a focus on more of the image and less on the fighter. He has a clothing line,his own gym and  MMA team "Team Punishment".

    Always an advocate for better pay and treatment of MMA fighters, Tito Ortiz's public war with his employer's at UFC has been ongoing since 2000. Most notably his feud with UFC president Dana White. Tito at this point should step out of the fight game and retire.  Then fight the good fight for the fighters that are still underpaid represent them start a fighters union or something.  The last few fights he had the UFC used him as a means to give their young stars a boost ( Rashad Evans DRAW, Forest Griffin WIN by split decision, Lyoto Machida LOSS) He didn't look to impressive in any of these fights.

    Titos time has passed and his true value to any MMA orgainization now is only those looking to establish themselves. Since they are new none have the money to buy Ortiz, except UFC and that isn't gonna happen. So in conclusion Tito Ortiz I thank you for your time in the sport you were one of the pioneers and a fighter who survived the dark days of MMA to see it become the sport it is today.  Also you had a part in helping the sport reach those heights. Seriously though retire,hang it up, call it quits and, get behind the scenes where you can still fight for the sport you so love.