Tito Ortiz: Leaving the UFC?

                                                                                                                      Rumor central around the MMA world is that Tito Ortiz is considering leaving the UFC after the Machida fight.  Ortiz had some interesting comments in his interview with Mauro Ranallo.

 "I think I'm just going to finish this last fight and sit back," said Ortiz. "You know, I'll be a free agent for the first time in my career and there's a lot of other bigger companies that are out and about, and I want someone that's going to push me in front, you know, in the very beginning of the UFC, I was the flag bearer. I was the person out doing the interviews and showing how good of a sport it is. Now all of a sudden, I'm not. I watched the, not last UFC, but the UFC prior and there was no pictures of me at all. They said that Light Heavyweight title range of all these competitors and my picture wasn't shown with any of the light heavyweights. So it kind of showed that they're just trying to phase me out."

I am curious to know what bigger companies he's referring to that will push him in front. The light heavyweight division is arguably the strongest weight class in the UFC.

I thought those were some interesting comments from a guy who hasn't exactly been taking his fighting seriously in recent memory.  He's currently on Celebrity Apprentice and hasn't looked good in the octagon since his victory over Vitor Belfort in 2005.  He did dominate Shamrock but Shamrock had no business being in the Octagon with Ortiz.  Ortiz's marketability is second to none however.  Maybe Ortiz has lost a step and doesn't know if he can rise to the top again.  

He isn't very excited about his upcoming fight with Lyoto Machida saying he was "expecting a bigger fight."  Machida is no pushover, however.  He's currently 12-0 and has wins over BJ Penn in K-1 and Rich Franklin at the Inoki Festival.  Ortiz really wants a rematch with Rashad Evans to prove that he can beat him.  

Ortiz, much like Randy Couture, isn't happy with the current management of the UFC, and I must say who can blame him?  Dana White is maybe a knotch above Matt Millen as an owner.  Ortiz said he's just "looking to get his final fight over with the UFC."

I think the UFC needs Tito as much as Tito needs the UFC.

If he does decide to leave, I can't  imagine where he would end up. The last time his contract was up he did this same thing.  He was considering joining the WFA (World Fighting Alliance) which obviously didn't fall through. The IFL and EliteXC are two companies that come to mind but aren't even close to UFC standards.  Pride and the WEC are owned by the UFC so his choices are limited.

If he leaves, he'll be forgotten.  

I read an analogy about Ortiz that I thought was perfect. "He is a very poor man's equivalent to David Beckham."

Tito needs to do something to put him at the " Huntington Beach Bad Boy" status if he wants to be taken seriously.  We will have to wait for the Machida fight to see what the future holds for the former champ.