“I’ve had an ACL replaced in my left knee, ACL replaced in my right knee, 50 percent of my meniscus taken out of my right knee, lower back fusion, C-6, C-7 fused in my neck, C-5, C-4 disk replacement, C-4, C-3 fused. I have 26, 27 concussions, hundreds of stitches. I’ve been through the grinder.”
“My true inspiration is to give everything to my kids that I never had. I had a really rough upbringing, and I want to break that chain. I’ve broken the chain, and I want to give my kids happiness every single day. When they wake up and hop on me and say; ‘Dad I love you,’ that is what means the most to me.”
“Once someone watches me compete, I’m part of them forever.”
“I made the wrong decision myself in my career. I tried to battle against the system. I should have never done that, but I didn’t have anybody else who showed me how to do it before. I did everything on instinct.”
“I’m really articulate when I do my thing – when I speak on the mic, when I do interviews. I’m a colorful personality.”
“I had little problems during high school. It seemed like I was always getting into trouble in summer, going in and out of juvenile hall.”
“For me, boxing’s like checkers, and MMA’s like chess – there are so many ways to win the match. It’s not barbaric; it’s boxing, kickboxing, Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, cardio and it’s all reached such an amazing level. As fans learn more about the sport, they just fall in love with it.”
“I am one of the guys who really capitalized on the ground-and-pound game and am very vicious on the ground. I let go of a lot of elbows and cause a lot of damage.”
“I cheated on my first wife, Kristin. I thought I was untouchable. How could I be that inconsiderate to someone?”
“I’ve tasted the dirt side. I’ve tasted being broke. I’ve been in the dumps, I’ve lived in motels as a kid. I want a different opportunity for my children. I never want them to see those things.”
“Negativity just sucks the life out of somebody.”
“I understand my limits. I’m not going to go out there just to fight for money and to put on a show for people at the risk of my own health. I won’t do that.”
“I look at guys like – guys like Floyd Mayweather making $42 million dollars for a pay-per-view – what am I doing differently from what this guy’s doing?”
“I did my job to make my name a household name.”
“The whole bad-boy image was for the cage, and that’s it. It wasn’t an act because it came from a passion for fighting.”
“I was always a huge WWF wrestling fan, and Hulk Hogan was one of my biggest heroes.”
“I love doing films, action films, anything I can get into that is produced at a high level, really use my skills.”
“Fighting is my livelihood, and jeopardizing my body without a full understanding of conditions doesn’t make any sense. No professional fighter will go into a risky match without a contract.”
“I’ve struggled to get respect and dignity for my profession, and I do it in the way I lead my life as a fighter and as a human being.”
“I’m a person that’s been fueled on emotions. And any fan who’s ever been around any of my fights, I’m the only fighter who’d go out on the concourse to sign autographs the day of the fight. Because I’m in love with my fans.”
“Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell III, the fight that all the fans wanted to see for the longest time and never got a chance to. I never got a fair shake when I was with the UFC against Chuck, any of the times I ever fought against him.”
“I have a great surgeon that put me together.”
“The UFC makes about 99 percent of the money, and the rest goes to the fighters. That one percent ain’t nothing compared to what they make on merchandising, on pay-per-view, and everything else they make around the world.”
“I’m not a young kid struggling to get to the top. I’ve been to the top. I gotta look out for my best interests as a businessman in this fight game. At the end of the day, it is a business. I’ve got children to take care of; I’ve got bills to pay.”
“Scott Coker, I’ve known him such a long time, he’s always been a straight shooter. He’s always been very, very respectful towards me. He understands the business. He understands marketing and how to push the fighters to make them superstars in a household environment.”
“UFC, take me off your list. Take me off your Hall of Fame.”
“Chuck Liddell’s a puppet.”
“There was a disc and two bone spurs pressing on my spinal cord. If anyone’s had spinal cord problems or disc injuries in their neck, they’d understand what I went through.”
“I have all the money I want. I don’t need any more money.”
“Retiring as the champion and being the only athlete to ever do that, I think goals like that are set in the mind. I want to make that happen.”
“I’ve been through hell not totally unscathed, but I came out not too bad.”
“I don’t see myself any higher than anyone else.”
“I love to compete.”
“I went through UFC with five title defenses. Jonny ‘Bones’ Jones beat my record, so I’m trying to beat his record. That’s my goal. That’s what I want to do.”
“I want to let people to believe in themselves, people believe in me that everything is possible.”
“I’ve had two neck surgeries, a back surgery, three knee surgeries, eye surgery, but I keep bouncing back. I won’t go away – kind of like a virus. I don’t go away. I keep coming back stronger and stronger. I’m contagious.”
“I put my heart, soul, and body into this sport.”
“My number one goal was to be the best fighter ever in the Octagon. I think I can hold hands with many who can stake that claim.”
“In the UFC, at first we were like a family, but then it turned corporate. In Bellator, we’re family.”
“People don’t understand what fighters at the top have to go through. You know what, even half the fighters don’t understand what the guys on top are going through. You’re being pulled in so many directions. Contract negotiations, business opportunities, people come out of the woodwork, and it all happens when you’re so young.”
“It gets to the point where, by the time you’re underneath the arena lights and you’re staring at your opponent, that’s the best time. That’s the best feeling in the world, because all the other stuff goes away.”
“Shlemenko wants to make his name off of Tito Ortiz. He’s not the first person ever to do this. People have been trying to use my name ever since I was the champ.”
“I’ve been through every surgery that any athlete has ever been through, and I’ve prevailed through it.”
“I fought with integrity and heart and determination like no fighter has ever done.”
“I was smart enough to save my money. I invest. The biggest thing you can invest is something they don’t have a lot of, is land. I own a lot of it.”
“I don’t wanna fight a street fighter.”
“Scott Coker’s been amazing to work with.”
“I’m very thankful to Bellator.”
“Life’s too short. Too short to hate.”
“After having my first surgery in 2003, having an ACL replacement, I never thought I’d be able to compete again.”
“If I wanted to do a fixed fight, I’d be doing WWE.”
“I squeeze like an anaconda.”
“At the end of the day, when I step in that cage, I’m there to fight for my name. It’s not about money; it’s not about who’s gonna win or lose. It’s about me winning. That’s all that matters.”
“I’m a kid who has a lot of respect. I believe in respect.”
“I know who I am. I’m a former world champion.”
“In my mind, I know I’m one of the greatest. I know other people don’t think that, but in my mind, I know I’m one of the greatest.”
“Wrestling has always been a dominating force in UFC.”
“A lot of guys who I fought, they beat guys who were No. 1 contenders, and that’s why I fought them.”
“My biggest enemy has been my surgeries.”
“I want to be remembered as a fighter with integrity. A fighter who did it this way, who has respect because he wanted to push the envelope for the fighters.”
“My biggest enemy has been my body.”
“I remember from the very beginning when I walked out at UFC 40, when we had the big lights, the flames, everything. Fans want to see entertainment.”
“At the end of the day, us fighters, all we have is respect.”
“Us fighter put our lives on the line to entertain the fans that watch.”
“Maybe UFC and Bellator should take care of the fighters when their careers are done, as the NFL takes care of their players. Because they’re making so much money off us.”
“We’re fighters. We go out there, and we’ll open a window of opportunity, and they’re only open for so long, and we have to take advantage of that time right then. When I did it, I was 30-31 years old. Maybe it was a little too late that I should have did it, but I did it right. I was okay with the money that I got, the money that I made.”
“Trust has always been a hard issue in my life, and when I was with the UFC, it was hard for me to trust people because it was like I was seeing lies, up to lies, up to lies.”
“I don’t have to prove anything else in this MMA world.”
“The fight game and the commentary game are two different worlds.”
“I fight on emotions. When I don’t fight on emotions, I don’t fight well. I fight on emotion, because I’m in for survival.”
“I’m a Trump guy. I wasn’t in the beginning, of course. I’m Mexican, when he said we need to take all the Mexicans out of United States… well, good luck on that one. They’ll find a way to get back here anyways.”
“Man’s best friend – that’s what dogs are. I have two dogs. I love and treat them like family.”
“My kids come first on all measures.”
“They eat clean, they don’t drink sodas, they don’t have fast food. My kids eat like pro athletes.”
“Being outspoken was important… I helped make the UFC what it is today with Chuck Liddell, Royce Gracie, and Randy Couture. Some said I was outspoken in a bad way, but I was just trying to educate the fans what being a UFC fighter is all about.”
“From a kid who didn’t come from much success growing up but watched Muhammad Ali and Hulk Hogan, to where I am today… I tell kids, ‘You can achieve anything you want as long as you stick with it.’”
“At the end of the day, I’m a dad, and I try to give my kids everything I never had as a kid.”
“I’ve been able to mature and improve my mixed martial arts game completely; I just never stop learning, and whenever I think I know enough, I just keep working and do more.”
“Jon Jones is a great champion, but me in my prime, I was devastating. I was vicious. Nobody could stop me. Of course I could beat him in my prime.”
“The ‘Apprentice’ was tough, tough work. It was all for charity, so I was thankful for the money Donald Trump gave me when I was fired.”
“I’ve seen everything during my career.”
“I’m an entertainer. I love to fight.”
“Every fight is won in the gym. The hard part of our job is getting in the gym every day, six days a week.”
“I’m a very emotional person. That’s every one of my fights; it’s all emotions.”
“When I get in that cage and fight, that’s not me. It’s somebody else. It’s like a light switch that turns on.”
“I punish the guy until the referee pulls me off or until he says ‘no more,’ and he taps. I don’t want to leave any doubt in his mind that he had a chance.”
“I did what Jon ‘Bones’ Jones couldn’t do, and that was finish Bader in a minute and fifty-six seconds.”
“I’m invested in the UFC, but I’m invested in myself at the same time, showing everyone that I am one of the greatest.”
“When you’re winning, your confidence is through the roof, but when you’re losing, that self-doubt is like, ‘Am I doing the right thing?’”
“I want to fight the top guys in the world. Guys who have names. Guys who I don’t mind trying to make a mark off of me by them trying to win, which, they’re gonna become losers.”
“I always knew I wanted to have a family because I didn’t have one growing up.”
“I know what it feels like to be broke and alone, and I don’t ever want my loved ones to see that or know what it’s like.”
“I do charity work for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and the USO. I made all the money I’m ever going to need – all my family is every going to need – so I try to give back to the community.”
“Back when the UFC first started, I wanted to see what MMA was all about; at the time, I was training with Tank Abbott, and so I went to see him fight. While at the fight, I saw this guy fighting that I just crushed in high school wrestling, and I thought, ‘Hey, I’m a street fighter, and I have a wrestling background,’ so I gave it a shot.”
“I had my first fight at UFC 13, and it was just one of those things that become second nature to me.”
“Wrestling encompasses hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and determination – there’s just nothing like it in any sport.”
“I’m a big juicer, and I believe in juicing most vegetables and fruit, which I do twice a day.”
“I’m just so intense when I fight, and I think a lot of fans love that.”
“Anything with Tito Ortiz’s name on it will always involve a bit of controversy.”
“Michael Bisping is a really tough competitor and a hard worker.”
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