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Tito Ortiz, the Huntington Beach Bad Boy
May 25th
Jacob “Tito” Ortiz (born January 23, 1975) is a Mexican American participant of the sport of mixed martial arts. I’ve read up on Tito, and all I see 
are great adjectives to describe him, nothing less. He is a very charismatic, talented fighter and showman. Ortiz’s career has been mostly within the UFC organization. A former Light-Heavyweight UFC champion, Ortiz has become one of the sport’s most shining stars, headlining several Pay per View championship undercards, and appearing on the covers of various magazines, such as Black Belt Magazine. He is also a native of Huntington Beach, California, which is pretty obvious by his title as ‘Huntington Beach’s Bad Boy’.
Ortiz began his martial arts career as a wrestler in his sophomore year of high school. Under Coach Paul Herrera, Ortiz would place 4th in the state high school championships as a senior. Following high school, Ortiz continued his wrestling career winning a California state junior college title for Golden West College. Ortiz’s mixed martial arts debut was at UFC 13 in 1997. Still in college, Ortiz competed as an amateur for no prize money or contracts. He beat Wes Albritton in an alternate bout by referee stoppage at 0:31 of the very first round. He was selected to face Guy Mezger in the Lightweight final after Enson Inoue could not continue due to injury. Ortiz lost the fight at 2:00 in the first round by submission. In 1999 Ortiz fought Frank Shamrock for the UFC middleweight (199 lb) title at UFC 22, losing via submission due to strikes. Following the victory, Shamrock retired and vacated the championship. The middleweight division was then renamed the light heavyweight (205 lb) division and Ortiz was chosen, along with Wanderlei Silva, as a top contender.
Ortiz’ last fight on his contract with the UFC was a unanimous decision loss to undefeated Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 on May 24, 2008. With all three judges scoring the fight 30-27 to Machida, Ortiz came painfully close to submitting Machida in the third round with a triangle choke before transitioning to an arm bar. However, Machida managed to escape and survived the round, winning a unanimous judge’s decision. The fight concluded Ortiz’ stay with the promotion as he chose not to re-sign, citing his frustration with UFC-president Dana White as a major factor in the decision. After leaving the UFC, Ortiz has been approached by multiple promotions, including the now defunct Elite XC, Affliction and the American Fight League. However, a clause in his old UFC contract forbids Ortiz from signing with, or fighting for any other organization until approximately April-June 2009. Until then, Tito is considered by many to be the biggest free agent on the market. On Wednesday, December 17, 2008, Affliction Entertainment announced that Tito Ortiz would be part of the broadcast team for Affliction: Day of Reckoning event. Ortiz has since said he will fight again in August 2009, but did not say what organization it would be for.
Randy Couture
May 21st
Randy Duane Couture, born June 22, 1963, is an American actor and mixed martial artist, Greco-Roman wrestler, and former collegiate wrestler, and the former heavyweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Couture is one of only two UFC fighters to have held a championship title in two different divisions (heavyweight and light heavyweight) while in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (the other fighter being BJ Penn), as well as the only five-time champion in UFC history. Couture is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame, and many consider him to be the most popular fighter in MMA history. Couture is generally recognized as a clinch and ground-and-pound fighter who uses his wrestling ability to execute take-downs, establish top position, and successively strike the opponent on the bottom. Couture has also displayed a variety of skills in boxing, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, submitting two opponents using different chokeholds. Couture is also the only athlete in UFC history to win a championship after becoming a Hall of Fame member and is the oldest title holder ever (in the UFC and MMA in general). Along with Chuck Liddell, Couture is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts into the mainstream of American pop culture and sports.
Couture first appeared in the UFC on May 30, 1997 as part of UFC 13: The Ultimate Force. Couture fought in the heavyweight tournament, and won it, defeating Tony Halme and Steven Graham in the process. His next match was an elimination bout for the heavyweight title against the young Brazilian “Phenom”, Vitor Belfort. Couture scored a TKO victory in what UFC announcer Bruce Beck described as “a stunning upset”. Couture won his first heavyweight title via decision in a 1997 match against kick boxer Maurice Smith. Couture didn’t keep the belt for long. Soon after, he was stripped of the title when he could not come to contractual terms with the UFC and its parent company at the time, Semaphore Entertainment Group. In 2000, Couture returned to the UFC to recapture the heavyweight title from Kevin Randleman at UFC 28 on November 17 of that year.
In his light heavyweight debut, Couture took on long-time number one contender Chuck Liddell for the interim light heavyweight championship. Couture won by TKO in the third round, and became the only UFC competitor to win championship titles in two weight classes, a feat since matched in 2008 by BJ Penn; this earned Couture his nickname “Captain America”. On April 16, 2005, Couture lost his title and suffered the first knockout loss of his career in a rematch with Chuck Liddell. Couture came back in August with a win over Mike Van Arsdale to re-establish himself as a top contender. He faced Liddell again for the third and final time in a championship match on February 4, 2006 at UFC 57. He did not succeed, falling victim to a second round knockout. Immediately after the match, he announced his retirement from the sport.
