Through hardship to the stars. Tito Ortiz and his life

Mixed martial arts today are almost the most popular type of martial arts in the world. The combination of wrestling and shock techniques give rise to genuine interest in such battles on the part of the public. And like in any other sport, MMA also has its own stars. One of the most famous fighters is Tito Ortiz.

Birth and early life

The future champion - Jacob Christopher Ortiz was born on January 23, 1975 in California, the city of Santa Ana, USA. His father was a Mexican, and his mother an American. Tito Ortiz spent the preschool period just like all ordinary children. Strictly speaking, his family was no different from the rest, except that the parents were hippies and often used marijuana, and later heroin. Unfortunately, this pernicious habit was transmitted to their young offspring. Tito, by his own admission, began to smell glue, drink psychotropic substances. It seemed that his fate was sealed.

Life-history fracture

Ortiz's mother decided to divorce when the boy was 13 years old. She was tired of vegetating and rolling downhill, and with the children she moved to Hanington Beach, where Tito Ortiz is already in high school. It was during this period that he began his studies of wrestling, which saved him from drugs. While playing sports, he was able to take the fourth place in the amateur wrestling competition at the California Championships, and already during his studies at the college and at all became the first number.

Falling into mixed fights

As a student, Tito Ortiz worked as a security guard in nightclubs and as a wrestling coach. It was the last lesson that helped to get the guy into the growing organization called UFC. Veteran Octagon - Tank Abbott was in dire need of a sparring partner, and Ortiz was in the right place at the right time.

The debut in the "cage" Tito spent relatively well. He managed to win the first fight by knockout, but the next to lose a stifling reception. Such a result motivates the fighter to train harder, and already in three years he wins in the battle for the vacant title of Brazilian champion Wanderlei Silva. It is noteworthy, but Ortiz was always a cocky guy who liked to shock the public with his behavior. A vivid example is his confrontation with Ken Shamrock, with whom Ortiz fought as much as three times.

On the top

The next three years, Tito Ortiz, whose biography is full of dramatic fights, retains his lead in the light heavyweight division and defeats such fighters as Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosyk, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ken Shamrock. However, the situation changed when Ortiz fell in battle with the already written-off Randy Couture. As a result of the struggle, Tito loses the title.

Recession Period

At UFC-47, the erratic American loses by knockout in the second round to Chuck Lidell. But already at UFC-51 Ortiz defeats the Brazilian Belfort. However, this victory did not help Tito stay in the promotion. Because of his intractability, he was forced to leave the organization and move to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

In the period 2007-2008, Tito spends only two fights. The first was a draw (rival - Rashad Evans), and in the second our hero lost to Lyoto Machide. November 21, 2009 was the day of another defeat Ortiz. This time, he could not beat Forrest Griffin, losing to him by a split decision.

September 20, 2015, after a fairly long idle time, the former champion again tried to conquer the belt. This time in the organization Bellator. Unfortunately, Tito Ortiz, whose fights still collect thousands of arenas roaring crowd of fans, hard lost. This time, the current leader of the division, the Englishman Liam McGuire. The defeat for the Bad guy has come as a result of painful reception. After all, you can not argue with age, and therefore the merited pensions of the MMA legend should be considered very seriously.

Personal life

Despite his rather shocking appearance and sometimes hooligan behavior in the "cage", Ortiz in his spare time devotes himself to children, filming and all the support of the younger generation. He founded a city children's fund. For his money, yards are equipped with sports grounds. The former champion conducts conversations with teenagers on the topic of the strongest harm of drugs and by his own example shows that it is possible and even necessary to abandon them, and, regardless of any difficulties, confidently go to the set goal.

The civil wife of Ortiz is porn actress Jena Jameson. The couple met in 2006, already in 2009 they had two boys.

In addition, Tito Ortiz (films with him have long been available to viewers) appeared in several film works and television series. His first film was "From Cradle to Grave", which was released in 2003. In its genre, it was a criminal thriller in which a famous athlete played an episodic role. Next in the piggy Ortiz was the work in the series "CSI: Crime Scene New York", "Numbers" and shooting in a TV show about professional battles. The last work at the moment for Tito can be considered the film "Burn in Hell."