UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz is not a fan of dragging another fighter’s family into a rivalry.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion recently appeared on ‘Chattin’ Pony’ with Paddy Pimblett on YouTube. The Liverpudlian spoke with ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ about a multitude of things, including his upbringing in a rough California neighborhood.
“Grew up in kind of a tough neighborhood. People would kind of say, ‘Oh Hunting Beach is not really a tough neighborhood,’ but you know, at the time when there were skinheads and punk rockers and everything. Everybody was just fighting. There was never no shootings or guns or stabbings or anything like that. Everybody did fist fighting, you know. A real man takes an a** whipping and able to kind of lick his wounds and either whoop some a** or take an a** whooping. That’s how Hunting Beach was.”
Tito Ortiz was one of MMA’s original trash-talkers. His ability to hype a fight with his words made him one of the biggest draws in the developmental days of the UFC. Taking pride in talking smack and backing it up, ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ discussed three simple rules that he adhered to when delivering verbal jabs to a rival. The most important was to never bring his opponent’s family into the conversation. Something Irish superstar Conor McGregor clearly doesn’t feel the same about.
“When I got into fighting, ‘Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ stuck. I spoke my mind I talked a lot of sh*t, but I backed it up. A lot of it though was… I had my three rules that’s really important that I do through my career. I’ve been competing now for 25 years. Don’t talk about a person’s family, don’t talk about a person’s country, and don’t lie. If you can do those three things and you can talk sh*t and you could back it up, the fans love it. I think that’s what’s really important.”
Tito Ortiz Believes Conor McGregor Crossed the Line
“I watch a lot of other guys, guys like Conor [McGregor] and they start talking about people’s wives and sh*t, and that’s just a line that shouldn’t be drawn. Families can’t defend themselves, you know? We’re talking about a fighter. Talk about his character. Talk about his person. Talk about him. Don’t talk about the people that are around him, family-wise at least. Those are the type of rules that I used that helped me. Once again, at the end of the day, when the fight is over, you’re gonna shake the guy’s hand and say, ‘good job.'”
Many feel that McGregor crossed the line in 2021 when he brought Dustin Poirier‘s wife into the mix, claiming that she had DM’d the former two-division world champion. Implying that it was less than innocent, many fans and fighters were not amused by McGregor breaking what had been considered an unwritten rule amongst fighters.
McGregor even doubled down on the accusations at UFC 264 after ‘Notorious’ had broken his leg late in the first round. Sitting on the cage floor while receiving medical attention, McGregor shouted accusations about Poirier’s wife who had joined her husband in the Octagon to celebrate the victory.
