Ortiz to be inducted into UFC Hall of Fame

Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz will be inducted to the Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Fame prior to his UFC 148 bout this summer against Forrest Griffin.

Ortiz will officially get the honour at the UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas during the weekend of the July 7 show, UFC president Dana White told MMAweekly.com.

White, Ortiz’s former manager and someone who shares a lot of history with the fighter, said Ortiz played an important role with the company back when the mixed martial arts business was not a lucrative one.

“He pound-for-pound was doing some of the most damage at a time when we were hurting,” White said. “But it’s part of our history the way the storylines played out between me, Chuck (Liddell) and Tito. He’s definitely a part of the history of the sport.”

The 37-year-old first joined the UFC in 1997 and has fought 26 times for the promotion, which is currently the most in the organization’s history. Ortiz fought outside the UFC just one time in his career — in his third professional fight when he beat Jeremy Screeton in 16 seconds at West Coast NHB Championships 1.

On April 14, 2000, Ortiz defeated Wanderlei Silva at UFC 25 to become the 205-pound champion and he went on to defend the belt five consecutive times before losing to Randy Couture at UFC 44 in September 2003.

Ortiz holds career wins over Griffin, Silva, Vitor Belfort, Evan Tanner, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ken Shamrock, but in his last eight fights dating back to December 2006, the Huntington Beach, Calif., native has gone just 1-6-1. During that time, however, he either fought former champions or fighters that were ranked in the top 10 at the time.

Known as the man who redefined ground-and-pound, Ortiz will be the ninth member added to the UFC Hall of Fame. Current members include fighters Royce Gracie, Shamrock, Dan Severn, Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes and late TapouT founder Charles (Mask) Lewis.

UFC 148 will mark the third time Ortiz and Griffin fight. Ortiz has stated that he will retire, win or lose, after his trilogy bout with Griffin. The event is headlined by a middleweight title bout between champion Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen.

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