'Staged!': Fight fans react as MMA veteran Tito Ortiz gets into shoving match with pro wrestler Alberto 'El Patron' (VIDEO)
by RT
‘Staged!’: Fight fans react as MMA veteran Tito Ortiz gets into shoving match with pro wrestler Alberto ‘El Patron’ (VIDEO)
Former UFC champion Tito Ortiz, 44, is showing no sign of letting his advanced age affect his will to win as he engaged in a weigh-in pushing match with pro wrestler Alberto ‘El Patron’ Rodriguez ahead of their fight on Saturday.
Ortiz’s latter fight career has come in harsh contrast to the run of defeats which punctuated the final chapter of his UFC run, winning four of his last five fights including impressive finishes of Chael Sonnen, Alexander Shlemenko and Chuck Liddell during that time.
‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ is looking to add another victory to his ledger on Saturday when he faces former WWE star (and one time mixed martial artist) Alberto ‘El Patron’ Rodriquez, better known as Alberto Del Rio, in the headliner of a Combate Americas card.
And anyone familiar with Ortiz’s journey through the MMA landscape over the past couple of decades won’t be surprised by the histrionics which accompanied Friday’s weigh-in.
Ortiz is a heavy favorite to claim what would be the 21st win of a professional career which dates back to 1997 against the Rodriguez, who last fought in MMA in 2003 under the name Dos Caras Jr. where he was defeated by head kick knockout by Mirko Cro Cop as part of a PRIDE event.
However, despite the coming together at the weigh-ins some fight fans are seeing through what they claim is little more than a pre-arranged tussle designed to sell a few more pay-per-views.
It remains to be seen whether or not this footage will lead to an increase in interest in the fight, particularly with it coming on the same evening as the much-anticipated heavyweight rematch between Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua, but one expects that Ortiz’s latest foray in the twilight of his combat sports career will be a curiosity, if nothing else.
