Tito Ortiz signed a deal to fight for Combate Americas on Friday night. This marks the third return from retirement for Ortiz, who is expected to make his debut for the company in October.
UFC Hall-of-Famer Tito Ortiz signed with Combate Americas on Friday night. Ortiz signed his deal cage side at the company’s event in Los Angeles and capped off a spectacular night of MMA.
Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren told Amy Kaplan of Fansided, “I think we’re gonna have a fight for [Ortiz] in October,” he said. “Not Spain. Not Peru. We’re gonna do Peru next month, that’s our first South American date. Tito’s not right for Peru.”
Breaking news @campbellcombate just signed @titoortiz to a @combateamericas contract cageside pic.twitter.com/qK4iXgg5nA
— Amy Kaplan (@PhotoAmy33) April 27, 2019
No opponent was named for Ortiz, however McLaren teased a fight with Combate Americas brand ambassador and former WWE superstar Alberto Del Rio. Notably, the promotion very rarely has fights above the lightweight division so it is possible that the company tries to make a deal with another high-profile fighter to pair with Ortiz for his debut.
This will be the third time Ortiz comes out of retirement. His first was in 2012 after losing to Forest Griffin at UFC 148. Ortiz ended up signing with Bellator the following year and fought four times before retiring again following a victory over Chael Sonnen in 2017. Finally, he returned last year to fight Chuck Liddell in the inaugural MMA event for Golden Boy promotions and retired again following his victory.
Regarding his contract, McLaren told Kaplan, “Multi-fight. It was a f**king lot. How about that. A motherf**king lot. Like a lot. Certainly, the biggest contract Combate has signed.”
