Combate Americas’ CEO Campbell McLaren has confirmed that former UFC champion Tito Ortiz will indeed fight former WWE superstar Alberto Del Rio under their banner later this year.
Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren appeared on the podcast Generacion MMA por Gonzalo Campos to confirm that there are plans to have former UFC champion Tito Ortiz fight former WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio later this year at a yet to be announced date.
🇺🇸🚨Breaking from @combateamericas! Campbell McLaren confirms to #GeneracionMMA…
💥Tito Ortiz Vs Alberto Del Rio💥
Link ➡ https://t.co/ArjwYzoXnG pic.twitter.com/fzokMuhpc4
— Gonzalo Campos MMA (@campos_gon) July 9, 2019
Since Tito Ortiz signed with Combate Americas, rumors circulated that the company would match him up with Del Rio. The UFC Hall-of-Famer announced his third return from retirement this past April when he signed a contract with the company at their event in Los Angeles. While he serves primarily as a brand ambassador, he did confirm that he would fight for the promotion as well. A former UFC champion who walked away from the sport in 2012, Ortiz returned for a stint in Bellator until his second retirement in 2017. Finally, he returned for a third time last December for a third fight with Chuck Liddell, this time under the Golden Boy MMA banner. After winning via first round knockout, he announced once again that he was done with competition.
Alberto del Rio, real name José Alberto Rodriguez, is best known as a former WWE superstar who won both the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship. More recently going under the nickname Alberto “El Patron,” del Rio has been with Combate Americas for several years where he has worked in a variety of capacities ranging from President, commentator, brand ambassador, and more.
Notably, del Rio has competed in mixed martial arts before and accumulated a 9-5 record between 2001 and 2010. Under the name “Dos Cares Jr.,” he competed under the DEEP banner in Japan and fought sporadically over the years in Mexico, Honduras, and Spain. Most notably, he competed in PRIDE against Mirko Cro-Cop. Plans for del Rio to fight for Combate Americas have circulated for years but the signing of Ortiz opened the door for the right match-up to finally come together.
The fight is expected to happen this October. No exact date or location for the bout has been announced as of yet but the fight is expected to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest event the promotion has ever put on. ESPN reported Tuesday, citing promotion officials, that the fight will take place at a 210lb catchweight.
