Oritz took to his official Instagram page to voice his displeasure with the ruling. Here’s what he had to say:

“This is a BS claim and will get overturned. I promise you all. Sad way to get attention at my expense.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Dkh5YnRsY/

Ortiz submitted Del Rio in the first round of their Combate Americas main event pay-per-view (PPV) this past December. The win earned Ortiz Del Rio’s old WWE Championship belt. It was his first fight under the Combate Americas banner. It remains unclear why the TDLR decided to overturn Ortiz’s win. Neither Combate Americas, nor the TDLR have offered any explanation as to why the decision was made.

MMA Fighting reports that a TDLR spokesperson commented on the situation with, “The results of the fight were changed pending further investigation.” Ortiz was on a three-fight win streak with the win over Del Rio. Before defeating Del Rio, he earned a submission win over Chael Sonnen and a knockout win over Chuck Liddell in the first and only ever Golden Boy Promotions MMA event in November of 2018.

The post Tito Ortiz Reacts To Having Alberto Del Rio Win Overturned appeared first on Cageside Press.

In what was the biggest showcase of homegrown talent for Combate Americas, it was former UFC champion Tito Ortiz who capped off the show as he stopped long-time brand ambassador and former WWE champion Alberto Del Rio.  “El Patron” opened the fight with an impressive throw but was reversed quickly by Ortiz who controlled the top position with his efficient ground-and-pound attack.  Del Rio found his way back to the feet before Ortiz brought him back to the mat again, this time eventually taking the back of the former WWE superstar and sinking in a rear-naked choke to stop the fight within the first round.

Ortiz presented the WWE belt he won from Del Rio to his sons, whom he told cage reporter Melissa Santos were big WWE fans.  He expressed his desire to continue fighting, stating the possibility of competing again in Combate Americas but leaving the door open for other options.  After having promised $50k to a charity of Del Rio’s choice should make it to the second round, Ortiz said he would donate $10k to a charity for having shared the cage with him.  His victory also drew acknowledgement from President Donald Trump who tweeted congratulations.  Ortiz’s fight gear all week displayed his support for Trump in the upcoming 2020 election.  Ortiz was part of the Celebrity Apprentice reality show back in 2007 which famously starred the future President.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5zGhnDIp_W/

In the night’s co-main event, rising prospect Melissa “Super Mely” Martinez faced great adversity against the relentless Desiree “Dirty Dez” Yanez.  Yanez opened the fight by clinching immediately with Martinez and working against the fence.  Yanez went on to score a brief takedown but Martinez was able to break away and land shots on the feet to close out the round.  The second round saw Martinez open up with more shots on the feet but Yanez scored a huge takedown and spent the majority of the round in top position where she rained down punches.  After a gear change in-between rounds for Martinez stemming from a wardrobe issue, the Mexican born striker opened the third aggressively.  Yanez would get a brief takedown but Martinez defended and was able to threaten with a guillotine attempt.  The fight ended with a final guillotine attempt for Martinez and several strikes at the bell.  In the end, the judges were split with one judge scoring the fight 29-27 for Yanez and the other two giving Martinez 29-28 to award “Super Mely” the inaugural women’s title in Combate Americas.

The pay-per-view broadcast saw several impressive performances from top Combate Americas talent.  Bellator veteran turned Combate Americas commentator Gaston “Tonga” Reyno had a dominant victory in his return to the cage with a unanimous decision victory over Rey Trujillo to open the broadcast.  Inaugural Copa Combate winner Levy Saul Marroquin survived a dominant grappling attack from Enrique Gonzalez before securing a late guillotine for an electrifying first round stoppage.  Finally, pro-wrestler turned mixed martial artist “Sexy” Dulce Garcia engaged in a fun battle with Analí Lopez in which Lopez controlled the early portion of the fight with her movement before Garcia connected with several huge shots and was able to grab hold of a guillotine for her own first round stoppage.

The event kicked off the promotion’s new partnership with AXS TV who had supplementary programming for the event.  In attendance, Mexican telenovela star and Combate Americas co-owner Kate del Castillo presented Melissa Martinez with her title belt.  The event also served to promote the upcoming slate of events with another one-night tournament coming up on December 20 and an event in Puerto Rico set for the new year on January 25.  Finally, current UFC star and recently crowned BMF champion Jorge Masvidal joined the event as a special guest commentator who worked on both the English and Spanish broadcasts.

Main Card Results:

Tito Ortiz def. Alberto Rodríguez via Submission (RNC) – Rd. 1 (3:10)

Melissa Martínez def. Desiree Yanez via Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 27-29)

Levy Marroquín def. Enrique González via Submission (Guillotine) – Rd. 1 (4:53)

Daniel Barez def. Joao Camilo via Split Decision (30-27 29-28, 28-29)

Dulce García def. Analí López via Submission (Guillotina) – Rd. 1 (2:47)

Gastón Reyno def. Rey Trujillo via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card Results:

Víctor Martínez def. Luis Luna via TKO (Punches) – Rd. 1 (1:30)

Raymond Banda vs Edmilson Freitas – Majority Draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)

Luke Flores def. Clarence Brown via Submission (RNC) – Rd. 1 (3:16)

Elías Urbina def. Mikey Tovar via KO (Head kick) – Rd. 1 (3:14)

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It is only natural at first glance to raise an eyebrow at Saturday’s fight between Tito Ortiz and Alberto Del Rio.  You have Ortiz, a UFC legend whose accolades stand among the best in the sport’s history, taking on Del Rio who is best known for his time as one of the stars of the WWE rather than the fourteen MMA fights he had nearly a decade ago.

Mention your thoughts to either man, that this may be a cash grab or an elaborate exhibition, and you will be met with a face of sheer disrespect at the notion.  And why wouldn’t they feel this way?  Del Rio, at 42, has left his home and family in Texas for several weeks to have a full training camp in Phoenix to prepare for his first fight since 2010.  Ortiz, whose history of injuries is well-documented, is putting his body through another camp himself and entering the cage for all the risks that entails.

So who is Alberto Del Rio, the former WWE superstar who is stepping up to face the former UFC champion?  Born José Alberto Rodriguez, Del Rio is the son of noted Mexican pro-wrestler Dos Caras and has several relatives all involved in Lucha Libre.  Del Rio would go on to join the family business, donning the moniker Dos Caras Jr. and even taking the Dos Caras title himself for a time.  In 2010, he would compete in the WWE where he took on the now familiar name of Alberto Del Rio and go on to become the first Mexican-born WWE champion in company history as well as win the World Heavyweight Championship.  In more recent years, he’s wrestled under the name Alberto “El Patron” and last year competed in a match alongside UFC vet Erik “Goyito” Perez.

As his career developed, pro-wrestling helped him in MMA and vice-versa.  He was part of the Mexican national team for Greco-Roman Wrestling and sought to compete at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney but the country did not send a team that year.  Del Rio would go on to use his amateur wrestling skills in mixed martial arts and would use the moniker of Dos Caras Jr as he embarked on his pro career.  The name followed him as he competed in Japan in promotions such as DEEP and PRIDE in the 2000’s where he would have fights against the likes of Mirko Cro Cop, Kazuhiro Nakamura, and Brad Kohler.  As his reputation in MMA grew, it helped him gain opportunities in pro-wrestling where he would went on to find great success.

Tito Ortiz quite literally already has his place in history.  A UFC Hall-of-Famer who defended the light-heavyweight title five times, he has officially reached the place where he is both a part of the history and also an active participant.  ESPN released an entire documentary devoted to his and Chuck Liddell’s rivalry and the impact it had on the sport of mixed martial arts.  But rather than ride off into the sunset with a final showcase in Combate Americas, Ortiz has been vocal that he plans for this to be the beginning of another run.  Since announcing his comeback, he’s also mentioned interest in setting up a rematch with current Bellator double-champion Ryan Bader and stating he could defeat current UFC champion Jon Jones.

One of the biggest questions fans had was about the decision to put the fight on pay-per-view after it was widely reported that his rubber match against Liddell under Golden Boy Promotions fell far below expectations.  Ortiz told Cageside Press that the trilogy with Liddell was hurt in part by the UFC interfering with DirecTV airing the fight on pay-per-view and that it drastically hurt the final numbers.

“Here’s the big difference:  This is an opportunity that we’re on DirecTV.  We will be on DirecTV.  UFC made sure that the Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz fight was not on DirecTV.  It wasn’t on demand either because of UFC.  UFC is with ESPN now, they have no control over DirecTV.  DirecTV is going to back us.  I’m very thankful for DirecTV.  I’ve always worked hard with DirecTV when I was with UFC.  Now they’re going to give us the respect value to come in as a pay-per-view for DirecTV.”

The most unique part of the match is the trophy that will be awarded to the winner.  Rather than a unique title belt from Combate Americas, the two have agreed to put one of their respective world championship belts on the line.  If Del Rio wins, he will get one of Ortiz’s UFC title belts.  Vice-versa, Ortiz will get one of Del Rio’s WWE title belts if he is victorious.

By far, the fight is the biggest match-up ever made in the short history of Combate Americas.  The company has never had a star of the caliber of Tito Ortiz and the possibility of Del Rio competing under their banner has floated around for several years.  The pay-per-view event will also see Melissa Martinez competing for the inaugural women’s championship and the undercard will feature fighters like Gaston Reyno, Levy Marroquin, UFC vet Joby Sanchez, and pro-wrestler turned fighter “Sexy Star” Dulce Garcia.  But all eyes will be on the main event to see if the two men involved can deliver the show that they have both have proudly promised.

The post Combate Americas: Can Ortiz and Del Rio Silence the Critics? appeared first on Cageside Press.

It has been a long wait for the return of Gaston “Tonga” Reyno.  Last year, he had a memorable debut with a first-round stoppage against Carlos Ochoa after being knocked down and put in trouble early.  At the time, things could not have been going more according to plan: he delivered a fantastic performance after being one of the biggest signings for the company in 2018 and it was announced that he would be representing Uruguay months later in the annual Copa Combate.

Unfortunately, things inside the cage would take a turn.  A staph infection removed him from the tournament days out from the event and it will now be more than a year since he’s fought.  While the circumstances of being out of the cage were frustrating, he took a proactive approach to improving his game in what has been one of the longest absences of his career.

“It was a couple things but the important thing is that now I have the opportunity to go.  It was really so frustrating.  I’ve never gone so long without fighting.  I’ve been competing since I was seven years old in Tae-Kwon-Do and competing every month.  My first year as a pro in kickboxing I fought like ten times that year.  When I got to the US and began fighting as an amateur in MMA I still had five fights in a year or four.  Now, I’ve gone a whole year without fighting.  It was driving me crazy but you have to appreciate what you have.  I kept training and getting better, I told myself even though you don’t have a fight you need to get better.  Now, I will showcase all my improvements on December 07.”

While he has not been able to show what he can do inside the cage this year, he has become a fixture in the broadcast booth as a commentator for the promotion and could be seen on location across North America calling fights.  For someone who is passionate about the sport of MMA beyond just himself, the opportunity has been incredible one.

“I really enjoy my position as a commentator.  I’m like you, you have a passion for this sport and me too.  So to be able to talk about it and get paid for it is amazing.  And yes, I get to study the fighters and everything.  When I see people in my division of course it crosses your mind that you may have to fight them.”

In addressing the elephant in the room, Reyno stepped into the role vacated by his teammate Erik “Goyito” Perez who had previously been both a fighter and commentator for the company before parting ways for Bellator this year.  Rather than experience any awkwardness over the circumstances, however, Reyno insists that he took the role with Perez’s complete blessing and that the former UFC veteran continues to support him.

“I’m about to have lunch with Goyito right now. (laughs)  He’s my friend and it has nothing to do with that.  I’m in Combate Americas in big part because of Goyito.  The first event I went to was in Cancun when Marcelo Rojo was fighting in the Copa Combate.  I stayed with Goyito and saw the event with all of the reggaeton in between the fights and everybody is speaking Spanish and I went ‘Man, I want to fight here.’  Nothing against Bellator who always treated me amazing but I wanted to fight here, it is awesome that it was a Latin American organization.  Goyito got me in contact with Combate Americas and I met everybody.  Now it’s ironic since I’m fighting here and Goyito is the one fighting in Bellator.  It has nothing to do with business.  Even when Goyito and Combate were not in the best of terms he would contact me.  I love Goyito and I love Combate too and it has nothing to do with our friendship.  My friendship with him goes further than MMA.  If tomorrow he were to become a mechanic and I became a painter he and I would continue to be friends.  He’s happy for me and he even watches and gives me good advice.”

His role at the desk has also given him the opportunity to keep an eye on the competition as he has been away from the cage.  In particular, he called the championship match between Andres Quintana and Bruno Cannetti in August where Cannetti became the inaugural title holder at 145 pounds.

“I was there cheering for Bruno because he’s Argentinian, I’m Uruguayan we’re like neighbors so I was cheering for him against Quintana.  It was awesome, he had a great game plan to take him down and use ground-and-pound.  He used leg kicks to slow down Quintana who is a great fighter who at any moment can pull something out like he did to Gallito Flores.  It was one where you could not blink.  It was awesome to see him win the title, he is the first world champion in a a major promotion to be from Argentina.  His brother, “Ninja Cannetti” who is in the UFC, is my friend and was there for him.  So to see him and his brother get that and take the title back to Argentina was awesome.”

While he has been out of the cage, it hasn’t stopped the competition from taking aim at him.  In particular, fellow promotional star Jose “Froggy” Estrada has been outspoken about seeking a fight with him.  Rather than take to social media to trade barbs with him publicly, Reyno insists that to engage in a war of words is simply not who he is as a person and that he will wait for the matchmakers to decide who is next.

“I know Froggy and I respect him as a fighter.  He’s an awesome fighter.  But I don’t do that.  It’s a cultural thing maybe, I don’t know.  In America it is normal to call-out people, to disrespect people or something but it is not my way to be.  I fight whoever Combate tells me to.  So he, or Pope Francis, it’s the same for me.  I know so many people want to punch me in the face, even before I began MMA people were calling me out.  I don’t know, maybe it’s a good thing if you’re watching it with an American eye.  But with a Uruguayan eye, you just have to train, get better, be humble, and go do your best.  Like I said, it’s cultural.  If I were to start talking trash to someone, people would be like ‘dude, what are you doing?  Who have you beat?  Go shut up, train, and fight.’ So that’s what I do, shut up, train, get better, enjoy the opportunities I have and never disrespect or talk bad about anybody.”

He will be facing a late replacement in Rey Trujillo on the pay-per-view portion of Combate America’s first foray into pay-per-view.  Reyno in particular in heavily invested in the main event after spending most of the year traveling with Alberto Del Rio as part of the Combate Americas team.

“Alberto all the way.  All respect to Tito, he is a great champion.  But I’m with Alberto, I’ve gotten to know him as a person.  He is an idol of mine and someone that every Latin American martial artist looked up to.  But now I know him even more.  He’s a great father, a great friend, and an awesome professional.  I learn from him every week and have the opportunity to travel to different cities with him.  He’s super humble and talks to everybody, takes time for every fan.  It’s not like he’s asked for one or two pictures, he’s asked for 20 or 30 photos wherever he goes.  The waiters at the restaurant talk to him.  People stop him in the parking lot.  He’s always with a smile like “Si is is.”  He’s awesome and I have him winning this fight.  I’ve never seen him like this before, super focused.  I’m excited to finish my fight fast and then be there I the front row to watch.”

After a year of changes in Combate Americas, Reyno is poised for a big opportunity going into 2020.  The promotion just signed a new broadcast deal with AXS TV to air in English and continues to perform well on Univision in Spanish.  A victory sets him up for a possible shot at the title which would figure to be one of the biggest fights for the promotion in the calendar year.  If it all seems like too much for a fighter who hasn’t even been inside the cage this year, Reyno is prepared to remind everyone why he is must-see television.

“I’m going to die in that cage.  Literally, I’m going to give my all.  I’ve been training so hard.  I can not predict a win.  I hate when fighters do that and say ‘oh I’m going to KO the guy.  I’m going to beat the guy.’ Because anything can happen.  The only thing I can promise you is that I will give my very best and put on a show for you guys.”

The post Gaston “Tonga” Reyno Re-Introducing Himself at Tito vs. Alberto appeared first on Cageside Press.

Much of the build-up between Tito Ortiz and Alberto Del Rio’s headlining fight on December 7, part of Combate Americas debut on PPV, has been about defending the fight itself. Thanks to Del Rio’s work as a professional wrestler (he’s a former WWE champion), and comments by the likes of Chael Sonnen about the fight being a work, Ortiz and Del Rio have been busy doing damage control.

Rest assured, Del Rio told Cageside Press this week, everything is on the up-and-up. “It’s really ridiculous, stupid for people to think that,” he said of the notion the fight is a work. “But I know they only say that because one person, another fighter, said that it was not a real fight. Which is ridiculous, because he knows this is completely legit.”

While he didn’t name names, there’s little doubt Del Rio was referring to Sonnen, whose comments made the rounds last month. “I’m pretty sure he said it just because he wants a piece of it, because he’s not doing absolutely anything. And he wants to be part of whatever will come after the fight. A lot of people are talking about a rematch, a lot of people are talking about another fight, and he wants to fight for Combate Americas probably, because he knows we’re doing fantastic.”

Sonnen, of course, is retired, but we all know how retirements in MMA go. In any case, Del Rio, for one, has been taking this fight seriously. While he usually trains at home in San Antonio, he’s been at The MMA Lab in Phoenix ahead of his fight with Ortiz. “I’m in Arizona, I’ve been there for the last five weeks, and I’m going to stay there until the week of the fight, completely focused. I needed to leave my family in San Antonio, and focus on this task, this mission that I have to go and face Tito Ortiz in McCallen, Texas,” he sated.

Lest fans have forgotten, Alberto Del Rio, born José Alberto Rodríguez, spent years fighting in MMA under the name Dos Caras Jr. He once shared the cage with Mirko Cro-Cop, a fight that did not go so well for him. But he finished his MMA run at a respectable 9-5, and can be seen as a forerunner to modern day WWE stars like Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, and Jake Hager trying their hand at MMA.

Two legends, @titoortiz and @PrideOfMexico, will meet inside #LaJaula! Don't miss the most anticipated fight of the year, on December 7th from McAllen, Texas. What side are you on?#TitoVsAlberto #WhatSideAreYouOn pic.twitter.com/RQOQmKJHhy

— Combate Global (@combateglobal) November 5, 2019

As for how big MMA was for him during his run in the mid-2000s, Del Rio told Cageside Press that “it was pretty big. I was just doing MMA for five, almost six years. I was not doing pro wrestling at that time, pretty much because there was no money in pro wrestling for me. There was, but it was not good money. And I started doing MMA for business.”

“I’m not going to lie, everybody knows that I’m an honest man. I’ve been doing pro wrestling because pro wrestling is the love of my life. All my passion is in pro wrestling,” Del Rio continued. “But back then when I was younger, MMA gave me the opportunity to make more money and to start building myself, my career. And MMA was the one taking me to the place where I am right now. Because if it wasn’t for that fight in Japan, I would have never had the opportunity to get big contracts in Japan, to get those opportunities in Mexico, to have companies in Mexico say ‘damn it, Dos Caras Jr. just beat the crap out of this Japanese champion, we need to have him.'”

When Del Rio returned home to Mexico, he was able to use his time in Japan, where he fought for both DEEP and PRIDE, as a bargaining chip. “I started asking for more money, saying ‘for Japan,’ and then the rest is history. I owe a lot of things to MMA, and that’s why I’m doing this,” explained Del Rio. “That’s one of the reasons, because there are several reason why I’m taking this last fight.”

The Ortiz vs. Del Rio fight is going down in Texas, and there’s a multitude of reasons for that, beyond the fighters (Del Rio lives in the state). Del Rio noted it’s about “the networks, sponsors, commissions” and took time to call out the NSAC. “By the way Nevada Commission, you guys are you know what, A-Holes.” Combate Americas wanted to do the fight in Vegas, the fight capital of the world, Del Rio revealed, “but it’s just, they’re ridiculous.”

As for any talk of this being a grudge match, the former WWE star said that “there’s nothing personal. We’re two athletes, we know what we’re doing, we’re professionals.” That said, Del Rio added “I’m not going to say that I don’t like him, but I won’t have him as a friend. I won’t have him as a friend and I think he feels the same way. I respect his career, I don’t respect his ideas, for me his ideas are pretty stupid.”

“I know he has respect for me. We don’t agree on many things, but we’re going to be fighting December 7 for this organization,” he continued.

When the pair meet, however, there’s more than respect on the line. There’s been talk of Ortiz putting one of his titles up against one of Del Rio’s WWE belts.

“Regardless of pro wrestling being scripted or not, you have to compete, you have to be an athlete, you have to put your heart and soul to be at that level, and to be able to become that man, the one carrying that strap around the world as the number one wrestler in the company. He knows that, he has been a pro wrestling fan his entire life, he said it,” explained Del Rio. “He knows what it takes to get one of those around your waist, and that’s why he wants it. I want his, because I know all the sweat, blood and tears that he put or had in order to get that strap around his waist.”

Watch our full interview with Alberto Del Rio ahead of his clash with Tito Ortiz above! Ortiz vs. Del Rio takes place December 7, 2019 at the Payne Arena in McCallen, TX.

The post Alberto Del Rio: Nevada Commission “A-Holes,” Puts Critics of Ortiz Fight on Blast appeared first on Cageside Press.

Melissa “Super Melly” Martinez (5-0) is currently the top prospect on the Combate Americas roster to have been developed through the promotion.  Fighting nearly all of her professional fights under their banner, Martinez is a heavy hitting prospect who has stopped four of her five opponents over the past two years.  Alongside her MMA career, she is also pursuing her college degree in Mexico and has even been known to arrive late to fight week due to exams in school.

After several roster changes, Martinez will now face Desiree “Dirty Dez” Yanez for the inaugural strawweight title on December 7.  Yanez has previous experience in LFA and is 4-1 in her career.  Yanez made her promotional debut in June where she notched a victory against Paulina Vargas.

It was previously announced that the women’s champion would actually be awarded a unique crown as opposed to a traditional belt.  While it is unconfirmed, it is expected that the winner on December 7, on the Tito Ortiz vs. Alberto Del Rio card, will be awarded the unique trophy to mark their achievement.

Ortiz vs. Del Rio will be the promotion’s first attempt at pay-per-view.  The event will take place in Hidalgo, Texas.

The post Combate Americas To Crown Women’s Champion on December 7 appeared first on Cageside Press.

The fight between former WWE Superstar and Heavyweight champion Alberto Del Rio and former UFC champion Tito Ortiz is official for December 7 at the Payne Arena in Hidalgo, Texas.  The event is expected to have a $39.99 price point on pay-per-view.  The fight is scheduled to be a catchweight bout at 210 pounds.  An interesting wrinkle is that the winner will earn a unique prize of one of the old title belts of the loser, i.e. if Ortiz wins he is awarded one of Del Rio’s WWE belts and if Del Rio wins he gets one of Ortiz’s UFC belts.

The match-up has been expected since Ortiz was signed to a deal with the company back in April.  The fight will mark Ortiz’s third return from retirement after a lengthy career that saw him win the UFC light-heavyweight championship and be inducted into the Hall-of-Fame.  While he has largely been a brand ambassador for Combate Americas at their events this year, the deal was always made with the intention that Ortiz would also compete under the Combate Americas banner.  The fight with Del Rio takes place roughly a year after his last bout, a first round knockout over Chuck Liddell at the inaugural Golden Boy MMA event.

Albero Del Rio, real name José Alberto Rodríguez, is best known for being a WWE superstar and winning the championship back in 2011.  He would go on to wrestle for his former promotion, AAA, under his other well known moniker “El Patron.”  Del Rio holds a 9-5 record in MMA with fights under both DEEP and Pride.  Del Rio has largely served in a variety of roles in Combate Americas as a brand ambassador, commentator, and more.  The fight with Ortiz will be Del Rio’s first fight since 2010.  Del Rio also resides in San Antonio so the fight in Texas is considered to be on his home turf.

The fight will be Combate Americas’ first foray into pay-per-view in their nearly ten years of operation.  Notably, the promotion recently parted ways with broadcast partner DAZN whom they had signed a multi-year deal with last year to air the English broadcasts of their events.  The company still airs their events on Spanish language network Univision.  It is unclear whether or not there will be both English and Spanish broadcast of the event on pay-per-view.

No news about the undercard has been announced but Ortiz and Del Rio will be in New York doing media to promote the event.

The post Tito Ortiz vs Alberto Del Rio Official for December 7 Pay-Per-View appeared first on Cageside Press.

San Antonio, TX — While rumblings about a return to mixed martial arts have bubbled to the surface ever since former WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio left the American wrestling powerhouse, it wasn’t until recently that the big news broke: Del Rio, who competes as Alberto El Patron outside the WWE, and who fought as Dos Caras Jr. in Pride, DEEP, and other MMA promotions, would make his return, against none other than Tito Ortiz.

Del Rio (real name José Alberto Rodríguez) went 9-5 across an MMA run that lasted from 2001 to 2010, while still competing in pro wrestling. In later years, he served as President of Combate Americas, the leading Hispanic MMA promotion founded by Campbell McLaren. Not surprisingly, that’s where Ortiz vs. Del Rio will be held. Or perhaps Ortiz vs. Dos Caras Jr. In any event, the fight will garner a lot of attention for a promotion that has made serious inroads in the Spanish-language market, including landing a deal with Univision, where it has been able to beat both the UFC and Bellator at times in terms of ratings.

We caught up with the wrestling and MMA star in San Antonio on Wednesday, where he reflected on his MMA career, and training for his return to the fight game against “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz.

For those who aren’t familiar with the wrestler’s run as Dos Caras Jr. in MMA, there’s one fight they might have caught a glimpse of: his infamous Pride bout with Mirko Cro-Cop, that ended in a head kick loss. “That one didn’t work that well,” Del Rio admitted. “But it was a great experience. To be honest, I thought I was ready for that fight. But he was a different breed back then. He was knocking everybody out.”

It’s not as if Del Rio took the Croatian legend lightly. “I had a fight against Brad Kohler before fighting Mirko, and I knocked him out in less than two minutes. So that’s what made Marco Ruas, who was my mentor at the time, decide that we could do that fight against Mirko. Of course it didn’t work the way we wanted, and the rest is history.”

What’s less remembered, perhaps, is what came after the Cro-Cop fight for Dos Caras Jr. The loss to Mirko came in 2003. Rather than hang up the gloves and focus purely on pro wrestling, he’d compete all the way up to 2010, going 6-2 to finish out his MMA career.

Still, it’s his time in Japan that Del Rio looks upon most fondly. He even got to fight with his Lucha mask on. “Japan is, everything goes, we know how it is. I had a great time. I think it was the best time of my life,” he reflected.

“Many people would think that it was my years in WWE, the best years of my life. But in Japan, I had complete freedom of whatever I wanted in pro wrestling and MMA,” said Del Rio. “Plus I love the culture, I love the food, I love the country.”

Del Rio Dos Caras Jr.’s final fight came against Japan’s Yamamoto Hanshi, in 2010 in Madrid, Spain. A loss that snapped a six fight win streak, it would be the last time fans saw him in MMA. Later that year, he’d debut on WWE Smackdown as Alberto Del Rio, a smug, arrogant heel character that would allow him to reach the heights of the company. He parted ways with World Wrestling Entertainment in 2014, after an altercation with an employee who made a racist remark.

Flash forward, and Alberto Del Rio/José Alberto Rodríguez found success outside the WWE. Most notably in AAA wrestling in his native Mexico. He also jumped aboard Combate Americas just as it was taking off. Now, he’s returning to fight what will likely be the last bout of his MMA career.

“Tito and I are fighting, probably at the end of November in Las Vegas. We went back and forth between fighters, contracts,” Del Rio revealed. “We had one opponent at first, then he said no, then another one, then we started talking to Tito Ortiz. And because we already have some issues with his ideas and my ideas of how this country should be ruled, should be taken, we both were like ‘let’s solve it in the cage.'”

Whether this is a real beef, or a bit of a promotional effort, remains to be seen. But Del Rio is a Mexican immigrant, during a hostile time in America for those who come from south of the border. “He’s a Trump supporter, he’s a Mexican-American. That was the argument, that was the discussion, because I couldn’t believe someone who has Mexican blood running through his body can go and support a guy like [Trump],” Del Rio said of his issue with Ortiz.

“I totally agree that yes, we need to protect America,” he continued. After all, Del Rio is now part of the family, officially. “These days I’m not just Mexican, they granted me my American citizenship last year, and I’m proud of that, I’m proud of being Mexican, I’m proud of being American. My kids were born here in the States. So I love this country. This country made me.”

“I always say this, I was born in Mexico but made in America. America is what made me.” Yet loving your country is one thing. Del Rio still takes umbrage with the side Ortiz has chosen. “These days, that wall, those red hats, they’re no longer a wall or a red hat. They’re just a monument for hate, racism and stuff because of the message that the father of the nation is sending. That’s how everything started, then we decided to solve everything in the cage.”

And there was only ever going to be one cage it would go down in. While “other organizations wanted to take this, wanted to do this,” Del Rio told us, “everybody knows I work and love Combate Americas. My boss is one of my best friends, Campbell McLaren. That’s a man that was with me in the good times, bad times, worse times, fantastic times. That’s a man that’s had my back for many years. So of course if that fight was going to happen, it was going to happen in Combate Americas.”

Del Rio’s training is already underway for the Ortiz fight. “I started training at the beginning of the year, but it was just me going back to the wrestling gym — the amateur wrestling gym, not pro wrestling,” he revealed.

And so he has been training “for quite some time, but focusing on MMA, focusing on grappling, kicking, punching, all that stuff, it’s been like four, five weeks.” It wasn’t easy getting back into the swing of things after nearly a decade. “At the beginning of the year, I was dying. I was like ‘damn it, I don’t know if I can do this.'”

Wrestling — the amateur wrestling variety — was always Del Rio’s main discipline. “Most of the people know that I was part of the national team, I was on the national team for Pan American Games, Central American Games, World Championships. I was a world class wrestler when I was competing for Mexico. So I went to the gym, and I was getting my ass kicked by these 20, 25 year old kids. And I couldn’t believe it.”

Refusing to be discouraged, his competitive drive brought him back every day. “When you are an athlete, when you are a fighter, that touches your pride,” he said in response to being bested by his juniors. “That’s what made me go back the next day. Even though everything was hurting, even though this tiny little hair in my fingers was hurting, I went back, and I continue to do it.”

He’ll have all sorts of support heading into the Ortiz fight. The likes of Ryan Bader and Javier Torres are among the names reaching out. Del Rio will split his camp between San Antonio, where he’s been putting time in at the Ultimate Submission Academy, and New Mexico, making sure that if this is his swan song in MMA, he puts everything into it.

“I could have chose a nobody to have my last fight in MMA, and retired with all the glory and everything. But instead of that, I picked Tito Ortiz,” Del Rio said. “Because if I’m going to do this, for my company, to help my company to grow and to put Combate Americas in everybody’s eyes that day — if I’m going to retire, I’m going to retire the right way.” For Del Rio, whose MMA career wound up overshadowed by his pro wrestling accomplishments, it’s a no lose situation. “Fighting a champion, fighting a legend. If I win, I go as I want to go from this amazing business, the MMA business. And if I lose, so be it. I lost against one of the greatest.”

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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.

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