20 years after making his debut, UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz has called time on his MMA career.
Tito Ortiz out of the sport on a high note in Bellator 170’s main event in the wee hours of Sunday morning. He dominated Chael Sonnen before forcing the tap in the opening round of their headline bout.
After landing a couple of punches straight off the bat, the Huntington Beach Bad Boy took proceedings down to the mat. Although Sonnen briefly threatened with a guillotine attempt, once Ortiz popped his head out, he never looked like losing the fight.
Ortiz took Sonnen’s back and went in pursuit of a rear-naked choke. putting the squeeze on the American Gangster until his face turned that certain shade of purple that comes directly before a tap out. Ortiz held onto the choke even after referee John McCarthy came in to award him the submission victory 2:03 into the fight.
After the fight Ortiz was joined by his son Jacob inside the Bellator cage, who placed his father’s gloves down on the canvas to symbolise that this was his final fight.
https://twitter.com/FancyCombat/status/823033157222105088
As is often the case with huge Bellator main events that end in submissions, a lot of people thought Ortiz’s win over Sonnen looked a bit fishy.
Social media was awash with people sharing their theories on why the fight was rigged with some suggesting that Sonnen tapped too easily and others claiming that he deliberately sabotaged his own submission attempts earlier in the fight in order to ensure that Ortiz got to finish his career on a win.
https://twitter.com/KB_NYK/status/823036223371542529
https://twitter.com/BrianTackett1/status/823038027509415937
Well I'm not sure. He won but it looks fake to me. Props to Chael Sonnen. And I loved seeing Tito's wife jumping when he "won" #Bellator170
— Luis García Romero (@1luis8) January 22, 2017
@joerogan what are your thoughts on Chael Sonnen vs Tito Ortiz tonight? The whole thing looked fake to me #BellatorMMA
— Ready2Reign (@Alpaca2Rich) January 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/itchybitchyzzz1/status/823033962733801473
TITO FIGHT WAS RIGGED! SO FAKE!
— Vincent Calogero (@Darwin_Fitness) January 22, 2017
So uhh, is Bellator fixed? That looked super fake.
— Ray (@Captcha_Clown) January 22, 2017
