At one point in time, the most heated rivalry in all of MMA belonged to Dana White and Tito Ortiz.
Dana White actually used to manage Ortiz in the early stages of his career, but after becoming UFC president, their relationship turned sour.
As is often the case, it appeared that the almighty dollar was the main cause of the conflict. Whenever it came time for contract negotiations the feud would always seem to spark up again.
In 2007, the two were scheduled to fight each other inside a boxing ring. Ortiz had it written into the deal he signed the previous year to allow for a bout against the president and both parties agreed to do battle. They both trained, got licensed, but the fight fell through when “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” failed to show up at the weigh-ins.
Stranger than fiction doesn’t do the whole circus sideshow justice.
The back-and-forth between the two tended to be very personal with Ortiz infamously labeling White as a “slave driver”, a term which the president took massive offence to.
During a media scrum for UFC Fight Night 27 back in 2013, White fired back using just about every term that would belittle the fighter’s intelligence. He called him, and these are direct quotes, a “fucking buffoon,” a “fucking moron,” “one of the dumbest motherfuckers you’ll ever meet” and a “slave to stupidity”.
To cap it all off, Ortiz’s then-girlfriend/manager, former adult film star Jenna Jameson also became involved in the dispute.
White had some harsh words to say about her too.
@jennajameson hey jenna SHUT THE FUCK UP and mind ur biz! @titoortiz put her on a fuckin leash!!!
— danawhite (@danawhite) April 28, 2011
Fortunately, it appears that the two have let bygones be bygones now that Ortiz is officially out of the fight game. Ortiz had his retirement fight in Bellator 170’s main event at the weekend, which marked the end of his storied career spanning 20 years.
After scoring a first round submission over Chael Sonnen in the headliner, he told ESPN that White had actually been in contact with his girlfriend Amber Miller to congratulate her other half on his victory.
“He actually sent my girlfriend a text message. She used to work for UFC and they always talk back and forth. When I first signed with Bellator, Dana sent me focus mitts with his face on it and said, ‘If this doesn’t motivate you, nothing will.’ So I guess it’s that love/hate relationship we have toward each other. But, thank you Dana for the text, saying that’s the way I should go out, on top.”
“I love the guy, he was my first manager. I always just fought for what I wanted for my career. No hard feelings, I’ve grown up a lot over the last four years, and I’ve done a lot of things business-wise for my future. I’ve made mistakes before and I will never make those mistakes again.”
How far they’ve come.
