Tito Ortiz will fight ex-WWE superstar Alberto Del Rio at 210-pound catchweight

[96Blue]

Tito Ortiz will fight ex-WWE superstar Alberto Del Rio at 210-pound catchweight

UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz’s Combate Americas debut is set.

Combate CEO Campbell McLaren on Tuesday told Generacion MMA that Ortiz (20-12-1) will fight former WWE wrestler and ex-PRIDE fighter Alberto Del Rio (9-5). A date and venue for the bout has yet to be determined.

Additionally, Combate Americas vice president of operations and communications Mike Afromowitz told MMA Junkie the bout will be contested at a 210-pound catchweight, and explained the process of putting the fight together.

“The fight is going to happen,” Afromowitz said. “I came up with the idea a few months ago, after Alberto had expressed his intention of wanting to fight for Combate Americas, and brought the idea to my boss Campbell McLaren. We went out to both camps and have put this fight together. It’s on.”

Del Rio last fought MMA in 2010, losing via second-round TKO to Yamamoto Hanshi. Previously, he served as a brand ambassador for Combate. He recently weighed in on the pro-wrestling prospects of ex-UFC champ Cain Velasequez, who’s set to make his debut for the AAA wrestling promotion next month in Mexico City.

Combate signed Ortiz in April, five months after “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” knocked out Chuck Liddell in a trilogy fight held under the Golden Boy MMA banner. Ortiz expected to take a management position with the fledging promotion, but plans for a follow-up event never materialized; he later said Golden Boy chief Oscar De La Hoya wasn’t invested in the sport.

The new promotional home is the latest comeback from Ortiz, who turned 44 in January. The former champ called it quits in 2012 after a loss against Forrest Griffin, only to return two years later when Bellator signed him to a new deal. He competed four times with the Viacom-owned promotion and still had fights remaining on his deal when he signed with Golden Boy, but he was allowed to take the Liddell fight.

 

[El Guapo]

Will the fight be on August 1?

 

[Peter Popoff]

What's crazy is how the WWE hypes up their weight before they get into MMA. Alberto only being 210 when he's like 245 in the E and CM Punk being like 225 but a featherweight in the dubyaE. Y'all ever notice that?

 

[BlackAchilles]

What's crazy is how the WWE hypes up their weight before they get into MMA. Alberto only being 210 when he's like 245 in the E and CM Punk being like 225 but a featherweight in the dubyaE. Y'all ever notice that?

They've toned it down a ton tho, in the mid 90's Ziggler woulda been announced as being damn near 250 and they woulda said Strowman is over 400

 

[Peter Popoff]

They've toned it down a ton tho, in the mid 90's Ziggler woulda been announced as being damn near 250 and they woulda said Strowman is over 400

You right, I just be looking at these guys like, how am I 5'10, 180 lbs and bigger than wrestlers like Ziggler, Punk, definitely Bryan, Kofi, etc...

When I was younger it made more sense.

 

[PharaohAtem]

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

 

[Beautiful Bobby Eatin]

What's crazy is how the WWE hypes up their weight before they get into MMA. Alberto only being 210 when he's like 245 in the E and CM Punk being like 225 but a featherweight in the dubyaE. Y'all ever notice that?

MMA fighting weight is always smaller than your normal carrying weight. Usually you go down an entire weight class when you get in fight shape

 

[Piff Huxtable]

this is somehow the WOAT & GOAT moment in TNA history at the same time

 

[Ya' Cousin Cleon]

for my non mma brehs I can't stand this fukk

he's the definition of an overrated hype machine who got coddled and was fighting cans while Chuck Liddel, Couture, Ken Shamrock were the ones out fighting all the real talent in the early 00's

I'll give him early Wanderli who's also purely hype and was booked like a monster despite clearly being on the gas. and of course, I'll rightfully give him credit for beating Shamrock who was already 5+years past his prime on top of having injuries from his time in the fed.

but when it came time for him to fight raw talent in the early boom days of MMA?

Couture

Frank Shamrock did what his breh couldn't

me personally he's a gatekeeper, but after he lost his title he does have a few wins that could make him a credible top 10.

 

[dbp]

for my non mma brehs I can't stand this fukk

me personally he's a gatekeeper, but after he lost his title he does have a few wins that could make him a credible top 10.

Drove me nuts seeing him acting like King kong after beating a 50 year old Liddell when he got waxed by him 2x in his prime.

 

[Spiritual Stratocaster]

this is somehow the WOAT & GOAT moment in TNA history at the same time

Tito:

""

Tito-""


""

Tito-""

Crowd- ""

 

[Chris Cool]

They've toned it down a ton tho, in the mid 90's Ziggler woulda been announced as being damn near 250 and they woulda said Strowman is over 400

 

[Sypress]

Why do they keep calling him Del Río? Could’ve sworn he couldn’t use that name and that’s why he went by el patron?

 

[Huda2daf]

Not mad at this. I'm one of the biggest el patron fans