Dana reveals that he paid Lyoto out of his own pocket for his victory over Tito Ortiz in 2008

Still as a UFC athlete, T. Ortiz wears a t-shirt provoking Dana White. Photo: Arnold Lin

The feud between Dana White and Tito Ortiz It's not new and has already yielded some unusual chapters, like when the former champion started entering the octagon wearing shirts taunting the manager. White's payback, however, came behind the scenes. During an interview with the radio program “Big Boy's Neighborhood”, the UFC president revealed that he had signed a personal check to Lyoto Machida, a kind of side bonus for the Brazilian, after his victory over Tito at UFC 84, in 2008.

“There is no doubt about it (that I, as a manager, have already had an interest in seeing an athlete lose). Absolutely. I can tell you this. Tito Ortiz This is the guy I wanted to see get shaken up. The only time in 13 years, in all the fights we've ever promoted, was when Lyoto Machida won Tito Ortiz, I effectively wrote a personal check to him (Machida). I literally bonused it on my own,” White said.

At 39, Tito Ortiz has a record of 16 wins, eleven defeats and one draw. The “Huntington Beach Bad Boy”, as he is known, was champion of the 93 kg UFC category between 1999 and 2003, when he managed five consecutive belt defenses, a record only recently broken by the current belt holder Jon Jones. In more than a decade and a half of his career, Tito, who was managed by Dana White at the beginning of his career, had only one of his 28 professional fights outside the UFC. Currently, Ortiz has a contract with Bellator and, after being injured before his debut fight against Quinton Rampage Jackson, is waiting to have his first fight in the new organization.