Tito Ortiz Scheduled At Affliction Press Conference

Tito Ortiz will be at an Affliction “Day of Reckoning” press confrerence on Wednesday the 18th as a special guest. 

Tito’s last fight was in the UFC against Lyoto Machida on May 28, 2008.  That was his last fight before Tito went under the knife for back surgery on October 6th.  He promised a speedy recovery on titoortiz.com after:

This is now the beginning of a new era. There will never be a question again about where my heart lies… and that is with my fans. I am focused on a quick recovery, and I will be back in the cage with a renewed outlook on fighting. I am a new Tito Ortiz… one with a bright fight future…one ready to power through the light heavyweight class and get the belt around my waist again. Mark my words… the best is yet to come.

Typical recover for this surgery is to be out a year plus but Tito would obviously like it to be sooner.  Either way, it has only been 2 months since his surgery and many are questioning the reason behind this press conference. 

If a deal is announced (what else can it be?) there are several reasons for Affliction to do it now.  Fedor is not doing the press tour leading up to Day of Reckoning so he can train.  This is a big blow for Affliction and the Tito announcement and follow up would make up for the lost PR from Fedor.  This also shows everyone that Affliction remains serious about the fight game and is setting up themselves for the future.  They need to sign more house hold names and Tito’s, for good or bad, certainly is.   

This also makes sense for Tito.  Since leaving the UFC it looked like he was going to sign a blockbuster deal with Affliction.  That didn’t happen and he was seen in the audience at EliteXC and it appeared he signed on with them until they went under and filed for bankruptcy.  At this point Tito still needs to be seen and in the spotlight even if he can’t fight.  He wants to keep his face to help sell future fights and sell more apparel through his Team Punishment brand.  Affliction is also the only other fight promotion out there that can support his salary, which has likely dwindled from his initial demands due to his surgery, EliteXC and the fact that neither Tito or UFC want to work with each other. 

It may not be a match made in heaven but it’s the only logical match at this point in Affliction and Tito’s carreer. 

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