FCF:   Tito, thank you for taking the time to speak with FCF. With a week to reflect on the fight, you must have some thoughts regarding it.
TO:     It was everything I didn’t expect. Randy Couture caught me totally off guard. He out-wrestled me in every aspect as a wrestler and as a fighter. It was his night. I couldn’t take nothing away from him. Randy Couture showed me a weakness that I should have never looked past, and that was wrestling. I looked past it for the last month. I don’t know why I could let myself do that. Of course, having a herniated disk in my back had a lot to do with it, but at the same time, I’m not taking nothing away from Randy Couture ’cause he did fight a tremendous fight. I’ll tell you one thing, though, I’m going to be a lot meaner the second time because that just shows what type of takedowns I can take, what kind of punishment I can take, along with the same factor of defending myself. I mean, he never really hurt me one time. He had me mounted, he had me — I was in every position you can get a guy when you take him down, but he never hurt me once.

FCF:   As round after round went by, while you remained unable to take some control of this fight, we can only imagine the thoughts that were running through your head.
TO:     It felt like a dream. It felt like a dream that I wanted to wake up. Every time he took me down it was so light and so, I don’t know, it didn’t feel real I guess ’cause none of it hurt. None of it felt real. I was having a bad dream. I was watching myself in a mirror. It was funny. It was really, really funny. It hurt me, but at the same time, it’s just a factor of how much tougher it’s going to make me. I have so much anger built up. This next time, Randy will be in trouble, that’s for sure.

FCF:   It sounds like your gunning to fight Couture again right away.
TO:     Yeah. There’s no one else to fight right now. I want to fight Randy again. In my mind, I have to get that loss back. I haven’t been beaten in three and a half years. This is a fight I really want ’cause I can prove what kind of champion I really am. That wasn’t Tito Ortiz that fought that night, I guarantee it. I couldn’t believe Randy took me down that easy. Nobody takes me down that easy. I should have let my hands go in the first round. Randy had me intimidated for a second. I gave him too much respect.

FCF:   No one else to fight? I think there are a lot fans that say you could fight Chuck Liddell, maybe even Vitor Belfort first?
TO:     I have no problem fighting those guys right after. I’ll fight Liddell right after. I think I at least should get a rematch for that, because of how we sold out the crowd and how many pay-per-views there were. Of how much work I did as a champion and how long I’ve been the champion, I think I deserve a rematch on that.