Tito Ortiz, Middleweight Champion,withdraws From Ufc 27
|
FCF Exclusive: TITO ORTIZ, MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION, WITHDRAWS FROM UFC 27 September 20, 2000, New York City – Due to a change in Tito’s management, UFC middleweight champion Tito Ortiz and SEG Sports were not able to reach an agreement for him to compete in UFC 27, set for September 22 in New Orleans, LA. However, the management company, Dana White Enterprises, and SEG Sports are happy to announce a new long-term contract between Tito Ortiz and SEG Sports that will include Tito as a commentator at both the event in New Orleans and the November 17th event in Atlantic City, NJ. Tito will defend his middleweight championship in Tokyo, Japan on December 16th. Statement from Dana White, President, Dana White Enterprises, Sports Management Company: "On behalf of Tito Ortiz, Dana White Enterprises would like to apologize to his fans, who expected Tito to participate in the September 22nd event. Putting together a long-term contract that both parties support can be difficult. We are excited about the future of the UFC and their efforts to enhance the sport of mixed martial arts. Finally, we would like to thank SEG Sports for their professionalism and determination to finalize a long-term agreement for their middleweight champion, Tito Ortiz." Statement from Bob Meyrowitz, CEO of SEG Sports: "Tito Ortiz is the kind of champion the UFC has always prided itself on: a great athlete, a terrific person and somebody with real star quality. We are very proud to continue our relationship with Tito and to welcome Dana White into the mixed martial arts family." |
|
From the event’s promoter:  IFC WORLD TOUR WHITE TO MEET BRAZILIAN CHAMPION FOR WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CROWN Shamrock vs BJJ style matchup IFC World Heavyweight Champion, Vernon White, will face 3 time Brazilian National JiuJitsu Champion Marcos DaSilva in the cage on September 30th. Vernon was originally scheduled to meet former IFC Champion Vladimir Matyushenko who withdrew from the match. DaSilva who just came off a victory at the prestigious Rickson Gracie’s Open JiuJitsu Championships, leaped at the opportunity. Both fighters have excellent ground skills, which should make this fight a real strategic battle. The style differences between the two are accented by their world renowned cornermen. In the Champions corner will be "The Most Dangerous Man Alive" Ken Shamrock who has trained Vernon for his entire fighting career. In the challengers corner will be another world renowned Brazilian fighter, Francisco Bueno. The ever aggressive Shamrock team has no love for Brazilian fighters and will clearly look to demonstrate the superiority of their system over the popular Brazilian stylists. Look for Ken to be doing some talking here. Before embarking on his fighting career Marcos DaSilva was a fisherman from Fortalaza, Brazil. Besides winning the Brazilian title three times he is also the winner of the Rio Gavara JiuJitsu Champioship and was a silver medalist at the World JiuJitsu Championship. He loves to fight and jiujitsu has become his life. With this win over White he expects to establish himself on the world stage. San Diego’s Vernon "Tiger" White is one of the true pioneers of Mixed Martial Arts. He began in the sport in 1993 when he survived a grueling try out to join Ken Shamrock’s legendary Lion’s Den fight team. White had his first MMA fight just three months later in Japan, and he has not stopped fighting since. White’s career reached its pinnacle last October when he defeated Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko, to become the International Fighting Championship ("IFC") World Heavyweight Champion. That fight, which has become legendary for its intensity, was actually a rematch of an earlier fight between the two in 1997. In the first fight, Matyushenko won by a stunning guillotine choke. According to White, the difference in his performance in his second fights with Matyushenko can be chalked up to a change in his attitude. "I did not go into the second fight thinking I was going to walk through him like I did in the first fight," White said. "Vlady changed my whole outlook on fighting. I take every one of my opponents much more seriously now." White is now one of Ken Shamrock’s instructors and is his prot posted by Full Contact Fighter @ 8:00 pm
|
