Is Tito Ortiz Possibly Coming Back to the UFC?

Before UFC 84 took place, there seemed to be absolutely zero chance that Tito Ortiz would sign another deal with the UFC.

He was embroiled in a vicious war of words with Dana White, the president of the UFC. He called UFC fighters "slaves" and said that they were being ripped off and exploited by the company. Other organizations, most notably EliteXC, had made public overtures to the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy", imploring him to consider their company after his deal with the UFC expired.

Then last night, at UFC 84, a funny thing happened.

Tito lost to Lyoto Machida in a spirited three round affair. The crowd was clearly behind Ortiz - the roof would have been blown off the place if Ortiz had managed to sink in that triangle - armbar combo near the end of the fight. Ortiz lost, but he clearly showed that he is still one of the most popular fighters in the UFC.

There was much speculation as to what Ortiz would say in the post-fight interview if he managed to beat Machida. Even though Ortiz lost, the UFC decided to give him an interview. Ortiz was gracious and didn't attack Dana White, instead choosing to praise the UFC and its fans. Ortiz left open the possibility of returning to the UFC in his post-fight comments, a move that surprised many who expected the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" to bury his former organization on his way out. UFC officials, who had previously vocalized their opposition to having Ortiz return, were also diplomatic about Ortiz and seemed to at least entertain the possibility that he might be back.

All of those warm and fuzzy feelings seemed to evaporate in the post-fight press conference. Ortiz crashed the conference, saying that Dana White had "banned" him from speaking but that he was going to talk anyways. UFC officials were against him speaking, but after a great deal of commotion (which included Jenna Jameson, Ortiz's girlfriend, imploring him to stay), Ortiz was allowed to stay and speak. Police officers were called to ensure that the situation didn't get out of hand, and Ortiz and White engaged in yet another war of words. As I said, all of the warm and fuzzy post-fight feelings were wiped out in just a couple of minutes.

The question is - is there any scenario in which Ortiz can possibly return to the UFC?

In my opinion - no. The egos involved (most notably Ortiz and Dana White) are just too large to allow that to happen. If Dana White wasn't in the picture then it might be a different situation, but there is far too much hate between the two personalities to ever allow them to sit down and hash out a deal.

Ortiz is clearly on the downside slope of his career, but still has a tremendous amount of fan support. He will be a welcome addition to any organization he ends up with (probably EliteXC), but I think that his UFC days are over. Ortiz will probably be best known for his fights against Chuck Liddell at UFC 66 and UFC 47.

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