Tito Ortiz Currently In Negotiations with Affliction

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A few weeks ago, Sports Illustrated reported that Tito "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz had signed with Affliction, and that an October fight against Renato "Babalu" Sobral was "likely".

Well it appears as though SI may have jumped the gun. Many people were assuming that Tito Ortiz would show up at an Affliction press conference in early August, and that Ortiz would officially be announced as a member of the company. Well, Ortiz was a no-show, confirming the fact that he had not yet signed with the promotion.

According to Affliction vice president Tom Atencio, negotiations are now "underway" between the company and Tito Ortiz. The non-compete in Ortiz's old contract with the UFC has now expired, and he is now officially a free agent.

Atencio has publicly balked at the proposed "record-breaking" contract between Ortiz and the promotion, saying that "it's just not feasible". I'm not sure exactly how much money Ortiz is asking for, but it must be a substantial amount given Atencio's reaction.

It appears as though Affliction might not be the "money tree" that many fighters thought it would be. Many free agents and soon-to-be free agents must have been salivating at the chance to sign with the upstart promotion. I mean, they spent an estimated $4 million in salaries for their first show, and Donald Trump was added as one of the backers for the company. It sounds as though some fighters were expecting that bundles of money would be thrown their money - "Affliction" seems to be tightening the purse-strings somewhat. Maybe the $800k that they spent on Tim Sylvia's 30 second performance on the first show caused them to think twice about the contracts that they dish out.

I think that Ortiz will eventually sign with Affliction. I just can't see him going anywhere else. What other promotion has the resources to sign him, other than the UFC (and he's not going back there). Affliction needs another marketable name if they want to make inroads into the UFC-dominated MMA market, and Ortiz would certainly be a huge boost in that respect.

I suspect that Atencio made these comments regarding the Ortiz negotiation in order to send the message that Affliction might not be as liberal with their money as some people initially suspected. That the days of $4 million dollar payouts are over, and that the company will be more fiscally restrained moving forward.

If Ortiz signs with Affliction, I would expect him to appear on their December card. I don't think that he will be ready for the October show in Las Vegas.

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