Tito Ortiz Injured, Out Of Bellator PPV Main Event Against Rampage Jackson

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming bout against fellow former champion Rampage Jackson.

Ortiz and Jackson were scheduled to meet in Bellator’s first Pay-Per-View event, Bellator: Rampage vs. Tito, on November 2 in Long Beach, California. Unfortunately, the Huntington Beach Bad Boy suffered a neck injury during training and is unable to compete.

MMA Fighting‘s Ariel Helwani initially reported that Bellator was looking for a fighter to replace Ortiz, and that it was unclear whether Jackson would remain on the card.

According to Bleacher Report, the fight has been taken off of Pay-Per-View and will instead be broadcast as a free fight on Spike TV. Bellator president Bjorn Rebney said the promotion’s light heavyweight champion, Attila Vegh, was asked to replace Ortiz, but things “didn’t work out.” The next option was to feature an interim light heavyweight title match between “King” Mo Lawal and Emanuel Newton, but that didn’t work out either.

Michael Chandler vs. Eddie Alvarez 2 replaces Ortiz vs. Jackson as the main event at Bellator 106. The first match between the two lightweights is considered one of the best in Bellator’s brief history, and took place on November 19, 2011, at Bellator 58. Chandler submitted Alvarez by rear-naked choke at 3:06 in the fourth round, winning the lightweight championship and Fight of the Year. Chandler has successfully defended his title twice since then.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated in August, both Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson had some harsh words for their former boss, UFC president Dana White. Ortiz compared working for White to slavery, and said he couldn’t trust anything the man said. He also said White is “one of the biggest bullies” in the business.

Jackson said White was “the type of guy that will force you into a fight after surgery, and if you don’t perform really well in the fight, or you lose, he’ll talk crap about you in the media.”

Bjorn Rebney said Bellator isn’t giving up on Pay-Per-View, and that the promotion will find Jackson a fight “as soon as possible.”