Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz had some harsh words for Dana White Wednesday.
Ortiz, who retired from MMA following his loss to Forrest Griffin last July, compared working for White to slavery and called him “one of the biggest bullies” in the business. The “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” recently came out of retirement to fight in Bellator.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated , when asked what it was like fighting for White, Ortiz said, “I thought slavery was over a long time ago.”
Ortiz said “it was one of those things” where he couldn’t trust anything White said, which made it difficult to work for him. He said he apologized for things he said in the past, but White still badmouthed him behind his back.
“One of the biggest things now is bullying,” Ortiz added. “And he’s one of the biggest bullies, I’d say, in the business. He’s a big bully.”
Rampage Jackson, who also left the UFC after a unanimous decision loss to Glover Teixeira in January, lodged his own complaints against his former boss.
“He’s 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,” Jackson said. “Who wants to fight for a person like that, you know? Who wants to be forced into a fight as soon as you get done with surgery?”
After the Teixeira fight, Jackson said he was leaving the promotion because he didn’t like the way he was treated. White wasn’t worried about the loss, saying, “Rampage didn’t quit. He lost his last 3 fights and his contract is up. Do you see me beating his door down to get him back?”
Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson will headline the first ever Bellator Pay-Per-View event on November 2.
“We’ve trained with each other, we’ve been friends for a long time, but it’s time to put the friendship aside,” Ortiz said of the match. “It’s about giving the fans what they want to see and the best fight possible’s going to happen here in Bellator.”
