Ortiz wins Middleweight title

Huntington Beach athlete Tito Ortiz claimed the Ultimate Fighting

Championship’s middleweight title Friday by defeating Vanderlei Silva in

Japan.

The matchup between the division’s top two fighters went the distance,

with the 6-foot-2, 200 Ortiz, winning by decision.

Ortiz has been ranked among the top five middleweights in the world the

past five years. Prior to his professional career in mixed martial arts

fighting, the 25-year-old was a two-time Cal State Junior College

wrestling champion and is fully trained in Jujitsu, kick boxing, and muay

Thai.

Ortiz’s preparation for the title match consisted of a daily ritual of

martial arts training, which included two hours of wrestling, two hours

of Jujitsu, 90 minutes of sparring, stretching, and kick boxing.

During his training, Ortiz worked with mixed martial arts star John Lewis

in Las Vegas.