Chael Sonnen doesn’t view Tito Ortiz as an elite fighter.
Sonnen, who meets Ortiz this Saturday night at Bellator 170, told The MMA Hour that the list of wins collected by Ortiz during his UFC was is less-than-impressive.
“Those guys sucked back then,” Sonnen said. “It just was a different deal. People weren’t watching, people weren’t participating. It was just a different deal in terms of, not only the techniques, the training, the coaching, but the level of athlete as well.
“And you do have some guys from back then who got a really good run, and Tito was the best. There was no one who could beat him, but it just also is a true statement to say that guys were not very good back then.”
From his win over Wanderlei Silva in 2000 for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title to a loss three years later to Randy Couture for the belt, Ortiz defeated Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ken Shamrock. Four of those wins were via finish.
