Tito Ortiz was painted as being just a little bit too much of a bad boy as a Huntington Beach city councilman, prompting his resignation.
After serving for less than one year, former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz is no longer a city councilman of Huntington Beach, California, after his resignation Tuesday. The never-ending wave of controversies that shadowed Ortiz’s brief run prompted the UFC legend to pull the plug on his embattled term.
Here is what Ortiz had to say about his resignation in his own words (transcription via Andrew Richardson).
“I would like to inform you that I am resigning from my position as mayor pro-tem city councilman with the city of Huntington Beach effective June 1, 2011/21,” Ortiz said. “I ran for this position with hopes to better my community, work on my constituents, and give them a voice, make our beautiful city safe and clean, and to ensure a bright future for my children.
“I was under a notion that I was in bipartisan position, and that we all had a common goal … to put it frankly, that’s not the case. From day one, I was sworn in, met with hostility and judgement … to be the sole focus of character assassination each and every week with multiple news story, leaked personal information … all of which were meant to slander and defame my name. I thought I was up to this job, but I knew I had over 40,000 constituents who were there counting on me.
“As of recent, the attacks against me have moved to involve my family. I now feel for their safety is in danger. To put it simply, this job isn’t working for me.”
You can view the video of his resignation speech below (via The MacLife).
Tito Ortiz is a member of the pioneer wing of the UFC Hall of Fame and is a former UFC light heavyweight champion with a total of five successful title defense. Unfortunately (or very fortunately, depending on whom you ask), his run as a politician was not as successful.
