Fans of MMA know the routine by now. Tito Ortiz fights. If he wins, he’s “The People’s Champion” and everyone — including proud Ortiz haters — can’t help but smile, even if they can’t bring themselves to admit it. If he loses, however, he’s “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” and everyone — including Ortiz haters — can’t help but smile as they hear the always fun, post-fight Ortiz “explanation” for the loss.
For his most recent fight at Bellator: Dynamite 1 to light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary, who submitted the UFC Hall Of Famer with a first-round reverse triangle, the first submission loss for Ortiz since tapping to Frank Shamrock due to strikes all the way back in 1999, Ortiz had one key explanation for his performance — lotion.
Obviously, right?
“The People’s Champ” told Submission Radio:
“The first little exchange and then going for the takedown I went for his legs and his legs felt … I don’t want to say slippery, but just super soft. I just let my arms slide up the side of him and I had to re-shoot again. A little baby lotion or lotion. He uses a lot of lotion on his legs. Everybody, I mean, not everybody, but most people put lotion on themselves so maybe he put a lot of lotion on prior. He caught me in a submission. He was the better man. I saw the lights going out super quick when it was locked. I wasn’t going to get choked out on live television. That’s for sure. Checkmate. What could I do? That was it. I wasn’t going to go out. I’ve never gone out before. I’m not going to fight something that could hurt my neck more. He fought the best Tito Ortiz. I was ready.”
H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing.
