Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz (/ˈtiːtoʊ ɔːrˈtiːz/; born January 23, 1975) is a retired American mixed martial artist and Submission Grappler and a former politician.

Ortiz ultimately became the biggest pay-per-view draw of 2006 for his fights with Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Ken Shamrock.

Ortiz is the CEO of Punishment Athletics MMA equipment and clothing line, which is located in his hometown of Huntington Beach, California.

On November 5, 2020, Ortiz was announced as one of the winners of the Huntington Beach City Council election, becoming Mayor pro tempore.

[6] Ortiz made his professional boxing debut on September 11, 2021, in a round one loss to fellow former UFC champion Anderson Silva.

[better source needed] At the age of nineteen, Ortiz met Paul Herrera, an assistant wrestling coach at Golden West College.

He was selected to face Guy Mezger in the Light Heavyweight final after Enson Inoue could not continue due to injury.

Ortiz's post fight antics towards Mezger and the Lion's Den led to his long-running rivalry with the team's leader Ken Shamrock.

He went on to defend the Light Heavyweight Championship a then-record five times in the following three years, defeating Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko and Lion's Den head Ken Shamrock.

Ortiz and fellow fighter Fabiano Iha even hired investment banker Stan Medley to take a new league, The Xtreme Fighting Championship, public.

Ortiz's first fight in his return occurred at UFC 59 on April 15, 2006, against previous The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner Forrest Griffin.

The fight concluded Ortiz's stay with the promotion as he chose not to re-sign, citing his frustration with UFC president Dana White as a major factor in the decision.

[23] After leaving the UFC, Ortiz was approached by multiple promotions, including the now defunct Elite Xtreme Combat, Affliction and the American Fight League.

As part of his comeback to the UFC, Ortiz began training with his original Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Judo instructor Cleber Luciano (a student of Royler Gracie).

[50] On July 31, 2013, it was announced that Ortiz would come out of retirement to face former training partner and fellow former UFC Light heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson on November 2, 2013, at Bellator 106.

[56] In his victory speech, he was dismissive of the UFC for the company's attempts to remove him from their history, calling it "bullshit" and stated that he will "live in the MMA memory forever".

In his fourth fight for the promotion, Ortiz faced fellow UFC veteran Chael Sonnen on January 21, 2017, in the main event at Bellator 170.

In August 2018, it was announced by Golden Boy Promotions that Ortiz would be coming out of retirement to face his rival Chuck Liddell in a third fight.

[69] On February 26, 2020, it was announced that the result had been temporarily overturned to a no decision by the Texas State Athletic Commission for reasons that have not yet been disclosed.

On May 15, 2005, at Hard Justice Ortiz served as special guest referee in the NWA World Heavyweight Championship title match between champion Jeff Jarrett and challenger A.J.

and the following week he was revealed as the special guest referee for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship match between Jeff Jarrett and Kevin Nash at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view, in a segment, where he grabbed the number one contender Nash in a rear naked choke in order to prevent him from brawling with Jarrett.

[74][75] On October 23 at Bound for Glory Ortiz refereed the match for the title between Jarrett and Rhino, a last minute replacement for Nash.

Ortiz returned to TNA on August 1, 2013, revealing himself as the man behind the cryptic #August1Warning tweets and YouTube videos and staring down the Aces & Eights and The Main Event Mafia, which included his Bellator 106 opponent Quinton Jackson.

During the main event of the evening, Ortiz turned on Jackson by hitting him with a hammer and allowed Ray to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Sabin.

[81] However, on Impact Wrestling: No Surrender, it was announced that Bellator MMA had pulled Ortiz from TNA programming due to his upcoming PPV fight with Rampage Jackson, thus removing him from Aces & Eights.

Ortiz made his professional boxing debut against former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva on September 11, 2021.

Tito played an MMA fighter named Derek Petrov on an episode of CSI: NY titled "Clean Sweep", which aired on January 6, 2012, on CBS.

In 2020, Ortiz ran for a city council seat in his hometown of Huntington Beach, with the intention of eventually becoming the mayor.

[87] In January 2021, Ortiz was refused service at a TK Burgers restaurant for not wearing a mask, and posted his experience on Instagram.

[101] While Ortiz describes his poker playing as a hobby, and in March 2017, he placed 22nd in the $5,300 No Limit Hold'em PokerStars Championship Main Event in Panama.