Tito Ortiz On Why Shane McMahon Might Not Be Reaching Out To Him For Pro Wrestling Career
The list of MMA fighters who have gone into pro wrestling is a long one with Cain Velasquez being the latest. Others like Ken Shamrock and Brock Lesnar have established separate careers in both MMA and pro wrestling and another former UFC great could venture into the ring as well.
Tito Ortiz has an upcoming MMA fight with Alberto Del Rio and he spoke to Wrestling Inc. about if pro wrestling could be his next destination afterwards.
"I'm friends with Shane McMahon. He hasn't really reached out to me. He gives me tickets to the events when they're here at Staples Center or when they're in Orange County. I bring my kids to it, we're all huge fans of it," Ortiz said. "I would love to dabble in it, but I think [Shane] is really not sure if I can separate the difference between real fighting and professional wrestling. I'm not sure if I can really separate the difference between them myself. I don't know. I watched Cain Velasquez do it. He did a good job. I'm a huge fan of Brock Lesnar. I know he's the heavyweight champion right now."
Shane McMahon seems to be the connection between WWE and MMA fighters as recently Chuck Liddell revealed that Shane has tried to recruit him to the ring in the past.
Ortiz had a couple of short stints in TNA/Impact, the last of which came to a sudden halt when Bellator pulled him from Impact programming. He admits that he's always been a wrestling fan and teased that he could end up in the ring some day.
"I've always had interest in WWE and back when it was WWF. I had an opportunity to sit with Hulk Hogan when I did TNA and have about a three-hour conversation with the man and we had so much in resemblance. It was crazy. He was like, 'Brother...you'd have been a great WWE guy.' It was kind of cool to have the respect from Hogan like that," stated Ortiz. "I respect the man like no other. Him and Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, he's an amazing man himself, very humble person. I had the great opportunity to meet him on a couple of occasions, very nice guy.
"Everything happens for a reason you know? I think when the plans align at the right time, you never know what happens man. You never never know."
Ortiz will face Del Rio in the main event of Combate Americas' debut pay-per-view on December 7th at Payne Arena in Hidalgo, Texas.