October - 2015
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
38
Regardless of his current relationship with the
UFC or lack thereof, Ortiz will always be remem-
bers as one of the organization’s greatest cham-
pions. Ortiz also played an important role as the
face of the organization in the early 2000s.
After coming up short in his first UFC title bid
– losing in the fourth round to then champion
Frank Shamrock – Ortiz defeated Pride legend
Wanderlei Silva to capture the vacant belt at
UFC 25. Ortiz would go on to defend his title
five times before losing the belt to Randy Cou-
ture at UFC 44.
Even though all of his UFC light heavyweight
title records have since been broken, Ortiz’s last-
ing impression on the sport has not and will not
be forgotten.
Already a two-time UFC heavyweight champion,
Couture dropped down to light heavyweight
following back-to-back heavyweight title fight
losses. In his first bout in the division, Couture
defeated Chuck Liddell to become the division’s
interim champion then defeated Ortiz to unify
the titles; becoming the undisputed UFC light
heavyweight champion.
Even though Couture lost the title to Vitor Bel-
fort in his next outing, he won it back at UFC
49; stopping Belfort at the end of the third
round. That would be Couture’s last time wear-
ing UFC light heavyweight gold as the two-divi-
sion champion would lose the belt to Liddell at
UFC 52 and never regain it.
There are many fighters with better records than
Couture and perhaps fighters more deserving of
the opportunities to compete for titles he was
afforded, but Couture made the most out of
those opportunities. That’s why he will always
be remembered as one of the greats.
Before UFC 31, the UFC light heavyweight title
was known as the middleweight title and the di-
vision’s first champion was Shamrock. Shamrock
first captured the title at UFC Japan on Dec. 21,
1997, in his UFC debut. Shamrock would then
go on to defend the title four times; winning all
four defenses by way of stoppage.
Following his fourth title defense, Shamrock va-
cated the belt and left the UFC. Shamrock has
stated many times that he left the organization
because of the lack of competition at the time.
When you consider he was 5-0 with all five wins
coming by stoppage, Shamrock had an argu-
ment.
Not only was Shamrock the division’s first cham-
pion, he was the division’s first dominant cham-
pion. It’s an absolute travesty that Shamrock is
not in the UFC Hall of Fame today. Shamrock
was one of the first true “mixed” martial artists
in MMA as he had great skills in all facets of
the game. His influence on the fight game was
profound and his dominance in the cage will al-
ways be remembered.
#5 – Tito Ortiz
#4 – Randy Couture
#3 – Frank Shamrock
