No love for Tito

I haven’t written about this before because, well, I haven’t been able to muster much enthusiasm, especially with UFC 100 just a few days away. But here goes. Former UFC poster boy Tito Ortiz is getting back in the cage.

The Huntington Beach Bad Boy hasn’t fought since losing to current UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida more than a year ago. He hasn’t actually won a fight since facing Ken Shamrock three years ago. And really, who’s missed him?

What’s he been up to (besides pissing off Dana White)? Well, making babies with his porn star girlfriend Jenna Jameson, getting fired by Donald Trump on Celebrity Apprentice and coping with a recurring back problem.

But he’s had back surgery, he’s rehabbed and now anxious to put on the five-ounce gloves again. Ortiz announced during an appearance at last week’s UCFC Clementi vs. Jensen show in Pittsburgh that he was close to signing a four-fight deal with the Strikeforce promotion and that he could face Renato “Babalu” Sobral at a Strikeforce event in October (after Strikeforce tosses him a tomato can to work the ring rust off, I’m sure). Ortiz also said he’d like his fourth fight to be against the world’s top heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko, in a catchweight bout.

OK, Tito, whatever. The Fedor fight will never happen, hell, I’ll be surprised if the four-fight deal gets signed.