Since Scott Coker took over the Presidential duties of Bellator MMA, many fighters have emerged and stated that they were more than thrilled with the change, given their dislike for former President Bjorn Rebney.
Now Tito Ortiz is speaking out about the former Bellator MMA President, saying the Bjorn made empty promises that almost kept him from fighting.
He spoke on The MMA Hour:
“I was so happy. I was real calm. Bjorn Rebney just made empty promises. He promised so much and he never followed through. At all.”
“I’m not going into detail, [but it was] things I had battle for in my contract. He says ‘no, we’re not going to do that.’ [I said] ‘it’s in my contract, you have to.’ It came down to the last two weeks before fight and then he finally came through, he had no choice.
“I would not have fought. There was a contract in place, it’s business, I’m not 22 years old anymore. I’m not a young kid struggling to get to the top. I’ve been to the top, I gotta look out for my best interests as a businessman in this fight game. At the end of the day, it is a business. I’ve got children to take care of, I’ve got bills to pay. This is my job, that fight.”
“Scott Coker, I’ve known him such a long time, he’s always been a straight shooter. He’s always been very, very respectful towards me. He understands the business. He understands marketing and how to push the fighters to make them superstars in a household environment.”
Tito Ortiz is set to face Stephan Bonnar in a grudge match on November 15th. The pair have such a great dislike towards one another that Ortiz shoved Bonnar while the two met in the cage for a staredown.
Who takes this fight in November?