MMA Fighting<\/a> recently, Tito Ortiz explained why he decided to continue fighting under the Combate Americas banner. Apparently, a call with fellow UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture \u2014 who also fought well into his 40s \u2014 played a big role in his decision.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m feeling great and I\u2019m able to do it physically and mentally and I think that has huge value to it, but I love the sport, I love training, I love seeing how my body forms from the beginning to the end of camp,\u201d Ortiz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter my last fight with Chuck Liddell, I went from being in okay shape to being in a type of shape that I was in when I was 23 years old. People see the weigh-ins and every time my body structure is almost the same and it\u2019s just because of how hard I push myself. But you have to be in the right mind space, you have to be in a positive environment because it helps us fighters compete. But really, I\u2019m just happy, I\u2019m content, I like to get in the gym and train, I like to push myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the Chuck fight, I came to this fork on the road of which way I go right now. Do I go in the business stuff and make decent money or do I go the other way and do something that I love, and still do the business stuff, but do the thing that I love and get in shape and compete. I had to call Randy Couture and ask him the same question, \u2018When you were 43 years old, what made you want to comeback?,\u2019 and he said, \u2018Well, Tito. I really felt like I wasn\u2019t done, I felt like I could give so much more,\u2019 and that\u2019s all he had to tell me and I was in.”<\/p>\n
Tito Ortiz continued:<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mentality, my mindset, my body, my life, the people surrounding me, the positive reenforcement I get, all that motivates me and inspires me because I don\u2019t want to look back when I\u2019m 50 years old and wish I would\u2019ve continued fighting when I was 44, so I can end it on my own note, the way I want it.”<\/p>\n
Tito Ortiz is expected to fight former pro wrestler Alberto Del Rio in his first fight under the Combate Americas banner. Stay tuned for details on that.<\/p>\n
This article first appeared on\u00a0<\/i>BJPENN.COM<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u00a0on 7\/22\/2019. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"44-year-old former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz recently signed with Combate Americas, once again staving off his retirement. Of course, it’s not like he hasn’t been thinking about hanging up the gloves. In fact, the former champ has retired several times over the last few years \u2014 though none of those retirements have stuck. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":279611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[39699,10209,10188],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Tito Ortiz explains how phone call with Randy Couture inspired him to keep fighting | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz explains how Randy Couture influenced him to continue fighting at 44 years old.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tito Ortiz explains how phone call with Randy Couture inspired him to keep fighting | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz explains how Randy Couture influenced him to continue fighting at 44 years old.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"| BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-22T18:41:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tito-Ortiz.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"399\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tom Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87\"},\"headline\":\"Tito Ortiz explains how phone call with Randy Couture inspired him to keep fighting\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-22T18:41:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-22T18:41:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/\"},\"wordCount\":481,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Combate Americas\",\"Randy Couture\",\"Tito Ortiz\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2019\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/\",\"name\":\"Tito Ortiz explains how phone call with Randy Couture inspired him to keep fighting | BJPenn.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-22T18:41:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-22T18:41:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz explains how Randy Couture influenced him to continue fighting at 44 years old.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MMA News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Combate Americas\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Tito Ortiz explains how phone call with Randy Couture inspired him to keep fighting\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"description\":\"MMA & UFC News, Results & Fight Videos\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":148,\"caption\":\"| BJPenn.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bjpenndotcom\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/0fficialbjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87\",\"name\":\"Tom Taylor\",\"description\":\"Tom Taylor is a globetrotting writer currently based in Ottawa, Canada. He is a staff writer for BJPenn.com, and also covers mixed martial arts for Fightland and Vice Sports. Follow him on Twitter @TomTayMMA.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/author\/tom-taylor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tito Ortiz explains how phone call with Randy Couture inspired him to keep fighting | BJPenn.com","description":"Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz explains how Randy Couture influenced him to continue fighting at 44 years old.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tito Ortiz explains how phone call with Randy Couture inspired him to keep fighting | BJPenn.com","og_description":"Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz explains how Randy Couture influenced him to continue fighting at 44 years old.","og_url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/","og_site_name":"| BJPenn.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn","article_published_time":"2019-07-22T18:41:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":696,"height":399,"url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tito-Ortiz.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Tom Taylor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bjpenndotcom","twitter_site":"@bjpenndotcom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tom Taylor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/"},"author":{"name":"Tom Taylor","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87"},"headline":"Tito Ortiz explains how phone call with Randy Couture inspired him to keep fighting","datePublished":"2019-07-22T18:41:52+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-22T18:41:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/"},"wordCount":481,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Combate Americas","Randy Couture","Tito Ortiz"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2019","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/","name":"Tito Ortiz explains how phone call with Randy Couture inspired him to keep fighting | BJPenn.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-07-22T18:41:52+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-22T18:41:52+00:00","description":"Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz explains how Randy Couture influenced him to continue fighting at 44 years old.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/tito-ortiz-explains-how-phone-call-with-randy-couture-inspired-him-to-keep-fighting\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MMA News","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Combate Americas","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/combate-americas\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Tito Ortiz explains how phone call with Randy Couture inspired him to keep fighting"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/","name":"| BJPenn.com","description":"MMA & UFC News, Results & Fight Videos","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization","name":"| BJPenn.com","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png","width":600,"height":148,"caption":"| BJPenn.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/instagram.com\/bjpenn","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bjpenn","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bjpenndotcom\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/0fficialbjpenn","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn","https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87","name":"Tom Taylor","description":"Tom Taylor is a globetrotting writer currently based in Ottawa, Canada. He is a staff writer for BJPenn.com, and also covers mixed martial arts for Fightland and Vice Sports. Follow him on Twitter @TomTayMMA.","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/author\/tom-taylor\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320101"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54430"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}