Bellator light heavyweight contender Tito Ortiz isn’t willing to end his feud with the UFC any time soon, lobbing some hefty allegations about the company throwing their weight around in a recent media appearance.
Speaking on last week’s edition of Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, the self-proclaimed “People’s Champion” claimed that the UFC blocked Bellator from hosting a major event in Anaheim, California (per MMA Fighting).
"The UFC said no. They tried to get to the Pond, and the UFC didn't let it happen," Ortiz said on the show. "They wanted to do it at the Pond and the UFC said no."
Ortiz insisted that Bellator 131, a Spike TV event that will run at the same time as the UFC pay-per-view UFC 181 on November 15, was originally supposed to be hosted at Anaheim’s Honda Center.
However, according to the UFC Hall of Famer, his former employer made sure that didn’t happen and now the event takes place at San Diego’s Valley View Casino Center.
The UFC declined to respond to Ortiz’s allegations regarding the venue change.
Ortiz headlines Bellator 131 against fellow UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar, in a matchup where the two competitors have competed just once each in the past two years.
After winning just once between December 2006 and July 2012, Ortiz had no problem dominating Bellator middleweight champ Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 120 in May.
“Storm” bumped up to light heavyweight to have the opportunity to square off with Ortiz.