The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., will play host to the trilogy fight between former UFC light heavyweight champions Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, when the two veterans square off in the main event of Golden Boy Promotions first mixed martial arts card.
However, another conflict for Ortiz preceded Saturday’s show. Shortly following the pre-fight press conference, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” had a brief confrontation with former manager Dave Thomas. Speaking with Sherdog.com, Thomas went into detail about his issues with his former client.
“I managed him and put him in Bellator,” Thomas said. “We had a falling out over money. He didn’t want to pay and that’s what our issue was.”
Thomas, who now represents Liddell, was on stage at the presser. During his time on the microphone, Ortiz referenced his 25-year- history with Thomas and called his former manager a “good friend.” Ortiz also spoke of a friendship with Liddell’s trainer, Antonio McKee. Because of those relationships, Ortiz claimed he had inside information regarding Liddell’s camp, adding that his longtime rival got “suckered” into agreeing to the bout.
“I know everything you’ve been doing for the past two and a half months. I know how he’s been sparring, the guys he’s been wrestling with, everything. The joke’s on you buddy,” Ortiz said.
Thomas did not take kindly to the insinuation that he would be involved with any potential spying.
“I’m 100 percent loyal to Chuck…the way he went about that publicly to say I’m doing something behind Chuck’s back is [messed] up. I don’t roll like that,” Thomas said.
What was a relatively private and dormant issue stemming from business gone wrong has now turned deeply personal, according to Thomas. Prior to the press conference, the TNT Sports Management founder insists he had no ill will toward his former client and that their prior relationship was no factor in putting the fight together.
“Tito wasn’t even in the equation. The equation was all about Chuck fighting and returning to the ring,” Thomas said. “It had nothing to do with who he was fighting. Turned out that Tito was the opponent that the team decided would be the easiest for a comeback.”
Thomas referenced Ortiz’s Bellator 131 bout with Stephan Bonnar to discredit the UFC veteran’s claims. Ahead of that outing, Ortiz stated that he had inside information about Bonnar’s camp and Thomas aided in the ruse. Ortiz would eventually win via split decision.
“He said the same thing when I signed Stephan Bonnar. Tito knew about it and he talked about that crap about Stephan,” Thomas said. “He needs some new material…Attacking my character is not going to keep him from getting knocked out.”