Since retiring from mixed martial arts, Tito Ortiz has navigated a varied and often tumultuous post-fight career. After his final MMA bout in 2019 and a professional boxing loss to Anderson Silva in 2021, Ortiz briefly stepped into the political arena.
He was elected to the Huntington Beach City Council in late 2020, even serving as Mayor Pro Tempore, but he resigned from the position less than six months later. Now, his latest venture is running a restaurant in Cape Coral, Fla., aptly named Tito’s Cantina Tequila Bar & Grille. Ortiz is known for unfiltered and sometimes confused commentary that generates laughs and reactions from the fighting community.
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Tito Ortiz
The latest buzz surrounds Ortiz’s appearance on the Jaxxon Podcast, where a simple attempt to discuss the undefeated former UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, went off the rails. In a clip that is quickly making the rounds on social media, Ortiz can be seen struggling to pronounce Nurmagomedov’s last name, ultimately butchering the name in a fashion that made fans chuckle.
Watch the clip here:
The former champion has a history of verbal missteps that have become part of his public persona.
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In one notably awkward moment, Ortiz was live on local news station, Fox 10 Talks, to promote his holistic medicine venture, but abruptly forgot its name, leading to a cringeworthy pause that required host intervention:
In one of his most famous gaffes, Ortiz mentions on former fighter Brendan Schaub’s podcast The Fighter and the Kid that he wants to outlive his own children, when he likely meant to say the opposite:
These incidents have built a reputation for Ortiz that goes beyond his fighting credentials, making him a frequent subject of light-hearted memes and jokes within the MMA community.
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The online reaction to this latest slip-up was swift (comments sourced from replies to fan X account Borrachinha Depot):
“Ha.. but even worse imo… the amount of people in this industry who still pronounce Khabib with a hard K… UFC employees, media people, fighters, etc.”
“Sweet hell. You’re gonna get a month’s worth of material from this podcast.”
“I lose IQ points every time I hear this babbling buffoon speak.”
His persona as “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” back in his heyday as a UFC fighter was built on confidence and bravado, which makes these moments of on-air fumbling all the more hilarious.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Nov 14, 2025, where it first appeared in the MMA section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
