According to a Jan. 16 report from MMA Mania, Tito Ortiz said Ronda Rousey will no longer be the UFC female champion after fighting Cris Santos.
"Ronda Rousey is a great champion, she has a great name," Ortiz said. "Her attitude has completely changed. I watched her at the awards and when the spotlight is on you shine a little harder than you think you do. It's fine. She's a woman who deserves all the championship attention she can find at this point because when she fights 'Cyborg' she will no longer be champion."
Ortiz gave his word that Santos will never again use performance-enhancing drugs.
"Last year she got mixed up with a [banned] substance that one of her trainers turned her onto, but she has said it was her choice and her bad decision and she was willing to make that right claim," Ortiz said. "So, I'm going to put my name, my stamp on her to ensure that she'll never touch any of those things again and be the champion that she once was before."
Ortiz wants Santos to have a few warm-up fights in the UFC before meeting Rousey at 135 pounds.
Ortiz noted that Santos usually walks around at close to 173 pounds, so cutting down to 125 is a difficult task.
"When I first signed her, the first thing she said to me was that, 'I cannot make 135 [pounds]," Ortiz said. "I walk around at 172 to 173 pounds. And for a woman to cut that much weight -- and for "Cyborg" to be the champion as long as she has in her weight class -- to cut down to that weight seems like a disadvantage to her. Maybe let's get her a couple of warm up fights at 135. In the very beginning, [UFC} said cut down to 135 and you have two months to do it. I don't want to hurt my fighter and her future as champion. She is a champion, she still is a champion."
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