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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), for the most part, is all that Tito Ortiz, 36, has ever known.
He's had his share of ups and more than his fair share of downs -- both inside and outside the Octagon -- throughout his 25-fight mixed martial arts (MMA) career, which began way back in 1997. In all those fights, "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" has competed just once outside the promotion (in 1998), despite a legendary love-hate relationship with former manager and current UFC President, Dana White.
He's been released, re-hired, fielded offers from other organizations, held a division title hostage, pursued "other" careers, balked during contract negotiations and done just about everything imaginable to be a total pain in the butt.
Four weeks ago, at UFC 132, Ortiz was given a final ultimatum: Defeat Ryan Bader or go home (again) for good. With his back against the wall, Ortiz delivered in shocking fashion, submitting "Darth" with an improbable first round guillotine choke.
Tomorrow night (Aug. 6, 2011), the aging God of ground-and-pound will be featured in the UFC 133 main event opposite number one 205-pound division contender at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It's been a whirlwind, a dramatic turn of events and incredible reversal of fortune.
Sure, Ortiz needed a little luck (Phil Davis was injured), and he just so happened to be in the right place at the right time, but when a fighter has been around this long, he's bound to catch a few big breaks ... other than the facial variety.
On the eve of perhaps Ortiz' biggest fight, and the former light heavyweight champion has had a lot of them, we take a look back at his UFC Hall of Fame-worthy career. Let's travel back in time and check out his top five best and worst fights.