Since Ortiz' last unanimous decision loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 84, he has been seen ringside at more MMA shows than Kevin James. Before EliteXC's demise, he was allegedly close to a deal with that promotion.
In early August, Tito announced he was "in line to become the highest paid MMA fighter in history when a "ground-breaking" deal between the free-agent fighter and Affliction is announced as early as Wednesday (August 6, 2008)".
The two factors that jump out at me regarding Tito's latest guarantee are 1) that he expects to heal from a back surgery in 7 months that took fellow MMA fighter Nate Quarry 15 months to recover from, and 2) that he still thinks he can come back to the UFC after his acrimonious split with that organization and it's President Dana White.
Tito is one of MMA's best known personalities whose last victory (not counting Ken Shamrock) was a paperthin and controversial split decision against current UFC champ Forrest Griffin at UFC 59. He is still a big name fan favorite amongst many fans.
A deal with Strikeforce or upstart Affliction would probably be the best fit for Ortiz as far as paydays available, as well as opportunities to extend his fight career.
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