Last week we learned that there is going to be a boxing match between two UFC legends next month. Anderson Silva and Tito Ortiz are set to face each other on a Triller card on September 11th.
The boxing match will serve as the co-main event of the card. The headliner is a boxing match between former UFC champion Vitor Belfort and all time boxing great, Oscar De La Hoya.
Originally, there were talks to have Silva take on Logan Paul next. However, those talks appeared to have stalled out and The Spider shifted his focus to a boxing match with another fellow UFC legend.
This will be Tito Ortiz’s first professional boxing match. Ortiz has always been known as a wrestler-first mixed martial artist. Ortiz made his career on taking his opponents down and using his tremendous ground and pound from the top.
That said, Ortiz can handle his own with the boxing gloves. We have seen him land some big shots in his career like when he dropped Ryan Bader. That said, Ortiz is expected to be a massive underdog heading into this matchup on September 11th.
Silva Boxing Scared?
One interesting note about this boxing match is the weight. Ortiz has fought at light heavyweight virtually his entire career in MMA. Of course, the light heavyweight limit is 205 pounds.
Silva has predominately competed at 185 pounds. However, we’ve seen him go up to light heavyweight on multiple occasions and fight at 205 pounds. With that in mind, I think the majority of the world believed the boxing match would take place at 205 pounds.
However, that’s not the case. While negotiating the contract, Silva insisted that the fight take place at 195 pounds. Worth noting that Ortiz has never fought at that weight in his professional career. Ortiz was not a fan of Silva’s demands and he believes it’s a sign of fear.
In speaking to TMZ Sports, Ortiz said, “To do what he did with the contract, I lost respect for him (Silva). He wants me down to 195. He’s fought at 205 six times in his career and he wants me down to 195. It shows that he’s afraid of my power.”