Tito Ortiz denies Jenna Jameson's allegations, turns focus to custody battle

UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz takes a deep breath before he answers. Long one of the most outspoken men in the sport of MMA, he briefly considers just how much he wants to reveal. But as he weighs the reality staring up at him on a computer screen, he decides to go all in.

“I wasn’t going to talk about it, but my kids are down for a nap right now,” Ortiz told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I just took an hour nap, myself, because I get up at 6 a.m. every morning, and I take care of these kids Monday through Saturday. I have a nanny that comes in and helps me because Jenna doesn’t want to be a mom. She has a problem, and I don’t want to bash her because she’s the mother of my children. But I’ve tried to help somebody for the last seven years. I tried to make a family, and it’s hard to do that when somebody else doesn’t want to contribute.

“I just look at it as I can’t help somebody that doesn’t want to be helped. She can try and bash me as much as possible. The only thing it’s hurting is my children.”

Ortiz was speaking just moments after Jenna Jameson, his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his twin boys, had taken to Twitter to bash the former UFC champ for allegedly preventing her from seeing their children, as well as to accuse Ortiz of drug use. On the latter charge, Jameson went so far as to post pictures of what she said was Ortiz’s drawer, though the most damning feature of the shot was a few syringes and a bottle of prescription-strength ibuprofen.

“She accused me of drug use,” Ortiz said. “I’ve been in the UFC for 15 years. I’ve taken drug tests at every single one of my fights. I take them months before my fight, a month before my fight, right before my fight, after the fight. She can try to bash me as much as possible, but it is what it is. When someone has a problem like she does, she can’t help herself. I tried for seven years to help her. Right now, it’s just about my children.

“I’m here every single day supporting my kids. She had an opportunity to see her kids, and all of a sudden, she calls the monitor saying she can’t do it today. I don’t understand it. I don’t want to bash her. I work hard for my children. That’s it. I tried to help somebody who doesn’t want to be helped. That’s it. She can sit here and bash me all she wants on social media. Her fans can believe her. But I’m going to court right now.”

Ortiz said he and Jameson are currently in the middle of what’s proving to be a very bitter battle over custody of the twin boys, Jesse and Journey, who are now 4 years old. But he insists he’s never tried to prevent Jameson from seeing her kids. Instead, he said it’s actually Jameson, a former adult film star, who has struggled to meet the terms of the court-ordered monitored visitation.

“She has opportunities to see her children,” Ortiz said. “She hasn’t shown up. She flakes out. I’m just trying to do the right things for my kids right now. I’m taking care of myself. I have a nanny helping me, and I’m trying to do the right thing for my children. The only thing she’s doing on the Internet right now bashing me is hurting my children. If people believe the things she says, I can’t do anything about it. People who know the kind of person I am, they can see how I am with my children. My true fans know how I am with my kids.

“No. 1 is my children. I’m not out doing appearances at strip clubs and partying with people and going crazy. I’m here with my kids. From 6 a.m. to 8 o’clock at night. Monday through Friday, I’m waking them up, I’m feeding them, I’m putting clothes on their back, I’m taking them to school and dropping them off. I come back home and take an hour nap, I go back and pick them up from school, take them home, go for a walk with them, feed them, put them down for a nap and then spend the day with them. Then I shower them, feed them dinner and get them ready for bed and put them down. I have a nanny that comes in and helps me clean and so forth, but I need some help. For her not to want to be here, I have no explanation for it.”

Today’s spat isn’t the first time the high-profile couple has bickered in public. Jameson has often aired the pair’s dirty laundry via Twitter, and the two were featured prominently in the news in 2010 when Ortiz was arrested on charges of domestic violence. At the time, Ortiz claimed that Jameson was addicted to Oxycontin, and she later withdrew the charges.

“I just sit back and let her do her own thing, and hopefully she doesn’t try to ruin my career like she has already from way back when in 2010 when she said that I assaulted her,” Ortiz said. “That was ridiculous. I’m 230 pounds and a former UFC world champion. She’s 100 pounds. For her to say that I ever assaulted her? For anyone to even believe that, they’re just lost and believing someone who has a problem who lost herself. I’ll just let the truth speak when I win full custody of these kids.”

Ortiz (16-11-1 MMA, 15-11-1 UFC), who walked away from fighting after his July 2012 loss to Forrest Griffin, has undergone surgery on his back and knee since his retirement and is currently working on building a management firm. He was once one of the sport’s most dominant champions, though he finished his career on a disappointing 1-7-1 run. Whether coincidentally or not, that slide ran simultaneously with Ortiz’s relationship with Jameson.

“I just try to be honest and never step on anybody to get ahead and show my kids the right way to live,” Ortiz said. “I’m doing that. Jenna never had a mother. Her father was never there, but I can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. I’m just trying to do the right thing and take care of my kids and do what’s right and not hurt my kids’ future. She’s doing that already by going on the Internet and saying that I have drug abuse and I faked drug tests for the UFC and this and that. Whatever. I worked hard. I had been a world champion before I even knew the chick. Since I’ve been with the girl, I’ve tried to help her, and I went outside my box to try to help. She ruined me. What, I won two fights since I was with her and lost seven?

“I went through so much drama. All my fans know all the problems I had with her during my fights. It seems like every time that I had a fight coming up, she was getting a DUI or she was on the Internet or she was partying and just kind of ruining me mentally before my fights. I had enough with her, and I walked away, and I took full custody of the kids. For her to say that I keep her from seeing her kids is B.S. I give her the opportunity, and she flakes. She doesn’t show up. We have monitored visits. She calls the monitor and says she can’t show up or that she can’t afford it and this and that, but she’s out every week celebrating her birthday. She’s on her 12th celebration this coming Friday in New York. I don’t understand it.

“I don’t want to ruin the girl, but for her to try to ruin my name like she has before, I have to stand up for myself. I have to stand up for the future of my children and my career in general. I didn’t want to talk about this before, but after today, I’m afraid of what’s going to happen next. I’m just being completely honest. None of the things she’s saying are true, at all. Zero. And everything will be proved in court. I just feel bad for my kids because they’re the ones that are going to suffer from this in the long run.”

Ortiz said there is zero chance he and Jameson will resume a romantic relationship. Instead, he’s focused on moving forward as a father and providing a better life for his children than the one he experienced in his own youth. It’s a process he admits has been painful, but he believes Jameson’s latest outburst further solidifies his position.

“I lost myself,” Ortiz said. “I’m trying to find myself back and be happy. There’s a woman out there who will make me very happy. I’m sick of crying. I’m sick of trying to worry about somebody who doesn’t want to be helped. I walked away, and for the first time in my life, I’m actually happy. I can wake up every day and not have to worry about stuff missing from my home. I don’t have to worry about people stealing stuff from me. I don’t have to worry about bad people being in my home. I can trust who’s around my kids.

“I used to have the nanny calling me saying, ‘Tito, you need to get home before something bad happens.’ I just am really trying to do the right things for my children and trying to live in a home that I feel safe coming home to, and that’s No. 1. I think every father should have that feeling. This is my sanctuary. This is my home, and I worked really, really hard to get it. It took me 25 years of working hard to get where I am right now, and I am where I am because I dreamt about it, and I wanted to make it happen. I made it happen, and I’m just trying to do the right things for my kids.”

In the meantime, Ortiz said he will refrain from public spats with Jameson and hopes she’s able to also make peace with their current situation.

“I walked away because I don’t want her to ruin my name anymore,” Ortiz said. “I tried to help her, but I can’t help. I’m just afraid of what the future holds. Usually when things like this happen, when someone isn’t in the limelight anymore and they have a pretty big problem, they end up committing suicide or something like that. I just hope this never happens with her. I hope she’s able to pull herself out of the trenches and get sober and think about her children, in general. I really hope that happens. I do.”