UFC boss Dana White watched Ortiz-Sonnen at Bellator 170 – and 'there's no way in hell' it was fixed

We’re 10 days removed from Tito Ortiz’s submission of Chael Sonnen in his retirement fight at Bellator 170, and there’s still just a little bit of talk left over for it.

After Ortiz (19-12-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) beat Sonnen (29-15-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) to tap to a choke in Bellator 170’s main event (watch the highlights above), some viewers said the only way to explain Ortiz’s win as a 2-1 underdog is that things weren’t on the up and up.

Ortiz spoke out against that, big time. So did referee John McCarthy. And on Tuesday, a defense of Ortiz’s rear-naked choke win came from what most people might consider a pretty unlikely source: UFC President Dana White.

White used to manage Ortiz early in his career. But he gave that up when he became UFC president. Their relationship was an up-and-down one, by most accounts, after that. Ortiz became a UFC light heavyweight champion. Eventually, he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. But ultimately, he came out of retirement and signed with Bellator, the UFC’s main competitor.

But White said those saying Ortiz’s win was anything less than legitimate should think again.

Tito Ortiz and Dana White

“It was my first (time watching a) Bellator event,” White said on the “UFC Unfiltered” podcast with hosts Jim Norton and Matt Serra. “I watched it, and both guys are 40-something years old. It was basically a retirement fight, and a lot of people were calling it a fix. There’s no way.”

Ortiz had to survive an early choke from Sonnen and reverse things to get a choke of his own. He cinched it in after one elbow from the top was enough to make Sonnen quickly give his back in the first round of the light-heavyweight fight between UFC veterans.

White said Ortiz’s strength alone should be enough for critics to understand just how he could get hold of Sonnen’s neck and get him to tap. Plus, the 39-year-old Sonnen was returning to competition for the first time in more than three years and was without a win since August 2013. Ortiz was returning from a layoff of more than a year. He turned 42 two days after his win.

“Here’s one of the things a lot of people don’t realize about Tito Ortiz,” White said. “Tito Ortiz – this (expletive) guy is so strong. He put me in a neck crank one time and almost popped my (expletive) neck off my shoulders. This guy is physically very strong. And I think his ground game is very underrated because Tito would always get that top position and ground-and-pound people.

“I don’t think Chael has fought or won a fight since 2013, or that ballpark somewhere. … You take that much time off, and that’s what a fight’s going to look like. … There’s no way in hell that was a work. I’d love to come on here and (expletive) all over Bellator, but there’s no way that was a work. The thing you’ve got to remember, he’s a good wrestler, (but) never was Chael some big jiu-jitsu guy. And when Tito Ortiz is cranking your (expletive) head off, you’re 40 (expletive) years old … maybe I should tap out here.”

For more on Bellator 170, check out the MMA Events section of MMAjunkie.