Video: The bizarre Tito Ortiz-Stephan Bonnar confrontation (and Scott Coker's reaction)

During Friday’s Bellator 123 event on Spike TV, new Bellator MMA President Scott Coker announced an upcoming bout between veteran light heavyweights Tito Ortiz (17-11-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and Stephan Bonnar (15-8 MMA, 0-0 BMMA).

Things only got weirder from there.

To promote the fight, which takes place Nov. 15 at Bellator 131 at San Diego’s Valley View Casino Center, the UFC Hall of Famers entered the cage for a somewhat bizarre confrontation.

Bonnar tried (unsuccessfully) to take Jimmy Smith’s microphone as a masked man stood next to him. Bonnar then said he’s been getting help from Ortiz’s former friends because they don’t like the “sack of crap” anymore. Former Ortiz training partner Justin McCully then was unmasked (twice, in fact, since there was both a hood and mask covering him). Bonnar then said he can’t wait to get hit by Ortiz’s punches and elbows “and be covered in blood so I can laugh at him.” He then talked about “poor” Jenna Jameson, Ortiz’s ex.

Ortiz then responded, calling both Bonnar and McCully “drug addicts,” saying Bonnar got too personal, briefly losing his train of thought, and then instigating a shoving match that concluded with Smith proudly claiming, “But I still have the mic!”

So, yeah.

“What you saw out there, I think, was serious heated emotion,” Coker said after the event. “I know Justin McCully. I don’t know what he means to Tito Ortiz. I don’t what happened, but obviously there’s some bad blood there between those two. And hence the mask. At first, I thought I was at a Japanese pro-wrestling event or something.”

And the fallout?

“I told Tito and Justin, ‘Calm down,'” he said. “I don’t know what the beef is, but they definitely have some beef. Tito was steaming. Even when he left, he was still pretty riled up. So it’s going to be interesting that Saturday night (at Bellator 131).”

“Interesting” is certainly one word for it.

For more on Bellator 131, check out MMA Rumors section of the site.