Tito Ortiz
While he was still fighting in the UFC back in 2008, former light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz was lined up to appear as a contestant on ‘The Apprentice’ reality TV show, helmed by none other than Donald Trump.
Ortiz made it to week 9 of the 13 week run of the show before becoming the latest contestant to be fired by Trump, but the future President had good things to say about ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy.’
“I will tell you, you are really special,” Trump told Ortiz, adding, “I want to watch you do things beyond the fighting, because boy do you have talent.”
A few months later when Trump began talking about potentially offering Ortiz the chance to fight for Affliction.
“I think Tito’s terrific,” Trump said during a media call for Affliction: Banned’. “He was on The Apprentice. … He was not only a nice guy — and that’s very different than he is in the ring — he was really very talented and very smart. I think he likes me a lot and I like him a lot. That doesn’t mean he’s signed a contract, but I think Tito would love to be with us.”
That deal never came to fruition, but Ortiz has been a big supporter of Trump in the years since and was even seen chanting ‘Build that wall’ at a Trump rally in 2016, despite his own father being Mexican.
