5. Couture Spanks Ortiz- UFC 44
Coming into UFC 44, Ortiz was still the poster-child for the UFC. His face was on all the posters, DVD covers, and promotional materials. In fact, had Tito not been as marketable as he was, there is no guarantee Zuffa would have even decided to purchase the company.
But by the time this fight took place, many were claiming that Ortiz was ducking challenges from Chuck Liddell. All of a sudden, Ortiz did not look like the world-beating 5x defending LHW champion that he was. When Couture defeated Liddell at UFC 43, it set up this LHW title match with Ortiz. It would be the last time Ortiz would hold an MMA championship.
Couture would win a unanimous decision victory, but the way he closed out the victory is what lands their rivalry on this list. Ortiz was deep into his “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” persona at this time, a contrast to Couture’s clean-cut Captain America image. After controlling Ortiz most of the fight, Couture decided to let Ortiz know what he thought about him by literally spanking him repeatedly on the backside. I’m not sure anyone has lost their championship in more embarrassing fashion.
Spanking occurs at about 13:43 into the video:
