No deal

Tito Ortiz made his official return to the UFC on Friday and will likely fight at UFC’s New Year’s Eve weekend show in Las Vegas. But the MMA outfit can’t sign Russian fighter Fedor

Tito Ortiz is back in the UFC; Fedor Emelianenko might never join.

That was the news today when Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White held a news conference that earlier in the week appeared to be scheduled to introduce Emelianenko — considered mixed martial arts’ most talented fighter — as a new signee.

“Trust me when I tell you, we did everything we could to make it happen,” White said. “It’s insanity that he turned this down. We were willing to make a deal at all costs.”

The sticking point, as Emelianenko’s camp revealed Wednesday, is the Russian fighter’s M-1 promotional company insisting it be a co-promoter of two or three matches Emelianenko would fight in the UFC. White said that simply can’t happen because of obstacles such as gaming license provisions connected to the UFC ownership group, and his group’s position that, “We built this industry. They want to come in now and take half our business? That [stuff] probably works in Russia. Not here.”

White declined to call the negotiations dead. But he said Emelianenko (30-1 fighting in other organizations) “won’t get a better deal,” and is obviously not that interested in taking on the world’s best heavyweights, including UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and veteran champ Randy Couture.

Meanwhile, Ortiz and White patched up their differences that led to the fighter’s contract not being renewed after his May loss to current UFC light-heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida. Ortiz, the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” said he’s undergone back surgery and is ready to challenge again for the title or stage a third fight with UFC legend Chuck Liddell. “I never mind beating him up,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz said a likely return date is the UFC’s annual New Year’s Eve weekend show in Las Vegas.

White also announced that Temecula’s Dan Henderson is being replaced in the September UFC main event in Dallas by Vitor Belfort, another MMA veteran re-signed by the UFC. Henderson will get the first shot to fight middleweight champ Anderson Silva after Silva’s fight next month against Forrest Griffin, White said.

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