Tito gives his side of Lee Murray fight
Tito Ortiz: “He never knocked me out. No one’s ever knocked me out in fact. Because I’ve got too big of a head. C’mon peoples.”
It is one of the great unsubstantiated stories in MMA history.
One the one side, ‘Lightning’ Lee Murray, an MMA fighter currently serving time in Morocco for possession of hard drugs. Further, Lee is wanted by the authorities in England as he has been sentenced in British court to 25 years for masterminding the Securitas depot robbery, the largest cash robbery in British history. On the other side, MMA legend Tito Ortiz.
Some claim that Murray knocked out Ortiz in front of a London nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning after UFC 38 in July 2002. There may or may not be tape of whatever happened, but it has never surfaced, so it has come down to a he said, he said.
Matt Hughes is among those who said Murray knocked Ortiz unconscious; that account was backed up by Pat Miletich. However, in an interview with WHOA TV, Ortiz gave his side, and offered proof the UG cannot but agree with – “I’ve got too big of a head.”
“We went out after the fights,” began Ortiz, who was in town for Bellator 158. “Club was actually rented out. We had some drinks. One of my buddies hopped on Pat Miletich’s back. He kind of flinged him off and one of Lee Murray’s buddies, I guess Paul [Allen], sucker punched my best friend in the face – knocked him out, as I walked outside the club. I took a swing at him, and it was a melee.
“Me, Chuck Liddell, Damien, my friend who had just been knocked out, it became a complete fist fight in the streets in front of China White, which is a night club. I chased Lee Murray down and he turned around and posed off to me. I slid into him and he punched me.
“Dropped me to my knee, and at the time I had just had knee surgery. I had an ACL replacement a month prior. I clinched him, kneed him in the face a couple of times.
“Cops ripped us apart, said they were going to spray some mace.
“I go ‘Good luck’ and the cop never did. We dispersed and went out own ways. My buddy went to the hospital. Had 22 stitches in his face. It was some bad decisions … none of us were acting right. Bad responsibility. But at the end of the day, [best friend] ended up with 22 stitches in his face. We were supposed to go to Amsterdam the next day, never did. Blew the whole weekend.
“It was one of those things were you look back, and you learn from the bad decisions of what alcohol can do. It is what it is.
“All of a sudden 14 years later I am still fighting, still doing this. Sad to see Lee Murray is in prison. Still in prison. After pulling one of the biggest heists I believe in England’s history. I don’t know how much he did. I believe it was somewhere around 100 million pounds, which is ridiculous. I’m not sure of those numbers, but life is different now.”
Ortiz was the asked to clarify, did he slip or did Murray drop him?
“He hit me with a punch, dropped me to my knee. I came up and clinched him. Kneed him in the face. He never knocked me out. No one’s ever knocked me out in fact. Because I’ve got too big of a head. C’mon peoples.”