The UFC's poster boy, Tito Ortiz has been proving why he's the Huntington Beach Bad Boy and why he is the leader of Team Punishment. With every fight, his skills are getting sharper and sharper. This young man seems like a man among boys by imposing his will on every opponent and beating them to a pulp. Along with his skills within the ring, he is even more impressive in street clothes. Ortiz is a multi-level marketing juggernaut. He, not only can walk the walk, but he can talk the talk. Quite the eloquent speaker, Tito breaks down his opponents mentally during interviews, pumps up the fast approaching UFC, and pumps out more promo pictures than a Presidential candidate. Ortiz was in Hawaii to support one of his fighters and as a guest of the promoter at the Warrior's Quest on August 25, 2001. He entered the ring to promote the UFC, of course, and after the fight, was outside selling and signing his Team Punishment merchandise and taking pictures with his many fans all by himself. He is a genuinely nice guy outside the cage and his many fans were shocked when asking for a picture with Tito, he quickly stripped himself of his light heavyweight belt and placed it on their shoulder. If the Hawaii fans were not a Tito Ortiz fan before the fight, they are now. After every fan was satisfied, I popped out some questions to Tito about his upcoming fight against the "Phenom," Vitor Belfort.

Full Contact Fighter: Have you changed your training in any way in order to adapt to Vitor?
Tito Ortiz: Not really changed, but I've gone on to try to do a little more on my groundwork and my standup. Actually, standup more than anything because I plan on standing up with Vitor because it seems like he doesn't like to get hit so it's time to see how hard I can really hit him. That's what I've been working on and that's what I want to do.

FCF: What kind of Vitor do you expect to show up at the UFC, the past UFC punch heavy Vitor or the ground and pound Vitor as of late?
TO: I think the Vitor of past, that's for sure. He's going to come in at 205, that's the weight class so I expect him to be quick and ready to let his hands go. So, let's see how good his hands really are. That's what I really want to test.

FCF: Does it bother you that Vitor could handle a guy like Heath Herring when Herring has been smoking so many top big men?
TO: Heath Herrings a very, very big guy. He's a heavyweight, but Heath Herring doesn't have the quickness that I've got. I got speed, power [that] a lot of people don't have. They don't understand how strong I am for my size. Hopefully, I'll open up Vitor's eyes. I heard Vitor having a couple of interviews saying I'm a one-dimensional fighter. Jerry Bohlander said that same thing and people saw what I did to him.

FCF: How did you hook up with Carlson Gracie?
TO: Actually, Fabiano Iha talked to Carlson Gracie for me because they had a falling out between Vitor and him [Carlson]. So, I just brought Carlson in. I haven't really started working with him yet, but it's going to be for the future to work on my ground with him, to help me out with Vitor, just try to learn Vitor's secrets, any secrets he has and any strengths and weaknesses he has on the ground.

FCF: How do you see the fight going?
TO: Not past three rounds. That's for sure. Someone's going to get knocked out or the ref's going to stop it. I'm here and I'm going to punish him. I'm going to do what I do and that's take over the match from the beginning and try to manhandle him. I know a lot of people say he's strong, but I don't think he has the strength that I have, especially with him at 205, that's going to be his normal weight. I'm going to be weighing in at 205, but by fight time, I'll be a little bit heavier.

FCF: Do you see the fight going primarily standup or a mixture of standup and ground like most of your fights?
TO: My game plan is to keep it stand up at all time, but you never know when the fight happens. I mean, it could be ground, standup, but most likely I'm going to try to work my standup the most and try to kick and punch at him and see if he's ready for it.

FCF: Are there any changes that have been implemented due to the involvement of the boxing commissions that you do not care for (e.g. such as the modified weight classes, weigh in procedures, additional rules)?
TO: No, not at all. Everything they pretty much passed is what I standardly fight by and I'm happy. I'm just happy that they gave us the opportunity to show our stuff in the ring in Las Vegas. September 28th, there's going to be a super fight and it's going to be between me and Vitor Belfort.

FCF: With the way Chuck and yourself have been plowing through the competition, how do you feel about eventually having to fight Chuck to defend your title?
TO: If that time comes about, make sure that we make a lot of money because when me and Chuck fight, it's going to be a superb fight. It's probably going to be one of the best fights in mixed martial arts history, that's for sure.

FCF: The Randleman/Matsuyenko fight must be of importance to you because the winner of the fight may be your next opponent. Who do you see winning the fight?
TO: Whoever wins, I'm pretty much going to take a step back. I'm going to take about six months off after this fight. I've got some injuries I need to heal up and pretty much I'm just concentrating on this fight and letting it happen. So, whoever wins between them, I guess they will have to battle out a couple more light heavyweights before they get a chance at me because I worked so hard. I wanted to fight Belfort. A lot of people didn't want to fight Belfort like Frank Shamrock. He didn't fight Belfort. I'm stepping up to plate. It's time to fight the best to be the best and that's what my goal is.

FCF: Who would you rather fight, Randleman or Matsuyenko?
TO: Either one. Either one would be fine. I think I would knockout both of them so it's just a matter of time and a matter of seeing who's winning. I'm going to take on the challenger, but like I said, it's probably going to be next year.

FCF: You started off as a wrestler and have evolved to quite a heavy puncher and now we have seen your submission skills at Abu Dhabi. Where do you see your game going three or four fights down the road?
TO: My learning capacity is probably about 80% and I still have to get it to about 110 so all these light heavyweights, I'd be scared to fight me because I'm getting better and better and better as the fights go on. It just seems like I just keep learning and learning. I'm a young kid. I'm only 26, to me it feels young because I matured at a young age and it's going to be great for me. I feel sorry for the guys I fight because I'm going to keep punishing them. That's for sure.

FCF: Of the aspects, what do you feel that you have to work on the most?
TO: Not really anything in particular, I think overall with my boxing, my kickboxing, my wrestling, and my Jiu-Jitsu, just trying to make those stronger. I think I'm pretty balanced out, but I just need to work on them harder to make them better.

FCF: How much time do you give yourself to taper off before your fight?
TO: The week before I stop my sparring, but all the way up to the fight I run and hit pads. I keep my cardio up so I really don't take any time off at all.

FCF: Good luck on your fight.
TO: Thank you very much. For all my fans out there, get titoortiz.com and my new clothing line punishmentclothing.com.