TITO ORTIZ AND OSCAR DE LA HOYA TALK FEDOR

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TITO ORTIZ AND OSCAR DE LA HOYA TALK FEDOR
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 - by Ken Pishna - MMAWeekly.com

(Photo courtesy of Tom Casino)

After several months out of the spotlight, former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz resurfaced not as a fighter, but as a part of the Affliction commentating team for Saturday's "Day of Reckoning" event in Anaheim, Calif.

At a Tuesday press conference in New York, Ortiz, along with famed boxer Oscar De La Hoya weighed in on the heavyweight main event of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski. De La Hoya represents Golden Boy Promotions, Affliction's promotional partner.

"Yeah! He’s shown that time and time again he can take a punch and come back and deliver devastating punches and choke people out," commented Ortiz when asked if Fedor is the best heavyweight fighter of all time. "He’s shown heart and determination time and again. He’s unstoppable, amazing.

"Against Tim Sylvia, Fedor stopped him in 36 seconds. That’s something no one has ever done before."

He didn't take anything away from Arlovski, his fellow former UFC champion, adding, "But Arlovski is tough too. I think Fedor would have done his homework by now and he’ll be ready for a fight. We’ll just have to wait and see who gets their hand raised in the ring come Saturday."

De La Hoya's assessment of the fight was more of a promoter's perspective. "This really is a historical event. You have two fighters that really are the best. If there is one fight you want to watch, it’s this one. Come Saturday night, people will witness the best fighters out there in their division. This is history."

"Golden Boy got involved because who does not want to be involved in the greatest MMA event?" he added when queried about the involvement of the company that bears his moniker. "I believe we can be one of the premiere promoters in the MMA world. A little competition never hurt anyone."

Emelianenko is currently ranked as the No. 1 heavyweight fighter in the world by MMAWeekly.com. The challenger to his WAMMA sanctioned heavyweight title, Arlovski, currently sits at No. 4 in the MMAWeekly.com World MMA Rankings.