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‘Bellator 170: Ortiz vs. Sonnen’ takes place on January 21st at the Forum in Los Angeles. The night features headliners Tito Ortiz(18-21-1) and Chael Sonnen(28-14-1) and the co-main event pitting Paul Daley(38-14-2) against Brennan Ward(14-4) at welterweight. Further, Ralek Gracie(3-0) meets Hisaki Kato(7-2) in a middleweight feature fight, while Georgi Karakhanyan(26-6-1) takes on Emmanuel Sanchez(13-3).
Ahead of Bellator 170, headliners Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen, co-main event stars Brennan Ward and Paul Daley, as well as Bellator head Scott Coker participated in a media conference call.
The stars of Bellator 170’s co-main event - Paul Daley and Brennan Ward - are both well-known to be dangerous finishers - According to it are Ward’s expectations for the fight:
“They don’t just line two guys up like Paul and I for no reason – on a card like this, that is probably the biggest card of the year and one of the biggest Bellator cards of all-time”
“They’re putting our matchup on there for a reason. They know fireworks are going to go off and they know this fight isn’t going the distance. Paul and I end fights. It’s what we do. Like he said, we’re going to put on the most exciting fight of the night for sure.”
Although Paul Daley pulled out of his fight against Derek Anderson at ‘Bellator 163’, despite making weight, he agrees with Brennan who expects ‘fireworks’ on January 21st:
“Things didn’t go according to plan at the last event that I was scheduled to compete in. I made the weight, but it was what happened after that was the problem. Those problems were ironed out and we should have everything back on track and I’m ready to compete in what is going to be the most exciting fight on the card.”
Ward and Daley follow headliners Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen into the Bellator cage and as so many verbal punches were exchanged and juice boxes smashed already, an explosive bout is to be expected as well.
On his verbal exchange with Tito Ortiz, Chael Sonnen commented: “Man, it’s painful. It was painful just listening to him read through that list of notes. He just rattled off all of his bullets right there in one answer and I think he asked to go to the bathroom during it, which was a little weird.”
Sonnen went on: “I don’t care, I never thought about Tito Ortiz. I didn’t come to this organization to fight Tito Ortiz. I’ve been chasing Wanderlei Silva around, but Wanderlei is busy until the summer. They called me and asked if I’d fight Tito on January 21st and I didn’t have anything else going on, so I said yes.”
Tito Ortz replied: “This guy knows that he bit off a little more than he can chew. I’ve been through 20 years of competition, won world titles, and stepped into that cage over and over again. The proof is in the pudding. I’m sitting here listening to the tone that Chael has and it sounds like he’s drowning and on January 21st, he’s going to be drowning in his own blood.” – Sonnen: “I told you he was out of bullets! I warned you ahead of time!”
For Tito Ortiz, Chael Sonnen is going to be the last opponent of his career and he wants to prove he still got what it takes: I’ve been at work now for three years. I came from the UFC and Bellator gave me a chance to reinvigorate my career and I want to leave on my own terms. I want to leave respectfully.”
“Chael says he’s fighting because he’s jealous and that’s the wrong way to come into a fight. I’m going in to get redemption and to me Chael is my enemy. This is no game, this is nothing fun, this is what I do for a living. I train and I go out to try and hurt my opponent. I know what I need to do.”
“I need to defend the takedown, I need to watch out for the punches, I need to watch out for the guillotine. I know all of the moves that Chael has done and my job is to go in and destroy him. On January 21st, two days before my birthday, I want to get the ‘Fight of the Night’.”
“I hope Chael’s in great shape because when I’m on top of him he’s going to shit himself. I’m going to throw my elbows through his face and like I said, this is no joke. This is serious to me because my family’s watching, my kids are watching, and all of my fans are watching. I’ve given so much for this and I’ve sacrificed everything. I sacrificed my Thanksgiving, Christmas and my New Year’s for this.”
For Chael Sonnen on the other hand, this fight will mark his comeback, as well as his debut under the Bellator MMA banner. Therefore Sonnen is as keen on winning as Ortiz, however, he appears a bit more relaxed than his opponent:
“I want to compete at Bellator. I want to be a champion, get to the top, and compete with all the guys. I want to find a weight class.”
“I can tell you as far as training, working hard and being prepared, that’s what I do. I do it every day. I will bring my skills to the fight and if they’re enough I’ll win; If they’re not, I won’t. “
“I haven’t missed a practice, a run, a workout, a sparring session; I go every day. I go to practice every day no matter what, twice a day. There are parts when I’ll pick up the intensity and work a little harder and then there are parts when I’ll take a break to get a drink of water, but it doesn’t change for me. I’m ready to go, that’s it.”
Asked about the recently going around clip of him and Ortiz wrestling in college, Chael Sonnen said: “Look, Tito’s a great fighter. He was a hell of a wrestler… I caught him in one position in that match, I’m not hanging my hat on that. I’m pumped to be in there and compete against a Hall of Famer like Tito. I’m going to do everything I can to beat him, but I don’t dismiss how good this guy is.”
If you are interested in listening to the entire media call, you can do so in the video below:
Complete “Bellator 170: Ortiz vs. Sonnen” Main Card:
Light Heavyweight Main Event: Tito Ortiz (18-12-1) vs. Chael Sonnen (28-14-1)
Welterweight Co-Main Event: Paul Daley (38-14-2) vs. Brennan Ward (14-4)
Middleweight Main Card Bout: Ralek Gracie (3-0) vs. Hisaki Kato (7-2)
Featherweight Main Card Bout: Georgi Karakhanyan (26-6-1) vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (13-3)
Lightweight Main Card Bout: Derek Campos (17-6) vs. Derek Anderson (14-2, 1 NC)
Bellator.com-Streamed Preliminary Card:
Featherweight Preliminary Bout: Chinzo Machida (4-2) vs. Jamar Ocampo (2-0)
Heavyweight Preliminary Bout: Jack May (8-3) vs. Dave Cryer (11-2)
Featherweight Preliminary Bout: Henry Corrales (12-3) vs. Cody Bollinger (19-6)
Middleweight Preliminary Bout: Kevin Casey (9-5-1, 2 NC) vs. Keith Berry (15-13)
Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Guilherme “Bomba” Vasconcelos (8-3) vs. John Mercurio (8-7)
Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Gabriel Green (3-0) vs. Jalin Turner (2-2)
Catchweight Preliminary Bout: Christian Gonzalez (2-0) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (2-0)
Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Jacob Rosales (4-2) vs. Ian Butler (3-2)
Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Johnny Cisneros (9-5) vs. Curtis Millender (9-3)
Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Mike Segura (4-4) vs. Tommy Aaron (2-1)
Bantamweight Preliminary Bout: Rob Gooch (4-3) vs. James Barnes (6-2)
Flyweight Preliminary Bout: Rebecca Ruth (6-2) vs. Colleen Schneider (10-7)
