Dana White has accused Tito Ortiz of being too afraid to fight him all these years after the latter didn’t show up during the weigh-ins of their pre-decided bout years ago. But Ortiz has now come up with his side of the story, which has made a shocking revelation.

As part of their ongoing feud, White and Ortiz were all set to lock horns in an exhibition boxing match in 2007. But, as mentioned before, Ortiz didn’t show up during the weigh-ins and seven years later, White claimed that Ortiz was a ‘no-show’ only because he was too afraid to fight him. According to White, he used to beat Ortiz regularly when they used to train together years ago.

But Ortiz finally opened up about his side of the story on Paddy Pimblett’s Chattin Pony Podcast recently (h/t Bloody Elbow).

“It was supposed to be 50/50 [split] on any money that was revenue from the fight,” Ortiz said. 

“And then when it came about to the contract to sign — and I’ve always signed a bout agreement for a fight that I was doing — that wasn’t in it. I wasn’t making anything of it. It was a lose-lose situation for me.

“They were negotiating one of my contracts and I said to Lorenzo, ‘We need to put this clause in that Dana and I will box. On TV.’ We were supposed to do it on Spike and ended up … the contract came and said I was making zero off of it. I was like, ‘Hold on a second, I thought you said we’d do 50/50?’ He’s like, ‘No, we can’t do that.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m not fighting. But just don’t go on the scale and say Tito’s a no-show and he’s afraid to fight me.’ Well, s***. That’s exactly what he did,” Ortiz added.

Ortiz mentioned how he could never think of fighting anyone for free, and how White was doing it only to make a name for himself. It was a lose-lose situation for Ortiz but a totally win-win situation for White.

Bit Ortiz backed up White’s statement that he used to beat Ortiz in training but also mentioned that White didn’t share the complete story.

“I and Dana used to spar a lot when I first got into it because I never knew how to box,” Ortiz said. “And as I got the better of him, and I got bigger and I got faster and I got stronger, I was the world champion, he’s like, ‘Alright, me and you can’t spar anymore.’ And I go, ‘Why??’ He goes, ‘Because you’re f****** hurting me, man!’ I’m like. ‘Alright, that’s fine.’”

The clash between White and Ortiz became a defining feature during the early years of the UFC and it continued for a long time as well. But Ortiz mentioned that he does regret how things turned so sour between them over the years.