Tito Ortiz Says He Nearly Fought Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 172

Tito Ortiz spoke with MMAjunkie for a new interview. The highlights are below:

On offering to step in for Matt Mitrione to fight Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 172: “I looked over at (Bellator President) Scott Coker, and this was probably two hours before the fight, and he said, ‘You know what? If you’d told me three hours ago, we would have been working on it.'”

On almost coming back from retirement due to the offer: “I said hell with it. I was in fight shape at the time. It was only three weeks after my fight, and I was still in fight shape. If they needed me at that time, it was one time I would have done it…They sat and thought about it for a good hour-and-a-half and said, ‘We can’t do it that quick,’ and I said alright. It was a one-time chance, and that’s it. I moved on.”