Tito Ortiz responds to Dana White, denies advising Cris ‘Cyborg' to turn down Ronda Rousey fight at UFC 157

Retired from mixed martial arts (MMA) competition or not, Tito Ortiz is still able to grab a headline.

Unfortunately this time, Ortiz is in the news for his alleged actions as a fight manager, not a competitor.

Following Thursday's UFC on FOX 5 pre-fight press conference in Seattle, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White introduced Ronda Rousey as the first female champion in UFC history, as well as announced her first title defense for Feb. 23, 2013, against Liz Carmouche.

Many wondered why Rousey was not fighting Cris "Cyborg" Santos and White replied, saying Santos' manager -- former UFC light heavyweight champion Ortiz -- advised his client not to take the fight. Ortiz, who operates Primetime 360 Entertainment & Sports Management Inc., in California, took to Twitter on Friday afternoon where he promptly denied White's comments.

"That was never said!" Ortiz wrote. "Cyborg will fight her anytime anywhere at 145. Cris said she would kill herself trying to make 135. I won't allow it either should the UFC or Dana."

Given the context of Ortiz's tweet, he is essentially saying he never advised "Cyborg" against going to 135 pounds, but that he "won't allow it."

How are those two different? Not sure. Ortiz saying it's not allowed is almost worse than simply giving career advice to one of his clients.

The contested weight for a Rousey vs. "Cyborg" fight has been the issue all along. After weeks of firmly stating there's no way she could make 135 pounds, the Brazilian recently said she would be able to make the weight if given the proper amount of time.

When White spoke with media members on Thursday, he appeared optimistic about Rousey facing "Cyborg" if and when she gets by Carmouche at UFC 157. However, Ortiz does not think his client should have to cut 10 more pounds to take the fight, despite bantamweight being the only weight class the UFC is booking female fights for at this point.

"Cris wants the fight, fans want the fight so does the UFC," he wrote. "If Ronda is such a great fighter why doesn't she fight at a weight she started at? This is no different then Silva cutting to 170 to fight GSP. It's not healthy period."

The whole situation is getting a bit dramatic. White says one thing, Rousey says another, "Cyborg" says another and Ortiz says yet another.

It's likely that the truth in all this is somewhere in the middle, but for now, it's totally irrelevant.

Rousey is fighting Carmouche at UFC 157 and there is plenty of time between now and and fight night for all parties involved to find a resolution to the situation and book what would be the biggest fight in the history of female MMA.