Bellator 170: "Ortiz vs. Sonnen" comes to The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., this weekend (Sat., Jan. 21, 2017), featuring a stacked card with a historic main event between "Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz, which will mark the final fight of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, against "The Bad Guy" Chael Sonnen.
To promote the Spike TV-televised event, the promotion will today hold a media press conference at the new VIACOM headquarters in Hollywood. Even though it is not open to the public, MMAmania.com has your exclusive all access pass. Indeed, watch the entire Bellator 170 press conference -- starting at 3 p.m ET -- streaming in the video player above and continue down below for a recap of the press conference, including and any notable words (or deeds) from those in attendance.
Senior Vice President of Spike Sports Jon Slusser will be speaking along with main card fighters Tito Ortiz, Chael Sonnen, Brennan Ward, Paul Daley, Ralek Gracie and Hisaki Kato.
Scott Coker says they plan to go to 8-9 international locations in 2017 and announcements will be coming, and praises all the free agent acquisitions they made in 2016 including Chael Sonnen. He thanks Spike, Jon Slusser, Kevin Kay and all of their various sponsors.
Tito Ortiz: "Having eight major surgeries in my career starting in 2003, my biggest enemy has been my body because I push myself so hard. After the fight's over I fix myself. I'm literally the million dollar man from all the surgeries I've had. 20 years is good enough for me. This is my kingdom and on Saturday night I'm going to roar. I'm gonna hurt him."
Scott Coker says they'll announce a new opponent for Colleen Schneider later today.
Paul Daley: "First off us in Great Britain, we started this shit. We started fighting. Fighting's in our blood. The support that we're getting from the media and the fans is doing great, creating stars, putting on big fights. For me I'm very proud to be a fighter from England."
Chael Sonnen: "I like distractions. I don't even know what Tito's doing here. I came to fight Wanderlei Silva. I love having distractions, I don't like days off. Tito Ortiz shows up in a suit for the only job where you don't need to wear one, looking like a maître d' at Golden Corral."
Scott Coker: "Any fighter male or female at the top of their weight class we'll be talking to if we haven't already."
Tito Ortiz: "All I've been thinking about is just beating Chael. That's it. Being a quitter, or being a winner, Saturday night will show. He talks well. His mouth has gotten him every big fight he's ever had. When I get my hand raised I'll know why."
Chael Sonnen: "Only person I know who made money using her mouth is his ex-wife."
Tito Ortiz: "Just to clarify I was never married. You're a fucking punk dude."
Brennan Ward: "Me and Paul, we're going to stand and bang, there's no question about that. It's not going to be no wrestling match out there. I'm giving the fans what they're tuning in to see. Two of the most exciting guys, that's me and Paul, it would be an injustice to you guys if we didn't stand and bang."
Scott Coker: "We talked about (Rampage) fighting at the end of March and we're just looking for an opponent or a location. Maybe we'll have something next week or maybe Saturday night -- we'll see."
Scott Coker: "We received a mandate from the top on down that if they're free (agents) and they can move the needle, go after them."
Tito Ortiz: "This little hyena I'm going to eat right through him. It's good, it fuels me. You hear that snoring noise? That's what you're going to hear in the second round of the fight. You're a good comedian man, that's about it. You're an actor. You're on The Apprentice because of me. You're a fighter because of me. You call yourself a legend, what have you done that's legendary besides talk?"
Chael Sonnen: "There's never been a round in fighting where a judge has said 'Which guy had a fire lit under his ass?' My music hits, I'll grab that mouthpiece, and I'll walk to that cage. That's it. The second the ref says go I will and whatever happens after that I do not know but I'll be ready to fight."
Paul Daley: "I am the British boy from the streets of Nottingham, drinking pints, eating kabobs, slapping people. I take great pleasure in coming over here and whooping some Yank ass. Since Scott's been here at Bellator things have been going well for me. They keep putting me on these big cards giving me these big opportunities. It's surreal to be sitting here with guys like Chael and Tito Ortiz. Those guys are gonna have a hard time beating what me and Brennan Ward are going to do on Saturday night. We're just gonna fight, that's what we do."
Tito Ortiz: "At the time (I considered retirement) in 2012 my kids came first and I had to get away from a company that was disrespectful to me, so I walked away. I got a hold of Bellator, they wanted to sign me, and I wanted to fight. When I walked away I wasn't happy about it. I wanted to walk away saying 'Yes I gave it my all. I did what I wanted to do.' This is just the perfect ending to a perfect story."
Chael Sonnen: "I came from a wrestling background. I took on four, five, six guys in one day. You never knew who your opponent was going to be. I never game planned. I show up ready to fight and my skills are my skills. Sometimes it's enough and sometimes it's not."
Scott Coker: "This is a big event and I think this is the biggest event in Bellator history and I've been associated with some pretty big shows but I think this one is going to take the cake. We're going to have fights from top to bottom. You'll get to see some talent up-and-coming and you'll get to see a great main card. I can feel it this is really starting to roll."
Brennan Ward: "Being with the company since 2012 this is my 14th fight with Bellator it's kind of wild to see how big it's getting, just like the other organization everybody talks about. My first fight in Rhode Island, there was probably a thousand people there max, and now fighting at Mohegan Sun, sold out, 10,000 people, come out to L.A. it's going to be packed. Mr. Coker has done his thing. He's a business man, he knows what he's doing, he's steering the ship and it's taking us all along for the ride."
Chael Sonnen: "I think Tito's awesome, I don't dispute that he's in the Hall of Fame or a legend or a champion. I was in the practice room with world champions, PRIDE, UFC, and I knew one guy that could whoop my ass and that was Randy Couture. No one else out there. I thought I could beat Tito but I never locked up with him. It took twenty years to get here and on Saturday we'll all find out if that statement's true or not."
TIto Ortiz: "I'm thankful that Chael called me out because now I get an opportunity for redemption."
Chael Sonnen: "I'm 39 years young and it's not how many miles you've run it's how many miles the car has left. I'm on a legends ass kicking tour. Biggest fight in Bellator history, biggest fight of the year. This is the first time I've been in the main event and I don't have anything to sell. It's free which means everyone can afford it -- except Tito. He can be happy sad or indifferent but he's got good skills and I have to deal with that. We're fighting half naked for a paycheck and the applause of a drunken audience."
Tito Ortiz: "I've been fueled on anger my whole career, my whole time, I love it. I love to prove people wrong, I've been doing it my whole life. This is what I'm fueled on. I love this. I'm an emotional person. I live on emotions. I fight smart when I fight angry, because what's on the line is my life. This is a fight. I'm here to dominate. I'm here to hurt that man. The one who causes the most amount of damage in the quickest time will be the winner. Fact."
Hisaki Kato: "The last fight I had an early knockout, this time my opponent is a jiu-jitsu top fighter, and he knows I'm going to try to punch him and knock him out. I'm on a big card so I'll try my best to be a part of it and have a highlight."
Chael Sonnen: "The tickets are bought, the parties are set, this is going to do record numbers. At the end of the day I'm still Chael P. Sonnen and the P stands for icon."
Tito Ortiz: "The beginning card all the way up to the main event these guys are gonna thrown down. I can smile about it because fight time is that close. Tune in on Spike TV on Saturday night and the P stands for pinoche."
Chael Sonnen: "Lean mean and 217 solid steel and sex appeal the women's pet and the men's regret. I can't believe he called me fat. Look at these arms. I've never been called a fat guy before. The bottom line is the fight's on January 21st. I'll fight anywhere at any time."
Ralek Gracie: "Why did I come back? I feel I never really left. For me my spirit has always been as a fighter and a competitor. This modern MMA thing is pretty interesting and there's not a lot of really high quality jiu-jitsu. I feel an obligation to come in and represent and show the style of my family."
Hisaki Kato: "Yes of course all the French fighters are doing quite good but they're all fighting on the road so it's hard for them. I blame the Judo Federation because judo is really big in France but I feel it from all the young people they really want to fight in their own country."
Jon Slusser: "I came as a little kid to watch Kings, Lakers, it has a lot of history, a lot of great memories. To be at an iconic arena like that it's just part of the story of the growth we're seeing. We're setting new records, we're seeing all kinds of new statistics. Every day it's a new win and it's fun to be part of an organization that's continually growing and building and that's because of Scott Coker and the Bellator team. To be at The Forum is one more of those great high-five moments we get to have and I can't wait for Saturday."
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