Mike Chiappetta • E-mail

Earlier this week, Yahoo! Sports writer Steve Cofield wrote an interesting blog post in which he asked “Is Tito Ortiz the Barry Bonds of MMA?”

Obviously, Ortiz has never been involved in a drug scandal, but what Cofield was getting at is whether or not the former UFC light-heavyweight champion is developing a reputation as someone who is impossible to deal with, ultimately making him unemployable.

Earlier this month, SI.com reported that Ortiz had signed a “ground-breaking record contract” with Affliction. The site later amended the story’s headline to say he was simply nearing a deal with the upstart promotion. But two weeks later, it appears that deal will not be signed anytime soon.

Donald Trump Jr., whose family is involved with the Affliction promotion, told MMARated.com that Ortiz’s contract demands were, “a bit of a shock to us... I can't make it a one man show or the Tito Ortiz show giving him more than a guy like Fedor who is coming in here with a winning record...I was disappointed. I was shocked. It was almost like don't even bother calling back because there is no point in making a deal here...it was aggressive.”

Interestingly, Ortiz’s contract issues are reverberating throughout the MMA community. Strikeforce was in the midst of putting together their “Strikeforce at the Mansion II” show, and while Ortiz was never a serious consideration for them, Renato “Babalu” Sobral is one of their contracted fighters who also competes for Affliction. Sobral, a former UFC fighter, is one of the most recognizable names on the Strikeforce roster, and the group wanted to pair him up against light-heavyweight champ Bobby Southworth.

Sobral, however, had designs on fighting Ortiz in Affliction, and Strikeforce promised him that if Ortiz indeed signed with Affliction, they would let him take the fight. Only after it appeared Ortiz was no closer to a deal did Strikeforce officially announce Sobral-Southworth.

Adding to the trouble is a way for organizations to quantify Ortiz’s worth. On one hand, he has been one of the most popular fighters in MMA history, partly responsible for the UFC’s biggest pay-per-view buyrate ever (UFC 66 vs. Chuck Liddell attracted over 1 million buys). On the other, Ortiz hasn’t won in his last three matches (two losses and a draw) and doesn’t have a truly significant win since a split-decision over Forrest Griffin in April 2006.

Groups like Affliction and EliteXC would love to bring him in for his name value, but wonder if Ortiz – at 33 years old and with a history of back problems – is worth the investment.

“The problem with signing Tito is how do you judge his value now?” said an MMA executive who didn’t want to be named. “It’s a balance between name and performance. He knows you’re after him for his name value, but at the same time, you know his best days are probably behind him. So what are you really paying for? It’s like buying a pair of expensive jeans and paying for a label. They’re really not any better than Gap jeans. You just hope people notice them more, but you can’t make them notice.”

Still, Ortiz has put in the time to build up his name, regardless of the fact that he did it with his mouth as much as his athletic ability.

Ortiz is likely looking at some of the recent contracts doled out and wondering what is so outrageous about his request. Tim Sylvia was signed by Affliction to a deal worth $800,000 per fight after losing two of his last three matches. Andrei Arlvoski had gone 3-2 in his last five bouts and signed an Affliction deal worth $750,000 per bout. Both of those men are former UFC champions, but neither has had quite the track record of drawing viewers as Ortiz.

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So with Affliction blowing up the pay scale, who could blame him for asking for, say, $1 million guaranteed plus a percentage of pay-per-view proceeds? Like all athletes, he has an ego and likely believes he should be paid a higher base than either Sylvia or Arlovski.

The problem is now that talks have slowed, what does he have left? Ortiz is also reportedly talking with the UFC again, as well as the American Fight League, an organization that while ambitious has almost no national identity.

“Sure, he deserves a good deal,” the executive said. “He’s paid his dues, he’s been a champ. But there’s a difference between a good deal and asking for the moon. If he doesn’t want to go back to UFC, he better take one of these deals while it’s there.”

There’s no question Ortiz is out to squeeze every last dollar out of a contract, and in reality, maximizing his value is what he’s supposed to do as a free agent. But he overplayed his hand when he told SI that he’d signed with Affliction when a deal was not in fact done. Now, Trump, Jr.’s comments give him one less suitor to play against the others, and EliteXC’s recent financial woes will make them wary to extend a big-money offer. That doesn’t leave him the options he once thought he’d have.

He’ll end up somewhere, sometime, but it seems as if Ortiz isn’t the must-have commodity many expected him to be.

MMA pervading the sports world
The rise of mixed martial arts won’t only take place in the cage. It will also come through legitimization brought from associations with respected athletes, companies, etc.

Recently, The Washington Times reported that Redskins Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El used MMA for offseason conditioning.

It seems to be a growing trend in the NFL. Other players who have trained MMA in the offseason include All-Pros such as Chargers’ linebacker Shawne Merriman, Eagles’ safety Brian Dawkins, Vikings’ defensive end Jared Allen, and Ravens’ fullback Lorenzo Neal.

In addition, famed MMA trainer Bas Rutten was invited to speak with the San Francisco 49ers during their training camp. Given the short lifespans of pro football careers, which only average 3.3 years, it seems inevitable that NFL players who train MMA in the offseason will try to turn it into a career if their NFL dreams end early.

Askren loses, future in MMA?
Ben Askren, who has in the past voiced a desire to start mixed martial arts after the Olympics, lost in the second round of the 74 kg freestyle wrestling tournament last Tuesday and was eliminated.

I spoke to Askren several months back and he is a bigtime fan of the sport who said he remembered watching UFC 1 and is such a fighting junkie that he reads several of the online MMA forums and news sites daily.

Last year, Askren spent some time in Florida training with Kurt Pellegrino, Hermes Franca and Din Thomas, and also trained with Matt Wiman in Oklahoma.

Askren, who said he’d fight at 170, said his wrestling base would serve him well in the MMA arena.

“I don't know if I'm scared of getting hit. I'm a pretty peaceful guy,” he said. “It'll take me longer to learn the striking game, but I'm a quick learner when I want to pick something up. I think I’ll be the type to get the takedown, pass guard, and ground and pound. I'll never be a standup, knockout guy.”

Rich & Dangerous
Guy Ritchie is known for being Madonna’s husband as well as a director of hyperviolent action movies like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Ritchie is also a pretty fair martial artist. He recently was awarded his brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from Renzo Gracie.

Ritchie reportedly began martial arts with judo training about 10 years ago, dating back to his time in Chelsea, and started jiu-jitsu soon after, training with Renzo Gracie in New York and Rickson Gracie in Los Angeles along with the Gracie-Barra and Carlson Gracie teams in the UK.