By: Jonathan M. King The Clinch Report
Videoed and Edited By: Bob Fisher Pugilpix.com
Usually it would begin with some jokes or ‘smack talk’. Then it would escalate quickly. Emotions, embarrassment, and ego all fueled the once benign flicker into an all encompassing inferno, culminating with those words we have all heard! “After school!” For the rest of the day the hype would grow. Exaggerations and magnifications illuminate the stage, and before long the whole school knew.
When Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar squared off for the first time on Spike TV a few weeks ago, the whole school began to talk. Was it real? Was it scripted? Why the hell was Justin McCully wearing a mask? The angle had been used before, however the many unsavory stories about Tito Ortiz’s past made it somewhat believable. And again, why the hell was Justin McCully wearing a mask?
Long before the talk began, stories have swirled about Ortiz’s questionable business practices. After all his beef with Dana White is supposedly the reason Bonnar was released from the UFC. The prospect of Bonnar punishing Ortiz made it easy for White to allow Bonnar’s exit.
For now of course we ask do Ortiz and Bonnar genuinely dislike each other? At least for now they do. Ortiz, normally no stranger to the hype machine has decided to let his opponent do most of the press. His silence only feeding the fire further. Bonnar on the contrary remains quite vocal. Even warning that Tito’s ex Jenna Jameson may be under the mask next time!
Only time will tell if the bad blood is real. How many times have we seen the hype disappear with a touch of the gloves? It remains a very good possibility that this was all concocted in some board room. Either way the clock strikes 3 o’clock on November 15. The hype, of course will build until then. Lucky for us eventually these two will meet on the playground, and if principal Scott Coker has his way, the whole damn school will be watching!
THE CLINCH REPORT 