That’s the assertion over at the “In The Cage” MMA blog:

In the pre-fight hype for UFC 83, Charles McCarthy called Michael Bisping the most overrated big name fighter in the world. I did not agree with McCarthy labeling of Bisping, but it did get me thinking about who I think the most overrated fighter in the world is. I kept coming back to one man, Tito Ortiz.

I’d like to say I make this assertion with complete objection but I’m not. I don’t like Tito at all. To me he cares more about marketing himself than he does about being a great fighter. He’s more worried about being seen with porn star queen/girlfriend Jenna Jameson than he is about training in the gym for big fights.

This is all true as are his further critiques of Ortiz–still, Tito puts the butts in the seats or more appropriately gets people to push the PPV “buy” button. UFC 66 with Chuck Liddell vs. Ortiz in the main event holds the promotion’s all time PPV buyrate record at 1,050,000 buys. His SPIKE TV televised 3rd fight fight Ken Shamrock drew a 4.3 rating which equated to the largest number of people watching a UFC fight at one time (5.7 million).

I’ve never been a big fan of Ortiz or his persona, and I’ll agree that he’s probably on the downside of his fighting career. Still, its important to keep in mind that fighting is a business and in that context he’s among the sport’s elite.

Tito Ortiz–The most overrated fighter in the world @ In The Cage