"He struggled to make 199" - John McCarthy believes Tito Ortiz will have a hard time making the 195lbs weight limit for fight against Anderson Silva
Tito Ortiz is likely to face fellow UFC legend Anderson Silva in a boxing match targeted for September 11. The bout is scheduled to take place at 195 lbs and will be part of the Triller undercard for Oscar De La Hoya vs. Vitor Belfort.
Former UFC referee Big John McCarthy has recently weighed in on the upcoming bout between Ortiz and Silva. According to McCarthy, cutting down to 195 lbs is going to be a difficult task for former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz.
McCarthy also revealed that Ortiz had trouble making it to 199 lbs, which was the initial light heavyweight limit in the UFC. Citing factors likely to affect Tito Ortiz's weight cut, John McCarthy said in a recent episode of the WeighingIn podcast:
"They are both 46 years old, right? Tito (Ortiz) fought at 205 (lbs) for most of his career. This is gonna be at 195 (lbs). That's the weight on it. So Tito's gonna have to bring himself down. He's gonna have to be dieting, gonna have to be doing a lot of things. He knows he's gonna come in fighting shape but that 195....used to struggle to make 199 (lbs), what the weight category was when he fought Frank Shamrock. And he was a much younger man back then. He struggled at that 199. He was the champion in the UFC at that time. So that 205 was put there because that was the weight he could always get to. So, that's a ten pound difference."
Tito Ortiz is not pleased about fighting at 195 lbs
Tito Ortiz has competed at 205 lbs for the majority of his career and is obviously unhappy about fighting at 195 lbs. The former UFC light heavyweight champion recently slammed his opponent Anderson Silva for asking him to cut it down to 195 lbs. Claiming to have lost all respect for 'The Spider', Ortiz recently told TMZ Sports:
"He wants me down to 195. He's fought at 205 over six times of his career, and he wants me down to 195, so it shows that he's afraid of my power... I lost respect for the guy, man. He's one of the best in the world in mixed martial arts, but I have no respect to him."