Tito Ortiz submits Alberto Del Rio in Combate Americas main event
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz submitted former WWE champion Alberto Del Rio via first round submission in the Saturday main event of Combate Americas’ debut pay-per-view in Hidalgo, TX.
The submission came at 3:10 in a fight that was so in the lightest sense of the word.
Del Rio posed no semblence of offense as Ortiz got the fight to the ground quickly and after working for a guillotine, Ortiz started landing some ground and pound. Ortiz eventually got a rear naked choke and Del Rio tapped quickly.
With the victory, Ortiz won Del Rio’s WWE title belt. Had Del Rio won, he would have taken home Ortiz’s UFC light heavyweight title.
Wearing a t-shirt that had a similar style to the classic Saturday Night’s Main Event logo, Ortiz walked out to “Real American” by Rick Derringer, the iconic walkout song for Hulk Hogan during his 80s WWF run. The promotion carried a “What side are you on?” tag line designed to play off the U.S. vs. Mexico border war narrative. This was despite the fact Ortiz is Mexican-American and Del Rio is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
This was both the promotional debut for both men and the first MMA fight for Del Rio since February 2010. Ortiz came out of retirement again for this fight after defeating Chuck Liddell last November for Oscar De La Hoya’s one-and-only MMA event.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.