Went to Tito Ortiz’s signing event at his Team Punishment warehouse on Saturday. After following the yahoo directions and getting lost for about 20 minutes, we arrived at the place around 1:30.
As we arrived, we were welcomed by huge boxes of clearance Punishment merchandises, ranging from $3-$12. I didn’t get anything from the clearance bins because the sizes that were left were either too large or too small. An employee said most of the shirts were gone around 8:30 a.m. Thirty minutes after they opened.
I decided to get a Round 5 Tito Ortiz figure for $20. $5 more than retail but probably worth the extra cash since I was going to have him sign it.
Went to the line where he was signing. My brother and friend went up first and they got his autograph and pictures. Former middleweight WEC champ, “Razor” Rob McCullough was also signing and I nodded to him. He nodded back. Most people didn’t know who he was.
Tough guys!
Got my figure signed by Tito and a UFC DVD cover. Talked to him and thanked him for always being cool to his fans. I told Tito about the first time I met him was at DragonFest(Martial arts expo with proceeds going to charity) and how approachable he was to the fans. He even gave me a free shirt, which I still have to this day. Ortiz said, he’s always grateful for his fans. He didn’t have as much energy as the previous times I’ve met him. But as always, still willing to talk to everybody. I think his recent back surgery took a toll on him. It looked like he was in pain, even when he was sitting down.
Afterwards, we talked to “Razor” Rob for a bit and took a picture with him. He said his last fight on WEC, which wasn’t aired, will air or Wreckage sometime soon on Versus channel. From what I’ve read, it was supposed to be the best fight of the night with a couple of knockdowns. I was surprised how talkative he was. Come to think about it, I think he was also at DragonFest when I first met Tito. They go way back and shows you the loyalty with Team Punishment.
Some people hate Tito because they think he has a bad attitude. But that’s only his cage persona. As always, this event proved that he fights for his fans.
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