Customer Reviews

This Is Gonna Hurt: The Life of a Mixed Martial Arts Champion

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I shouldn't have expected much of a book written by a guy who's best known for smashing heads. Tito Ortiz was, for quite awhile, the light-heavyweight champion and poster boy for the UFC. I'm a big Tito Ortiz fan. He's brash, cocky, and hasn't been at the top of the heap for several years now, but I think he's a good guy at heart and he's done a lot of good things for the sport.

Unfortunately, I can't say many good things about this autobiography. Tito talks mostly about his troubled youth and how he got into the fight game. He details his early drug use, his romances (and his many infidelities), his feuds with other fighters and UFC president Dana White, and his charitable activities. I wish he'd given as much attention to his fights--the strategies, or breaking down how the fight went. Instead, he recaps most of his fights in a paragraph or two, giving the name and date of the event , a few sentences about how the fight unfolded, an excuse if he lost (nearly always an injury that kept him from training to his fullest potential), and what was on his t-shirt (he considers his t-shirts to be one of his trademarks--I never paid much attention to them myself). I wasn't expecting a book on fighting strategy, necessarily, but it would have been more interesting. What we get instead is a celebrity bio, with some entertaining takes on some other fighters and celebrities.

If there's any insight given in this book it comes early in some advice Tito got from fellow fighter Tank Abbott: "You talk the smack to make people either love you or hate you. Once they love you or hate you, then they'll talk about you. If they stop talking about you, then you've got problems." Above all else, Tito knows how to market himself.

Unfortunately, the rest of the book is fairly insufferable. The writing, even though Shapiro is credited, seems like it's straight dictate from Tito. We're treated to such gems as this recounting of a childhood fight: "There was this kid who was trying to bully me. I stood up and punched him real hard. He fell down, started crying, and ran away. He never bullied me again." There are strange, interview-style quotes from friends and family scattered throughout, all completely redundant with what comes before or after. The laughably sappy section about Tito falling for ex-pornstar Jenna Jameson is wisely at the end of the book. Otherwise, I may not have been able to finish. I give Tito props for overcoming a tough upbringing and rising to the top of his game, as well as for all he's done for the sport of mixed martial arts. But he should stick to fighting. Indeed, this is gonna hurt.

Although I'm a big MMA fan, when I picked up this book I can't say I was a big Tito fan. I've read Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, Ken Shamrock, and Jens Pulver's books. I've read the autobiographies in the beginning of BJ Penn, Ken Shamrock (2nd book) and Randy Couture's books, not to mention various books on fighting like Sam Sheridan's "A Fighter's Heart". I have to say the only one I enjoyed as much as this was Jens Pulver's "Little Evil". Although there's plenty of fighting material to keep any MMA fan interested, what really stands out is Tito's honesty and willingness to write about his troubled childhood and the many mistakes he made on his way up though the world of fighting. This is the kind of painful and humble story that makes even the biggest hater not only have respect for the sport, but specifically for Tito. Along with fighter's stories, I've read many autobiographies from Augusten Burroughs to Drew Barrymore, and I have to say this ranks up there as the most endearing and entertaining of them all. I was already going to UFC 84 to see Ivan Salaverry fight (I belong to his gym), but now I'll be cheering for Tito as well, he's definitely won over a new fan.

Viva la Tito!!!

"This is Gonna Hurt" is an autobiography of the short life of one Tito Ortiz. Among the revelations and themes of this book:

* Tito clearly has a vendetta with Dana White, who he excoriates as a two-faced wannabe' - no news there. I doubt these two will be exchanging Christmas cards.
* He paints an unflattering picture of Chuck Liddell as a lackey of the UFC, a "company man." At one point, he describes Liddell as a trailer park kind of guy who walks around in flip-flops and T-shirts
* When he wasn't in the ring, Tito had a hard time (no pun intended) keeping it in his pants, as he was flagrantly unfaithful to his wife (Kristin) and the mother of his child
* Growing up was not exactly an Ozzie and Harriett environment for little Tito, who writes that he was doing drugs and downing beers by age five. The guy deserves credit for rising above his upbringing.
* He describes his courtship of porn star Jenna Jameson. Hey -- who says romance is dead?! This pairing must make it interesting when they have friends over for "home movie" night!

Overall, Tito comes off refreshingly candid. He lays it all out there and does not try to portray himself as any kind of saint. I must say that seeing him during his season on The Ultimate Fighter and later on Celebrity Apprentice, he came off as being very personable. His following in the UFC seemed disproportionate to his ring success. I'm hard-pressed to recall when he last beat a top-level MMA fighter - no disrespect to Forest Griffith, who is superb and who fought valiantly in their bout. Tito never beat Liddell. Never beat Couture. Losing an unanimous decision recently to Lyoto Machida, Tito seems to be in the twilight of his career, even as he jumps ship to some competing league to earn more dough.

To be an MMA champ nowadays, you need more than peroxided hair and a shtick. Tito has both, but no belt. His prime time has passed, so he better make $$$ off his autobiography while he can. (For those who can't catch his old bouts on UFC shows, you can always TiVo Tito...)

For MMA fans, the book will be mildly interesting. For Tito-philes, it will be fascinating. I feel somewhat charitable in rating it as three-stars. Your mileage (and enjoyment) may vary.

While I can despise a villian, and even poor storytelling, it becomes painful when a villain tells a poor story.
The sad point of this story is that Tito tries to prove himself a successful martial artist- while he is a successful fighter, I have to say that this man is strictly without honor. He mistreats his pregnant wife and then goes on to brag about his constant affairs.
He may have lots of wins and money, but he proves himself to be of even lower character than his father and poor childhood. I think his main point of redemption was his winnings, yet he abandoned his son and seems proud of that.
Overall, this book is one long brag about using women like kleenex, poor descriptions of training, (I lifted weights. I ran. I won and beat him up!)
Poor Ortiz is barely even a character- it's like a stream of conciousness narrative.
I read it fifteen minutes and it was waay too much. I would not recommed this book to any martial artist. If you are a female martial artist it will be good to get mad on and then hit the bag, that's all.

Eh, it wasn't really much other than a superficial look at him. Maybe he is just superficial, so that was all that could be expected. I felt like he should have had a ghost writer b/c it was just too elementarily written to be gripping enough. I would wait for this to come out in paperback or check it out from the library. Not worth spending much money on.

Don't waste your money on this book. Written at a 3 Grade reading level, you can sit at a Borders and tear through this in 1-2 hours. Numerous references about his t-shirt company and his obsession with money. Rips into Dana White while touching on his up bring and relationship with Jenna Jameson. Clearly a book to make money since there are countless "filler" quotes by his mother, ex-wife, and Jenna. Save your money!!!

well i honestly bought this book because i wanted to get to learn about tito ortiz's life and.... well i did and its surprising to know what he had to overcome to be at the top of the world...... but hey its up to you if you wanna learn more about tito ortiz i highly recommend "this is gonna hurt" by Tito Ortiz.

TITO ORTIZ
THIS IS GONNA HURT

I have had this book since it first came out and to be honest I don't know why I have not reviewed it yet. I was looking around at all my book s and thought man I want to read this again. So after completing this wonderful book again I thought what better to review than this, it has been a while since he has fought so why not. If you don't know who this man is he is a mixed martial artist who held the Ultimate Fighting Championship Light Heavyweight title for three to four years straight. Even if you don't like this guy from what you have seen I have a feeling that you will change your mind after reading this.

This book is very much for every one from people who just like to read to MMA fans to fans of Tito to fans of autobiographies this book will please all. In fact for people who have short attention spans this is one you can even get into. At a short 207 pages in which the last couple of pages are just credits this one is a quick sit and read. Tito must have known that most people are wanting to get straight to certain things so he kept everything kinda short. Still don't think that this hurts the book because I feel it is much like his style of fighting, quick and to the point. Everything is covered in this book from his childhood to his last fight with the UFC up until the point this book came out.

Tito comes across after reading this the same way he did after his coaching job on the third season of the Ultimate Fighter, as a genuinely good guy that is over all misunderstood. This dude had a hard time growing up as you learn about some not so great things that involve his mother and his past involving gangs. It seamed to me that he was getting a lot of his chest in telling his story. It is also kinda cool to learn that he was really kinda brought into this game by the original Huntington Beach Bad Boy David "Tank" Abbot. Apparently Abbot needed people to train with and Tito was known since high school and in college for his wrestling. So it turns out that Tito was talked into fighting for the first time in the UFC to represent Tank, so his early days were always coming out of Tank's camp. Of course when I was watching those fights years ago I always knew he fought out of that camp but now it is cool to learn about the behind the scenes.

Also discussed in here are his relationships with women his ex wife in particular and the hardships they went threw. I still remember that whole Tito/Dana White thing on Spike TV were Dana was talking about Tito's wife calling him all the time about Tito. That incident is discussed in here as well from that supposed fight they were going to have to Tito's car accident that almost killed him. And for those who want to know more about Tito's feud with UFC President Dana White this book is for you. Tito does not hold back at all and lets all know how he feels about Dana and how things came to be. You will learn how they meet and how Dana was at one point really his best friend and best manager. Turns out that once Dana became the UFC president their relationship slowly turned sour. Whose side you believe is up to you but Tito's take is an interesting one.

Also discussed in here is his fall out with Tank and his first manager that eventually put out that DVD on Tito and Ken Shamrock. Both of those situations are interesting especially when you find out that Tank was keeping Tito out of the UFC for a while when he had pull there. But for the hardcore fans yes the feud with Ken Shamrock and the Lion's Den is discussed in here at length. From the Guy Mezger fights to the Jerry Bohlander fight and even into the Frank and Ken Shamrock fights, Tito won all but two of those seven fights. His Mezger fights in which he lost the first and destroyed Guy in the second which is the fight that started it all really with the shirt he put on [you need to read that if you have not seen it]. I still don't like thinking of his fights with Ken, I was rooting for Ken every time. I am glad to read that their thing was squashed after the last fight but it is reading about Frank that was interesting. For those who don't know the fight with Frank Shamrock is still to this day considered one of the best fights in UFC history. Frank did like he said and just wore Tito out and made him fatigue. Then Frank just popped up after three rounds not tired at all an exploded on him, it was great. What was cool to learn about was that Tito actually went out after that fight to Frank's place and trained with him. After that Tito became what he is known as today as one of the best conditioned athletes out there.

Of course every fight he as had is talked about in here from the wins to the few losses and yes that includes Randy and Chuck. Still this is a wonderful book from front to back that I think every one would enjoy. I recommend this to all MMA fans and book fans for that matter. Love or hate Tito I think if you give this book a chance it just might change you mind about him. He is humble but proud and come on man he is dating Jenna Jameson.

I got this book as an xmas present. Im a big fan of MMA and Tito as well. Tito is a great fighter and i love watching him fight. He brings excitement into the octagon.

His book.. it was a great read i finished it in a day i was just hooked on it. As a fan its nice to know what the real tito is like outside the ring. In fact, i lived in HB for a long time (beach and Garfield), and i remember seeing Tito at this bar called Taxi's and a few more on main street. To know he made it past all the stuff hes been thru. its just crazy.

If you want to learn MMMA this isnt the book, but if you want to get to know an MMA phenom then get it and read it.

Tito, if you are reading this.. awesome book bro. Just waiting for your MMA training book/video.

Sonny

I wasn't a Tito fan before the book, and I can't say that I am now. It didn't sway my opinion of him, but I do respect him a lot more than before. If you are looking for the cheap trash talk you're used to seeing when he was in the comapny of Couture and Shamrock; you'll be remiss. Tito actually took a higher road, surprisingly, and didn't put down Lidell, Hughes, or Couture the way that they took cheap shots in their books. He reveals a lot of himself in this book, but it didn't feel like there was much substance. He used inserts from his mom, his ex, and his current into the story as if to validate his tale. Kinda weak.