Tito Ortiz stopped managing ‘Cyborg’ after butting heads with her boyfriend

Tito Ortiz was the long-time manager of Cris Cyborg, but ended his working relationship with the Brazilian MMA legend shortly after she lost to Amanda Nunes in late 2018.

Speaking to James Lynch of the Score, Ortiz explained why he decided to cease managing Cyborg. According to the former UFC light heavyweight champion Cyborg’s boyfriend Ray Elbe — who also handles some of her management — was making “bad decisions” for her career.

When Ortiz and Elbe continued to fail to see eye-to-eye on what was best for Cyborg, Ortiz stepped away.

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“I haven’t worked with Cris Cyborg since before the Amanda fight,” Ortiz said. “Her boyfriend, I guess you can say manager also, made some bad decisions for her and I kind of had to step away.”

“I made a lot of mistakes with the UFC, and I tried to keep her from doing (sic) the same mistakes,” Ortiz said (via The Body Lock).

“She’s a big girl, and she can make her decisions, but she was making the wrong decisions. Or I could say her boyfriend was making the wrong decisions for her. But that was just my opinion and I wish all the luck to her,” Ortiz continued. “I tried to give as much as I possibly could to her, but she just was willing to listen to someone else who hasn’t been in the same shoes that I have been in.”

“I guess everyone learns from mistakes, and hopefully, she’ll learn from the mistakes that she’s made and make a positive reinforcement for the future for her.”

Tito Ortiz is currently gearing up for a Combate Americas scrap with former pro wrestling star Alberto Del Rio. Cyborg, on the other hand, recently signed with Bellator, and will battle Julia Budd for the promotion’s featherweight belt in January of the new year.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/3/2019.