Tito Ortiz emerged on the scenes with a boom at UFC 13 when he was an alternate in the 200 pound tournament. Ortiz dominated first round opponent Wes Albritton with strikes to win an easy fight via knockout.

Tito was fortunate enough to make it into the main draw when Enson Inoue won his fight, but couldn't continue in the tournament due to suffering an injury. This lead to Ortiz taking on Lion's Den fighter, Guy Mezger. Within one minute, Ortiz had his way with Mezger locking him in an inside cradle, and delivering several knee-shots to the head. Controversy came from there as senior UFC official "Big" John McCarthy ruled both men to stand up, which many, including the announcers, assumed was an Ortiz victory due to Mezger tapping out. To many's surprise, McCarthy had the fighters stand back up to check cuts on Mezger's head. The fight was ordered to resume, and quickly Mezger trapped Ortiz in a guillotine choke that ended the fight giving Mezger the win, and Ortiz one of only two losses to date.

Ortiz got his revenge against Guy Mezger at UFC 19 when he avenged his loss at the UFC 13 show. Ortiz pummeled Mezger on the ground with a strong series of strikes that resulted in "Big" John stopping the fight at the 9:58 mark.

In what has to be considered one of the most historic moments in UFC history, was the second and only other loss Ortiz has suffered in his career. Tito Ortiz vs. Frank Shamrock at UFC 22, in what was an incredible bout, Shamrock defeated Ortiz in the fourth round via tapout.

Tito had another classic contest at UFC 25 against highly regarded Brazilian fighter Vanderlei Silva. To this day, Silva is considered one of the top three Light Heavyweights in the mixed-martial arts, game. However, at UFC 25 it was all Tito Ortiz. Ortiz won the battle by judges decision after 5 action-packed rounds.

Tito Ortiz continued to make UFC history at UFC 30 when he knocked out the highly rated Evan Tanner in 30 seconds of the first round with an incredible body-lock followed by several strikes on the ground. This fight has made almost every MMA highlight reel.

At UFC 32, Ortiz dominated another top 5 fighter when he beat Elvis Sinosic with the ground and pound attack. "Big" John McCarthy stopped the fight due to a nasty cut on Sinosic's head and awarded Tito Ortiz the victory at the 1:28 mark of the first round.

UFC 33 was Tito Ortiz's last UFC show for almost a year, as he defeated Vladimir Matyushenko via unanimous decision. However, he suffered a serious leg injury that caused him to take a leave of absence from the Octagon until November 22, 2002, when he defeated UFC legend Ken Shamrock with ease after three rounds.

The one man Tito Ortiz has yet to step in the cage with, is the one person many are interested to see challenge the established 204 pound champion, Chuck Liddell. Liddell was originally lined up for a title shot against Ortiz, but the fight was scrapped when Ortiz suffered the leg injury at UFC 33. Liddell again won number one contendership rights to Ortiz when he defeated Renato Sobral at UFC 40. However, Ortiz suffered a hand injury during his bout with Ken Shamrock which could delay this fight from happening once again.