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Tito Ortiz’s withdrawal from Chuck Liddell fight: Behind the scenes

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The most compelling episode of Spike TV’s ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ airs Wednesday (10 p.m. Pacific time) in which former light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz makes an emotional injury withdrawal from his scheduled June 12 fight against rival Chuck Liddell in Vancouver.

Ortiz’s withdrawal has been a source of internal drama with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, with Ortiz and President Dana White at first denying that Ortiz was off the Vancouver card -- he’s been replaced by former middleweight champion Rich Franklin -- and then acknowledging that he indeed had suffered an injury that would deprive fans of a third Liddell-Ortiz fight.

Ortiz added to the drama by getting arrested recently after a scuffle at his Huntington Beach home with his porn-actress girlfriend, Jenna Jameson. No criminal charges were filed, and Ortiz attended Saturday night’s UFC 114 event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

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He hasn’t been fired from the UFC, but he was fired from ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ a move made by White that is included in tonight’s episode, along with the revelation of Ortiz’s injury (believed to be a neck problem) and the introduction of Franklin.

An outraged Liddell is also part of the show.

You can see a preview here and here.

-- Lance Pugmire

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