Tito Ortiz Pleads No Contest to January DUI, Sentenced to 3 Years Probation

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Bellator MMA light heavyweight Tito Ortiz has pleaded no contest to a January DUI charge and will serve three years probation as a result.

Ortiz was also fined and ordered to complete an alcohol education program, according to TMZ Sports, which first reported the news on Wednesday.

The fighter was arrested on Jan. 6 in West Los Angeles after crashing his 2012 Porsche Panamera on Interstate 405, according to a report from local outlet KTLA. Ortiz, who was reportedly carrying two passengers, was taken into custody at approximately 4:30 a.m. and posted a $15,000 bond to secure his release later that morning, according to the report.

Ortiz, 39, retired in 2012 but signed with Bellator for a comeback last year. “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” was expected to headline Bellator’s first pay-per-view opposite fellow ex-UFC champion Quinton Jackson, but that planned November booking was scrapped after Ortiz suffered a neck injury.

More recently, Bellator announced that Ortiz would step into the cage as part of the promotion’s second attempt at a pay-per-view show, and the UFC Hall of Famer is now expected to meet reigning middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko in a 205-pound duel on May 17 at the Lander Center in Southaven, Miss.