Fellow fighters praise Tito Ortiz, criticize Chael Sonnen after Bellator 170 main event

MMA legend Tito Ortiz is going out a winner. He submitted Chael Sonnen in the first round of Saturday’s Bellator 170 main event, ending his nearly 20-year career on a high.

Ortiz (19-12-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA), a UFC Hall of Famer and former UFC light-heavyweight champion, had a memorable finale when he submitted Sonnen (28-15-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) midway through the first round in a Spike-televised headliner at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

Although he was a polarizing figure for most of his career, Ortiz without question made significant contributions to the global growth of MMA. So after he left his gloves in the center of the Bellator cage, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” received much praise from his fellow competitors – including one of his most notorious rivals.

Sonnen, meanwhile, came out on the losing end of his first fight since November 2013. The three-time UFC title challenger spent most of that absence serving a drug-testing suspension, but he was confident he’d return a winner.

Things didn’t go to plan, and Sonnen suffered a submission loss for the ninth time in his career. And aside from a momentary advantage in an early grappling exchange, he didn’t have much to offer in the bout.

Sonnen’s fellow fighters had no problem taking aim at his performance.

For more on Bellator 170, check out the MMA Events section of MMAjunkie.