This Is Gonna Hurt: The Life of a Mixed Martial Arts Champion | 
 enlarge | Authors: Tito Ortiz, Marc Shapiro
Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $11.44
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Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 9937
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 1416955410
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.8092
EAN: 9781416955412
ASIN: 1416955410
Publication Date: May 6, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: new-bkm-highly rated seller-no remainder marks
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Product Description
He's the ultimate showman in the world's greatest spectator sport -- a controversial, charismatic figure who has dominated Ultimate Fighting for more than ten years as one of its most exciting and skillful stars. But for Tito Ortiz, life very nearly took a different path. Growing up in Huntington Beach, California, Ortiz spent part of his childhood living in motels and in the backs of other people's houses, as his heroin-addicted parents were forced to leave one apartment after another. By the time he was in sixth grade, he had dabbled in almost every drug available, and his early youth involved time in juvenile detention centers, a string of petty crimes, and a stint in a local gang. Then, in high school, Tito discovered wrestling -- the perfect match for this tough, streetwise, ambitious kid. Tito made his mixed martial arts debut at UFC 13 in 1997, winning his first fight in twenty-two seconds. In 2000, he was chosen as a light heavyweight contender in UFC 25 and took the belt, successfully defending it five times in the following three years. Tito Ortiz pulls no punches as he recounts his journey from Huntington Beach Bad Boy to UFC superstardom -- his difficult upbringing, his first marriage and struggles with fidelity, his battles with the UFC, his career highs and lows, and his current happy relationship with former porn star Jenna Jameson. An inspirational story of beating the odds, and an incredible glimpse into just what it takes to win in the world's most brutal arena, This Is Gonna Hurt is raw, frank, funny, and as fearless as its subject.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 Reading this is gonna hurt July 14, 2008
J. Bosiljevac (san fran, ca)
I shouldn't have expected much of a book written by a guy who's best known for smashing heads. Tito Ortiz was, for quite awhile, the light-heavyweight champion and poster boy for the UFC. I'm a big Tito Ortiz fan. He's brash, cocky, and hasn't been at the top of the heap for several years now, but I think he's a good guy at heart and he's done a lot of good things for the sport.
Unfortunately, I can't say many good things about this autobiography. Tito talks mostly about his troubled youth and how he got into the fight game. He details his early drug use, his romances (and his many infidelities), his feuds with other fighters and UFC president Dana White, and his charitable activities. I wish he'd given as much attention to his fights--the strategies, or breaking down how the fight went. Instead, he recaps most of his fights in a paragraph or two, giving the name and date of the event , a few sentences about how the fight unfolded, an excuse if he lost (nearly always an injury that kept him from training to his fullest potential), and what was on his t-shirt (he considers his t-shirts to be one of his trademarks--I never paid much attention to them myself). I wasn't expecting a book on fighting strategy, necessarily, but it would have been more interesting. What we get instead is a celebrity bio, with some entertaining takes on some other fighters and celebrities.
If there's any insight given in this book it comes early in some advice Tito got from fellow fighter Tank Abbott: "You talk the smack to make people either love you or hate you. Once they love you or hate you, then they'll talk about you. If they stop talking about you, then you've got problems." Above all else, Tito knows how to market himself.
Unfortunately, the rest of the book is fairly insufferable. The writing, even though Shapiro is credited, seems like it's straight dictate from Tito. We're treated to such gems as this recounting of a childhood fight: "There was this kid who was trying to bully me. I stood up and punched him real hard. He fell down, started crying, and ran away. He never bullied me again." There are strange, interview-style quotes from friends and family scattered throughout, all completely redundant with what comes before or after. The laughably sappy section about Tito falling for ex-pornstar Jenna Jameson is wisely at the end of the book. Otherwise, I may not have been able to finish. I give Tito props for overcoming a tough upbringing and rising to the top of his game, as well as for all he's done for the sport of mixed martial arts. But he should stick to fighting. Indeed, this is gonna hurt.
I read it in an hour July 7, 2008
amh (Atlanta, GA)
Eh, it wasn't really much other than a superficial look at him. Maybe he is just superficial, so that was all that could be expected. I felt like he should have had a ghost writer b/c it was just too elementarily written to be gripping enough. I would wait for this to come out in paperback or check it out from the library. Not worth spending much money on.
 TITO ORTIZ July 6, 2008
David A. Herrera (Glendale, CA USA)
This is an interesting story, especially if you're a fan of Tito, like I am. It's simple and an easy read.
Short Easy Read July 6, 2008
E. Yakich (Florida)
Don't waste your money on this book. Written at a 3 Grade reading level, you can sit at a Borders and tear through this in 1-2 hours. Numerous references about his t-shirt company and his obsession with money. Rips into Dana White while touching on his up bring and relationship with Jenna Jameson. Clearly a book to make money since there are countless "filler" quotes by his mother, ex-wife, and Jenna. Save your money!!!
Ortiz KOs Liddell...at least his book July 1, 2008
William Pulgarin (Medellin, Colombia)
At long last, Ortiz was able to outdo Chuck Liddell at something. That something was writing a better book.
Ortiz's life has been full of ups and downs, and he is straightforward about his struggles with women, drugs, and fame. A lot of times when people write their story, they tend to paint themselves in a better, more agreeable light. But Ortiz doesn't try to do this. He is revealing and honest.
Interesting, informative, and insightful, this book delivers a KO to all the other MMA biographies that have been coming out in this past year. Far from being perfect, and far from being a role model, Ortiz reminds us that no matter how badly things are stacked against us, we can always just step into the ring called "life" and fight.
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