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UFC champion Tito Ortiz never wanted to leave his home state of California.
Born and raised in Huntington Beach, he became a local leader as a council member and then acting mayor of the city.
This is where he built his life as a mixed martial arts star.
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Mixed martial arts fighter Tito Ortiz and actress Jenna Jameson attend the UFC on Fox: Live Heavyweight Championship at Honda Center on November 12, 2011 in Anaheim, California. (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
But now, at 51, with a family, Ortiz thought it wasn’t a feasible place to raise his children.
“I never wanted to leave California. But I left because of crime, fraud and the growing threat to my children’s safety. Like millions of other parents, I made the difficult decision to move my family to Florida, not for opportunity, but for safety. No parent should ever be forced to flee their home state to keep their children safe,” Ortiz told PK Press Club Digital.
Ortiz blames Gov. Gavin Newsom for the conditions that caused his family to leave the state.
“Gavin Newsom’s failures did not start in Sacramento. He helped devastate San Francisco, then exported those same disastrous policies across the state. The result is undeniable: skyrocketing crime, widespread fraud, lawless streets, unaffordable housing, crushed small businesses, and families who no longer feel safe in their own communities,” he added.
“California can’t survive the same thing.”
Newsom’s office responded to Ortiz’s criticism in a statement to PK Press Club Digital.
“We don’t know who Tito Ortiz is, but we wish him luck. Goodbye!” » Newsom’s office said.
Ortiz, nicknamed “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” is a UFC Hall of Fame pioneer and former light heavyweight champion. He held the UFC light heavyweight championship from April 2000 to September 2003, defending it five times.
He finished his professional MMA career with a record of 21-12-1 and had his last fight in 2019.
Now, from afar, he hopes to inspire change in his home state by supporting Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco for California governor in 2026.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom returned to his office’s comments criticizing ICE agents during a podcast interview. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
For Ortiz, the defining trait that inspires his approval is Bianco’s handling of the COVID-19 quarantine in 2020, when the sheriff refused to enforce certain lockdown protocols under Newsom’s leadership.
“Sheriff Chad Bianco is not a career politician. He is a proven leader of courage and integrity,” Ortiz said.
“In 2020, when Gavin Newsom ruled by executive order and weaponized fear, Sheriff Bianco stood up and refused to impose unconstitutional lockdowns. He stood up for churches, small businesses, and the basic rights of Californians.
“Everyone can speak. Sheriff Bianco took action. When it mattered most, he stood with the people, not the political elite. He earned my vote, my support and my trust. California deserves leadership that will fight back, restore law and order and put families first.”
Ortiz joins fellow former UFC fighter and Californian Dan Henderson, who told PK Press Club Digital in November that he supports Bianco.
“It was kind of a blessing that he didn’t shut everything down as long as we were responsible for everything. I kind of admired the way he handled that whole situation,” Henderson said.
“A lot of business owners would have gone bankrupt, and maybe even worse, in the sense that they would have lost a lot of things that they owned, if he had closed all the businesses like the governor wanted. … It was more common sense. He didn’t panic and think the world was going to end.”
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Bianco is the front-runner for the state’s 2026 gubernatorial election in several polls, including January polls from EMC Research and Public Policy Polling.
Bianco’s biggest challenger in the upcoming race appears to be fellow Republican Steve Hilton, who has been leading or near the lead in recent polls with the sheriff.
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