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06/10/09 - Coleman manager retracts "emotional" comments about Tito
Mark Coleman’s manager has been in touch with Fighters Only again today to discuss the comments he made this morning regarding Tito Ortiz and his wife Jenna Jameson. Mike DiSabato first spoke to FO in reaction to a Twitter post Ortiz made yesterday that called Coleman a ‘sissy’ for pulling out of their planned UFC 106 fight (Coleman has a torn MCL).
Having had time to reflect on this morning’s outburst, DiSabato decided a retraction was in order and contacted us to set the record straight.
“When I said what I said, I was very emotional. It was me responding without thinking, and that’s not really my style,” the businessman said. “Where that came from was, I have been a friend of Mark Coleman for over 20 years, we were in college together, and I just jumped right in to defend him. I feel he deserves a lot of respect for his achievements in this sport and I feel he does not always get the respect that he deserves.”
“But in retrospect I should not have made those comments. It is not my style to talk about another man’s wife like that and it is not something that we want associated with Mark Coleman. Those comments were mine and not Mark’s but it is still not the kind of thing this sport is about.
“The sport should be about two athletes competing against each other and showing respect to each other. I acted emotionally, not rationally, and it was not really appropriate as Mark’s associate, as a manager and as a fan of the sport.”
Fan reaction to the original comments has been mixed throughout the day. Ortiz is himself a noted trash-talker, although he generally keeps his focus on his opponent. As such, some fans were supportive of Ortiz and others empathising with DiSabato.
“Some people like to get into all the trash talking but that is not the kind of company I want to run and not the kind of thing I am known for or want to be known for,” DiSabato said.
“So I would like to retract those comments and apologise to Tito Ortiz. I hope that Tito takes the fight with Mark for January and it will be a great fight. He and Mark are both great athletes and I look forward to the bout going ahead.”
John Joe O’Regan
John.fightersonly@gmail.com
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