Tito Ortiz Closing His Florida Restaurant After Boating Accident Left Him Wrecked for Months
A February boating accident gave Tito a 4.5-month concussion and neck surgery. Now his Cape Coral restaurant is done.
The restaurant business finally tapped Tito Ortiz out. The former UFC light heavyweight champion announced that Tito's Cantina in Cape Coral, Florida, will close its doors on October 5, ending a three-year run.
The reason is not the food. Ortiz said a February 28 boating accident left him with neck surgery and a concussion that lasted more than four and a half months. He was unable to run the business in person during the recovery and watched it bleed money from the sidelines.
"I have been hurt now for the last eight months," Ortiz told Yahoo Sports. "I have been digging a hole so deep that I can not get myself out of it."
Ortiz said the restaurant was successful in its first two years but could not survive without him there daily. He estimated he visited the location only about 15 times during his recovery.
"It is hard to make a successful business when I am not here every day, and I expect to be here every day," Ortiz said.
The restaurant is running specials on food, drinks, and merchandise through its final weekend. Ortiz is hosting a final UFC fight night watch party with a belt giveaway on the last Saturday before the doors close for good.
Ortiz, 51, competed in the UFC from 1997 to 2012 and held the light heavyweight title from 2000 to 2003. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2012.
I have eaten at Tito's Cantina. The food was solid, the margaritas were strong, and Tito was always there working the room like he was cutting a promo before a fight. The man genuinely cared about that place.
But this is the restaurant business. It does not care about your resume or your Hall of Fame ring. If the owner is not there grinding every single day, the money disappears. A boating accident and a four-month concussion on top of that? There is no coming back from that kind of absence in food service.
I feel for him. Tito has always been easy to clown on, but the guy put real work into that restaurant. Sometimes the fight you can not win is not in the cage.
KEEP TALKING FIGHTS.
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