The restaurant business has claimed another victim – and this time it somehow managed to do it Tito Ortiz touch.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion made the announcement Tito Cantina Mexican Restaurant Cape Coral, Fla., will close its doors on Monday (October 5, 2026), ending a three-year run filled with tacos, tequila, UFC watch parties and replica championship belts.
Unfortunately, Ortiz’s recent injuries proved too much to overcome.
“We’ve worked hard for the last three years, but this coming Monday we’re closing our doors,” Ortiz said. “It’s hard for me because I’ve worked so hard over the past three years. I’m very grateful for every customer that visited us and supported us.”
Ortiz opened Tito’s Cantina in the late summer of 2023, despite having no prior restaurant experience. According to “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” the company was successful in its first two years before a scary boating accident earlier this year changed everything.
“On February 28th of this year, I was in a boating accident and now I’ve been injured for the last eight months,” Ortiz said. “It’s been tough. I’ve had neck surgery. I had a concussion that lasted over four and a half months. I’ve made maybe 15 appearances in the last eight months. It’s really hurt my business a lot because I’ve been injured.”
Ortiz previously revealed that he was thrown from a boat traveling about 55 mphknocking him unconscious and leaving him underwater. The 51-year-old later complained of headaches, memory problems and numbness in his hands before undergoing another spinal procedure.
It would be a devastating set of injuries for almost anyone. For Ortiz, however, it was just another addition to a medical card thick enough to qualify as its own trilogy.
In the later stages of his fighting career, Ortiz seemingly stepped in every fight happened together sports tape, stubbornness, and whatever spare links stayed put. The UFC Hall of Famer previously revealed that he had both ACLs replaced, half of the meniscus removed from his right knee, his lower back fused, several vertebrae joined in the neck and another cervical disc replaced. He also appreciated that he suffered about 26 or 27 concussions in his entire career.
Indeed, Ortiz once described his body as his “worst enemy.” Almost ten years later, that nemesis has now come out of his cage and followed him into the restaurant business.
Ortiz admitted that his long absence forced him to constantly pour money into Tito’s Cantina to keep it running, eventually creating a financial shortfall that he was unable to overcome.
“After being out for almost nine months and the injury that I’ve had and the recovery, I’ve dug a hole so deep that I can’t get out of it,” Ortiz said. “For me, closing the doors has been very hard to swallow because I’ve always been a successful person.”
For all the easy jokes that usually accompany Ortiz’s monologue, there was nothing funny about the way he said goodbye to a company that clearly meant a lot to him. Ortiz thanked his employees, customers and the Cape Coral community, while revealing that his grandmother would have been proud of the Southern California-style Mexican food he served at his restaurant.
He also emphasized that he is not leaving the area and remains open to selling the fully operational restaurant to an interested buyer.
Before officially closing its doors, Tito’s Cantina is running a final week of food, drink and clothing specials. Ortiz will also host the final UFC fight night on Saturday and surrender another championship belt.
“You guys want to come down and party with me and have fun, we’re having fight night on Saturday,” Ortiz said. “We’re also giving away a belt. So come on down and enjoy this last week together.
“I appreciate you. God bless.”
