TWENTY YEARS AFTER stepping into the cage for his professional debut, Tito Ortiz bowed out of the sport in style last night.

Ortiz defeated rival Chael Sonnen at the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, California by forcing him to tapout to a rear-naked choke at the 2:03 mark in the first round.

Bellator 170′s main event saw Ortiz  (19-12-1) take the fight with Sonnen (18-13-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) to the ground early on. Once ‘The American Gangster’ tried to escape a ground-and-pound from Ortiz, a couple of elbows forced Sonnen to give up his back. The Californian pounced on the opportunity and forced the submission from 39-year-old..

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“I don’t think the emotions have set in,” said Ortiz, 41, who announced his retirement after the bout.

The rest of the Bellator 170 results:

• Tito Ortiz def. Chael Sonnen via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:03
• Paul Daley def. Brennan Ward via knockout (flying knee) – Round 1, 2:27
• Hisaki Kato def. Ralek Gracie via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Emmanuel Sanchez def. Georgi Karakhanyan via majority decision (28-28, 28-27, 28-27)
• Derek Campos def. Derek Anderson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Henry Corrales def. Cody Bollinger via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 4:28
• Guilherme Vasconcelos def. John Mercurio via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 0:41
• Keith Berry vs. Kevin Casey declared majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
• Alex Soto def. Demarcus Brown via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Chinzo Machida def. Jamar Ocampo via TKO (punch) – Round 3, 3:48
• Jalin Turner def. Gabriel Green via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:36
• Jack May def. Dave Cryer via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:41
• Daniel Rodriguez def. Christian Gonzalez via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:55

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