Ortiz, Rousey and Carano among Yahoo’s most searched athletes of 2013
Three MMA fighters were among the top 10 most-searched athletes on Yahoo in 2013. One of them – and maybe even two – may surprise you.
Former UFC champion and current Bellator MMA fighter Tito Ortiz, who hasn’t fought in 17 months (and hasn’t won a bout since July 2011), ranked seventh on the list, situated between No. 6 Lamar Odom and No. 8 Serena Williams.
Yahoo today announced the list as part of its 2013 Year in Review collection.
Ortiz, of course, was slated to fight fellow ex-champ Quinton “Rampage†Jackson this past month in what was supposed to be Bellator’s first-ever pay-per-view event. However, when the oft-injured fighter dropped off the card with a fractured neck, the event shifted to Spike TV, and Jackson was booked for a different card.
Still, the 38-year-old UFC Hall of Famer still appears to get people clicking. In fact, Ortiz, who’s now aiming for a 2014 Bellator debut, was the only male MMA fighter on the list, besting the likes of UFC stars Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Chris Weidman and Cain Velasquez.
The other two fighters on the list come from the world of women’s MMA. The highest ranked fighter on the list, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, ranked fifth. The UFC’s breakout star co-headlines next month’s UFC 168 event against her rival coach on “The Ultimate Fighter 18,†Miesha Tate. UFC President Dana White said the event, which features a Weidman vs. Anderson Silva headliner, could be the biggest event in UFC history.
Rounding out the top 10 was former Strikeforce fighter and current actress Gina Carano, who hasn’t competed since a 2009 loss to Cris “Cyborg†Santos.
The full Yahoo list included:
Tim Tebow
Tiger Woods
Danica Patrick
Lindsey Vonn
Ronda Rousey
Lamar Odom
Tito Ortiz
Serena Williams
Maria Sharapova
Gina Carano
