LAS VEGAS — from www.vancouversun.com – On Saturday at Mandalay Bay, Tito Ortiz, one of the biggest draws in Ultimate Fighting Championship history, returns to the Octagon for the first time in 18 months. Ortiz took a break from his preparations for UFC 106 to go 1-on-1 with SP online editor Dave Deibert and discuss his best category in Jeopardy, being one of People En Espanol’s most beautiful celebrities and what he did for a first date to impress girlfriend Jenna Jameson . . .

DD: You’re famously nicknamed The Huntington Beach Bad Boy. Give me an example of something that shows you’re not such a bad boy.

TO: Of course I get manicures and pedicures. That’s automatic (laughs). I cry at movies, sad movies I cry. I’m an emotional guy. That’s me, man. I fight with a lot of emotion. Yeah, I get in the cage and I beat people down but to me I’m no different than anybody. I just have a great job and I work really, really hard, and my job’s fighting.

DD: You now run your own clothing and apparel company, Punishment Athletics. But what fashion statement from your past do you most regret?

TO: I had a mullet when I was in elementary school (laughs).

DD: I’m trying hard to not be a pushover with my 16-month-old daughter. You’ve got three sons. Are you a hard-ass dad or are you a pushover?

TO: I would say I’m a very stern father. I’m a softy at some things, but I’m very stern and I follow through on a lot of things. Resepct is a huge value I try teaching my sons, espceially my son right now who’s seven years old . . . I teach him to respect women, open doors for his mom. The three rules we follow: We don’t lie, we don’t cheat, we don’t steal. Those are the biggest values I try to teach my sons. Respect, and treat others like you want to be treated yourself.

DD: You joined such people as Salma Hayek, Christina Aguliera, Beyonce and Mario Lopez when you were named one of the 50 Most Beautiful Hispanic celebrities by People En Espanol. Who was your biggest celebrity crush before you became a celebrity yourself?

TO: I would have to say Jenna Jameson. She’s now my girlfriend and mother of my children. I see something and I want to get it, I guess I go get it (laughs).

DD: What did you do to impress Jenna on your first date?

TO: I actually asked her to go to the county fair. She was like, ‘I could not believe you asked me to go to a county fair. No one’s ever done that.’ I guess it just shows the normalcy of the things I do. I guess it was something she wanted, a bit of normalcy in her life. We hit it off. We had so much in common . . . her (job), of course, in the adult (film) industry, and me, in the MMA industry, weren’t accepted. She’s my best friend and the mother of my children. I’m madly in love with her. I have a lot of respect for her. I need someone to challenge me in my relationships and she challenges me.

DD: Who goes through more hair bleach? You or Jenna?

TO: Me. For sure, me (laughs). Jenna’s a natural sandy blonde. I’m completely brown hair. Whenever I do my PR stuff or do my appearances, I always bleach my hair. You’ve got to put on the persona.

DD: If you were to appear on Jeopardy, what category would you do best in?

TO: Sport fishing. If there was something about sport fishing, I’d clean up in that. That or boxing or professional wrestling. Anything with fishing, I know I’d kill. Name a fish that starts with ‘A’ (laughs).

DD: Who in pro wrestling cuts a better promo than you?

TO: Hulk Hogan.

DD: That’s it?

TO: That’s it.

DD: How often do you Google yourself?

TO: I think I’ve Googled myself twice in my career.

DD: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen written about you?

TO: There’s so many (laughs). I guess the most recent one: I heckled a bum for asking me for money. I said stop being so lazy and get a job. In the United States, the rest of America works for their dollars. Why beg from somebody? I got heckled for that. We live in the home of American dreams, so why not go out and get it instead of being so lazy and begging for money.

DD: Jacob Christopher Ortiz is your given name, but Tito has a more tough-guy sound to it. If you were Jacob Ortiz, would you be as scary in the ring?

TO: I don’t know. Probably not. Tito’s been my name since the age of one. My father gave me that name and it stuck. My son’s Jacob and he likes Jake.

DD: I guess Jake Ortiz could work. Jake LaMotta did alright.

TO: Yeah. See, he did pretty good. Jake Ortiz might have done well. But Tito sticks. I never liked the name Jacob when I was in high school, junior high school, middle school. I never liked it. Tito was always great. It means “tyrant.” “Bad Boy” and “tyrant” work hand in hand (laughs).