UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz says that he narrowly survived a boating accident earlier this year.
The 51-year-old MMA star went on social media earlier this week to open up about the incident, which occurred in Cape Coral, Florida.
In a recent Instagram post, Ortiz described that, while on the way back from a fishing tournament, the boat his friend was driving was switched into autopilot, but “failed” and suddenly took a sudden left turn.
The turn was so strong that Ortiz thought they had collided with another boat. The force yanked him out of the vehicle, sending him 10 feet into the air and into the water, flinging him at over 50 miles per hour, he described.
The right side of Ortiz’s face directly hit the water, an impact he says left him unconscious. When he woke up, he remembered realizing that he was entirely underwater. He recalled having to swim back to the surface before being rescued.
“I’ve never been hit that hard … I almost died, and it was scary for me. For the next 11 weeks, even to today: headaches, numbness through my arms.”
The MMA legend is still feeling the effects of the incident. He mentioned on Instagram that he’s scheduled to get a bulging disc pressing on his spinal cord treated on Monday due to the accident.
Ortiz clarified to Gulf Coast News Now that the driver of the boat was not drinking, and that the accident was purely an issue with the boat handling a switch to autopilot mode.
