When Tito Ortiz gets in the cage Saturday night at UFC 84, he will be taking on more than unbeaten Brazilian Lyoto Machida.

When Tito Ortiz gets in the cage Saturday night at UFC 84, he will be taking on more than unbeaten Brazilian Lyoto Machida.

The Huntington Beach Bad Boy is looking to make a point at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas as he exits the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

"I'm fighting Machida of course but I think I'm really fighting the company," Ortiz said, referring to the UFC. "I'm fighting (UFC president) Dana White and I'm fighting for my freedom. Fighting the power, as they say."

The 33-year-old Ortiz has fought 20 times in the UFC, dating to UFC 13 in May 1997. A former light-heavyweight champion who was once the face of MMA, his rivalry with Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell and Ken Shamrock were financial bonanzas for the UFC.

With one fight left on his contract, Ortiz can't wait to leave the organization. And the UFC apparently can't wait to show him the door.

"Tito is an idiot," White said on a recent media conference call. "He's one of the dumbest human beings I've ever met. Everything that comes out of his mouth makes no sense. And I just have no interest in being in the Tito Ortiz business anymore."

And this comes from the man who used to manage Ortiz.

The UFC has done Ortiz no favors by putting him up against the 29-year-old Machida (12-0), who has beaten Rich Franklin and B.J. Penn and is coming off a comprehensive win over Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. They have billed Ortiz's fight fourth on a card headlined by the lightweight title fight between Penn, the current 155-pound champion, and former title-holder Sean Sherk.

Ortiz (16-5-1) said the UFC wants rid of him because he is challenging its financial structure.

"You know I think it really came down to me understanding the revenue that they were making and having a feeling that I should be getting a part of the revenue that I'm building for them," Ortiz said. "I remember when he (White) was my manager and he was fighting for the same things that I'm fighting for now, when SEG (Semaphore Entertainment Group) owed the company, he was saying, 'Yeah, I want Tito to be making more money, I want him to make more pay-per-view (revenue).'

"And now all of sudden that I'm saying it myself, I'm a moron because of saying it?" he added. "I'm a stupid guy because I understand the business now? That I see the numbers they're making now, and how about kicking back to us fighters that are putting our lives on the line in the Octagon? That's when it became very disrespectful of Dana, saying I'm a moron, saying these things about me."

While Ortiz's recent results — a draw with Rashad Evans, a second loss to Liddell and two wins over an aging Shamrock — have not been stellar, he would give a rival promoter an instant headliner.

Ortiz still talks a good game and he polarizes fans. He can look forward to some hefty paychecks if he joins EliteXC, Mark Cuban's HDNet Fights or Affliction (providing he can handle teaming up with a rival clothing company).

"I made these guys a lot of money and they have no respect for me, they really treat me bad and I'm just going to go elsewhere where a company respects me," Ortiz said.