'Awesome to get the chance to put on a show': Worcester's Aaron Oritz is bringing his Muay Thai best to Paris Olympics

WORCESTER — Aaron Ortiz has traveled extensively in the United States and abroad, where he’s had his passport stamped in Canada, Greece, Italy, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.

Next stop: France. And with his mom, Michelle, as his traveling partner.

“I’m excited for that, and I’m excited my mom is going with me,” the 25-year-old Worcester resident said Monday following a workout at Team Link Muay Thai, a kickboxing gym on Water Street in the Canal District.

“She’s gone to the Caribbean and stayed at a resort, but she hasn’t traveled to explore. Just can’t wait to show her around landmarks and stuff like that. We’ll play it by ear.”

The sightseeing will come after Ortiz represents the United States in a Muay Thai match at the Summer Olympics in Paris.

Muay Thai is a form of martial arts that originated in Thailand some 500 years ago and incorporates the use of hands, elbows, knees and feet in fighting.

It’s a demonstration sport in these Olympics, hopefully a springboard to it being elevated to an official sport when the Games are held again in four years in Los Angeles.

“I’m happy that all the hard work and dedication I put into the sport, all the time with my team, has brought me here,” said Ortiz, a five-time world champion who took up Muay Thai when he was 11 and the target of bullies.

“And I’m excited to represent the United States, Worcester and Massachusetts well on the Olympic stage. … It’s awesome to get the chance to put on a show and hopefully get it in the Olympics in 2028.”

Ortiz was selected by the U.S. Muaythai Federation as the lone male to represent his country. He’s one of two Olympians from Worcester, the other being gymnast and fellow Tech alum Stephen Nedoroscik (class of 2016) .

Tierra Brandt, a four-time world champ from Mesa, Arizona, is the American female representative.

The Olympics opening ceremony will be held Friday, and Ortiz, who departs Boston for France a week later, will enter the ring for his one fight to showcase the sport Aug. 5 or 6. The Games conclude Aug. 11.

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The 6-foot-4 Ortiz will face Croatian Vito Kosar in a 189-pound bout. It’s a rematch of their International Federation of Muaythai Associations world senior championships match at the same weight in June in Patras, Greece.

“It was a really close fight, so I’m excited for this,” said Ortiz, who was dethroned by Kosar in the gold-medal fight to end his three-year reign as a world champ.

Ortiz, who is ranked No. 1 in the world at 189 pounds, is 56-9 (8 KOs) as an amateur and 2-1 as a professional. He’s fought multiple times with broken bones and has been training for 15 years and competing for nearly as long.

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So, what keeps him going?

“Just the love for the sport, it’s great,” Ortiz said. “And having the family in the gym, everyone and all my training partners, it’s like a family. It doesn’t even feel like work to me.

“We come in — it’s hard work — but we show up and get it done. It’s just fun. I love doing it, and I love the sport.”

Ortiz works as a server two days a week at Burtons Grill & Bar in Shrewsbury, where he’s been employed for four years, and is apprenticing under owner Wes Ryan at Evil Eye Tattoo on Grafton Street to become a licensed professional artist.

After returning from France, Ortiz will return to training under the watchful eye of Team Link Muay Thai owner Ibere Reis, this time for a world championship fight, likely in September and possibly in the Worcester area, with another pro bout in the works for October.

And should Muay Thai be elevated to an Olympic sport for the LA Games, Ortiz will be ready.

“It’s a long road, but I see myself improving a lot in that amount of time,” he said. “So excited to see where I’ll be at in 2028.”

—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarvenTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'Awesome to get the chance to put on a show': Worcester's Aaron Oritz is bringing his Muay Thai best to Paris Olympics