UFC 44: This Time It's Personal was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 26, 2003, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later released on DVD.

Headlining the card was a light heavyweight championship unification bout between Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture. The total fighter payroll for the event was $467,500. The ring interviewer was Eddie Bravo.

Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz (English: /tɪtɵ ɔərtɪs/) (born January 23, 1975) is an American mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, having held the title from April 14, 2000 to September 26, 2003. Along with fighters like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, he was one of the sport's early stars. Ortiz ultimately became the biggest pay-per-view draw of 2006 for his fights with Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Ken Shamrock.

Outside of his fighting career, Ortiz is the CEO of the Punishment Athletics MMA equipment and clothing line. He also owns an MMA training gym called Punishment Training Center, which is located in Huntington Beach, CA.

Jacob Christopher Ortiz was born to Samuel and Joyce Ortiz. He received his nickname "Tito," which means tyrant, from his father when he was a year old. He is the fourth child of his mother, Joyce, who had three sons from a previous marriage. His mixed heritage (Mexican father, American mother) has been reflected in his ring entrances as he has borne both Mexican and American flags.

Randy Duane Couture (pronounced /koʊˈtʊər/; born June 22, 1963) is an actor, retired American mixed martial artist, collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestler. During his tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Couture became a three-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, an Interim UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and was the UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament Winner. Couture is the first fighter to hold two UFC championship titles in two different divisions (heavyweight and light heavyweight). Couture has competed in a record 15 title fights. He holds the most title reigns in the UFC with five. His last fight with Lyoto Machida marked his 24th fight in the UFC, the third most amount of fights in the UFC (Tito Ortiz is first with 26 and Matt Hughes is second with 25). Couture is one of the first members of the UFC Hall of Fame. He is the only person over the age of 40 to have won a UFC championship fight, having done so four times.^{[citation needed]}

Couture was an Olympic wrestling alternate and has lived in Corvallis, Oregon, throughout much of his career, where he served as an assistant wrestling coach and a strength and conditioning coach for Oregon State University. He established Team Quest with Matt Lindland and Dan Henderson, a training camp for fighters, based out of Gresham, Oregon, and headed by coach Robert Folis. In 2005, Couture moved to Las Vegas, where he opened his own extensive chain of gyms under the name Xtreme Couture. He currently trains at his Las Vegas-based gym. Couture partnered with Bas Rutten in the opening of Legends Gym in Hollywood, California.

Nicholas Robert Diaz (born August 2, 1983) is a American mixed martial artist of Mexican descent. He is the former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion, WEC and IFC Welterweight Champion. He has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride Fighting Championships and Elite Xtreme Combat. Diaz was promoted to black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Cesar Gracie on May 8, 2007. Diaz trains at the Diaz brother's Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Lodi, California. Diaz holds the distinction of having never been submitted, and has been finished by strikes only once in 35 fights. He is currently ranked the #4 welterweight in the world by Sherdog, ESPN, MMAWeekly, and USA Today.

Diaz was born in Stockton , California. He is the older brother of UFC fighter Nate Diaz. He went to Tokay High School in Lodi for one year before dropping out. While a freshman, he was a member of the swimming team. Diaz has stated in the past that he is thankful his mother got him into swimming classes because swimming is one of the main reasons why his cardio is so impressive during his fights. Diaz has also said on multiple occasions that he had a hard childhood and grew up without his biological father.

Jeremy Dunn Jackson (born October 16, 1980 in Newport Beach, California) is an American actor/singer. He is widely known for his role as Hobie Buchannon on the television show Baywatch.

Jackson was featured in Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue in March 2006. He has been referred to as "Mr. MySpace" and was a guest on The Tyra Banks Show. Jackson has been performing in clubs from London to Las Vegas. Jackson endorses Ed Hardy Clothing, and hosts fashion shows around the world for the fashion house.

He appeared on VH1's Confessions of a Teen Idol, a reality show in which former teen idols attempt to revitalize their careers. In one episode he claimed he beat out Leonardo DiCaprio for the part of Hobie Buchannon. The show is co-produced by Scott Baio and Jason Hervey.

Jeremy is currently working with PhilaDreams Films on the upcoming movie "Dreams," which is currently being filmed by Thomas J. Walton and Vaughn Goland. It is scheduled to be released in 2013.

Jackson admitted during an interview on his E! TV Special titled "Child Star Confidential" that he had a severe drug problem during the time he was on Baywatch. He partly attributes his decision to leave Baywatch to his drug problem, as the drugs made him feel that working on the show was beneath him. After being arrested in a methamphetamine raid and a long stint in a drug rehab, Jackson says beat his addiction, remaining clean and sober since 2000. Jackson appeared on as a guest on the news talk show The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch on CNBC and on ABC's The View to talk about his drug addiction and methamphetamine in Hollywood.