UFC 133: Evans Vs. Ortiz

UFC 133: Evans vs. Ortiz

For those that are telling themselves – “this fight again!” They are referencing the fight that Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz had at UFC 73: Stacked, in Sacramento, California on July 7, 2007, where the fight had a debatable outcome. Many people within the MMA community find this bout debatable, just for the fact that it wouldn’t have been a draw if Ortiz did not get a one point deduction for grabbing the fence to prevent a takedown. On the other hand, many fans especially of Rashad Evans say he won it because he dominated Ortiz the whole bout especially the third round. However the judges did not see it as a win for either fighter so they declared the outcome a draw. During 2007, Tito Ortiz was seen as a big name that can carry a pay-per-view headline slot whereas Rashad Evans was an up-and-comer to the UFC ranks that was trying to reach the heights that Tito Ortiz was occupying. Many fans stated their case as to why these two should fight again but their pleas were not heard by UFC matchmaker, Joe Silva or UFC President, Dana White until now. It took four years to heed the call of the fans for a rematch between Tito “Huntington Beach Bad Bay” Ortiz and Rashad “Suga” Evans. For the MMA faithful, they know how this rematch came about but for those who do not, here’s how it happened.

UFC 73 - Ortiz vs. Evans ending in a draw

After rehabilitating his injured knee, Rashad was to fight newly crowned light-heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones for the title but he pulled out due to injury, as a result, Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis (an up-and-comer D-1 National Wrestling Champion) was to replace the injured Jones but he too suffered an injury in training camp, which caused him to pull out. Now with Rashad Evans next bout in limbo, the UFC was trying to find a suitable replacement to headline UFC 133, and since Tito Ortiz in UFC 132 defeated Ryan Bader (a top ten contender in the light-heavyweight division) in a dominating fashion, which by the way has to be one of the biggest upsets in recent memory, the UFC asked him to fill in the slot. However, Tito felt like the time wasn’t right so he rejected the offer, so what was the UFC to do? Should they just tell Rashad, “Sorry Suga, but you have no one to fight?” Absolutely not, Dana White always finds a way to please the UFC fans so he asked Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida to step in and initially the answer was yes but due to other factors involved, the bout between Rashad and Lyoto (which would be a rematch of the UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida, where Lyoto KO’d Rashad for the light-heavyweight belt, in which Lyoto made Rashad look like a fish out of water, according to “Rampage” Jackson) did not transpire. Out of nowhere, Tito changed his mind and accepted the offer to fight the man; he did not beat nor lost to.

Now that UFC 133 card is finally in motion and ready to take place on August 6, 2011 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Rashad Evans has an opponent in Tito Ortiz, how will the main event compare their previous fight? One thing is for sure, this bout will not be a “UFC 73 re-run” and someone will be defeated. Also, people will pay attention because of the name recognitions of both fighters as oppose to before, it was only Tito Ortiz.  Both fighters have said that they are not the same fighter than and will impose their will on each other, but according to oddsmakers, Rashad is the heavy favorite to impose his will and win. Reasons can be attributed to Tito Ortiz not winning a fight in five years until he upset Ryan Bader in UFC 132. On the other hand, Rashad hasn’t fought since UFC 114 when he beat “Rampage” Jackson, which is over a year ago, and many MMA fans know that “ring-rust” can play a huge factor in how a fighter performs on his return fight. Also, the MMA community knows that odds are odds and in MMA anything can happen, but for Tito to overcome a hungry Rashad Evans will be an uphill battle, but that’s the beauty of MMA because anyone can be defeated, just ask Ryan Bader.

The fight leading up to the rematch of Ortiz vs. Evans is a fight that will probably be fight of the night; the fight is between Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama. Both fighters do not give up and will the fans everything they have in their body. Both are storied strikers that prefer to keep the fight standing and exchange hits. To put it in perspective, Yoshihiro has said that he will take a few hits to land his hits, if this does not paint a vivid picture of how this fighter likes to engage his opponents that there is nothing one can say other than watch him fight. As for Vitor, he has arguably the best boxing in MMA, so that being said; this fight will give the fans a treat that should not be missed. Other fights on the main card are: Brian Ebersole vs. Dennis Hallman, Jorge Rivera vs. Costantinos Phillippou, and Mike Pyle vs. Rory MacDonald. The preliminary fights are worth watching because it includes top-prospect Chad Mendes fighting Rani Yahya and Matt Hamill against Alexander Gustafsson. UFC 133 was plagued by injuries from many notable fighters and in some cases, other fighters rejected to fight their replacement because he wasn’t a big name, but as everyone knows; the show must go on and how will the event turn out, only August 6, 2011 will tell if Tito is really back!!