CLICK HERE For a $900 UFC Betting Bonus!
Billed as a bout between too former adversaries, and marking the return of the UFC to Philadelphia after a two-year absence, former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans will try to hold onto his No. 1 contender status against a resurgent Tito Ortiz in UFC 133 on August 6.
- Main Event: Rashad “Suga” Evans (15-1-1) vs. Tito Ortiz (16-8-1)
- Date: Saturday, August 6, 2011 Time: 9pm ET/6pm PT
- Venue: The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- TV: Pay-per-view, Spike TV (8pm ET/5pm PT)
- UFC 133 Odds: Click Here
UFC 133 Main Event
Tito Ortiz (16-8-1): +300 vs. Rashad Evans (15-1-1): -450
A one-time UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion, Evans was scheduled to face Jon “Bones” Jones, the current titleholder on the UFC 133 card. However, Jones withdrew with a hand injury being replaced with upcoming fighter Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis.
Then in a similar turn of events, a knee injury caused Davis’ camp to scratch him from the bout, triggering UFC president Dana White to turn his attention to “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy”, slotting him into the main event at UFC 133 against Evans.
Now, Ortiz, who is coming off a career-saving victory after earning Submission of the Night honors by submitting Ryan Bader at UFC 132 on July 2, will enter the Octagon in a rematch of UFC 73, when he and Evans battled to a draw, as the final scorecards read 28-28 from all three judges.
The win was Ortiz’s first since he defeated Ken Shamrock in 2006, as he forced Bader to tap just two minutes into the bout.
Meanwhile, Evans who became the Light-Heavyweight Champion at UFC 92 on December 27, 2008, was punched into unconsciousness in Round 2 of his first title defense fight against Lyoto Machida, resulting in his first and only loss in his MMA career. Since then, Evans has had just two more UFC headliner bouts, with his last trip to the ring being back on May 29, 2010 when he beat Quinton Jackson by unanimous decision on the UFC 114 card.
Pick: Ortiz +300- Ortiz will no doubt be carrying momentum into his rematch with Evans from his win over Bader, and after proving that his career is far from being over, the 36-year old submission specialist should be hungry to secure his position as one of the next contenders for the UFC light heavyweight crown. What’s more, he should hold an advantage having fought more recently than a rusty Evans.
[Read more...]