After Much Back & Forth Ortiz Accepts Rematch With Evans As Late Replacement

UFC 133 suffered a minor set back when it became one of many events where a fighter scheduled to compete in the main event had to withdraw from the bout due to injuries. The original main event was scheduled to pit former Light Heavyweight champion Rashad Evans against undefeated 4x All-American wrestler Phil Davis, but three weeks away from the event Davis sustained a knee injury that forced him out of the bout. Acting fast, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva contacted the only two available top fifteen Light Heavyweights in the promotion: former Light Heavyweight champions Tito Ortiz and Lyoto Machida. Contacted first, Ortiz initially turned down the offer to have a rematch with Evans with just three weeks notice having just competed less than two weeks ago himself. Machida was then contacted and speculation ran wild reporting that he had immediately accepted the chance to have a rematch with Evans, then facts started coming into light with his representatives claiming that he had not officially accepted fighting on such late notice in such a high profile fight. After speculation ran back and forth, news finally broke that Machida was asking for an enormous pay raise just to accept the bout. With such a high demand for increased payment, Ortiz was contacted again and decided to accept the opportunity to fight Evans again, after originally going to a draw with him over four years ago in a bout that many felt he would have won, but Ortiz was deducted one point by the referee for repeatedly grabbing the cage. with that, the event has been renamed, again, UFC 133: Evans vs Ortiz II. Evans has already opened as the heavy favorite seeing as he is considered to be competing at the top of his game, while Ortiz is just coming off a unexpected Rnd1 submission win that saved his career both in the sport and the UFC. A win for Ortiz would shoot him back up the ranks and put him within range to challenge for the title he has not held since 2003. This event is guaranteed to deliver action in every fight.