Stop the presses! It’s been a rather bizarre 24 hours in UFC land. First of all, the UFC 133 main event fight between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis fell through after Davis suffered a knee injury in training and was forced to pull out.
Then there was word the UFC offered Tito Ortiz the bout, but he declined due to the short notice. Then we got word that Lyoto Machida had accepted the fight, but then backed off his initial agreement due to monetary issues according to a MMA Junkie report.
Now the UFC has confirmed Ortiz has had a change of heart and decided to take the fight with Evans after all. UFC 133 is scheduled for Aug. 6 at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center.
Ortiz and Evans first clashed at UFC 73 in July 2007, fighting to a three round draw. Ortiz would have actually won the judges’ decision but was penalized a point for holding the fence during the bout. Now the two light heavyweights will be able to settle the score.
Ortiz made headlines earlier this month with a first round “submission of the night” win over top-10 ranked TUF 8 winner Ryan Bader. If he takes out Evans who is ranked in the top five, Ortiz could literally go from having been on the verge of losing his job to title contention within a five week period.