· Tito Ortiz And Rashad Evans Rematch At UFC 133

· Article author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Posted on 07/14 at 11:13 AM

By the time Rashad Evans steps into the cage on August 6 in Philadelphia, Penn., it will have been 15 months since his last fight, a unanimous decision win over bitter rival Rampage Jackson. That does not mean it has been an uneventful year for the former light heavyweight champion.

An injury to current 205 pound kingpin Jon Jones forced Evans into a title contender eliminator bout with rising star Phil Davis. Three weeks away from that fight, an injury forced Davis out. Reports have surfaced that after some initial hesitation, former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz has stepped into the spot vacated by both Jones and Davis and will join Evans to headline UFC 133 in his second bout against a top 10 opponent in one month.

Ortiz is fresh off a shocking upset win over "The Ultimate Fighter" winner Ryan Bader at UFC 132 on the Fourth of July weekend. The win was Ortiz's first since 2006 where he beat Ken Shamrock for the third time. With four losses in the five years since then, it was a previous draw with Evans that will help promote this fight. On July 7, 2007 at UFC 73, Evans and Ortiz fought to a draw after Ortiz was deducted a point for grabbing the cage. A rematch never happened as Ortiz suffered two spinal surgeries and subsequent losses to Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, and Forrest Griffin.

In the time since facing Ortiz, Evans has amassed an impressive run of 5-1, including beating Forrest Griffin for the light heavyweight title. The title run was short lived as he lost in his first defense against Machida. Following that setback, Evans has climbed back into title contention with wins over Rampage Jackson and Thiago Silva.