Watch Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz 2 on UFC Fight Pass.
UFC 133 back in 2011 was a weird event. It was originally expected that new light heayweight champion Jon Jones would make his first his title defence against Rashad Evans in a bout between former teammates turned rivals. But Jones, who Evans accused of being a “swagger-jacker,” was forced to withdraw with an injury and wasn’t expected to return until the following year.
Wanting to stay active, Evans then agreed to take on another up-and-coming wrestler in the division, Phil Davis.
Everybody Starts Getting Hurt
Oh, and, as it turns out, Jones injury didn’t require surgery, which led to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson receiving a title shot against Jones instead.
Jon Jones explains the origin of Rashad Evans calling branding him a "swagger jacker" at the UFC 129 champions press conference back in 2011. pic.twitter.com/5JHqk6jEUo
— MMA News Today (@MMANewsToday_) November 27, 2023
And then Davis got hurt. Some feelers were put out to Tito Ortiz, but “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” felt it wasn’t the right decision for him to accept the fight. The two had unsettled business after they previously squared off in 2007 at UFC 73, a fight that ended in a unanimous draw after Ortiz was docked a point for a second-round cage grab.
“Anderson Silva Money”
Enter “The Dragon”. Lyoto Machida apparently verbally agreed to a rematch of the UFC 98 fight that spawned the infamous “Shadface” meme.
Cue another meme: “Anderson Silva Money”.
ANDERSON SILVA MONEY pic.twitter.com/aRVg9ebJPm
— YUNG DINOSAUR (@FISTPOSE) March 18, 2023
According to a July 2011 Sherdog story, Machida said:
“My manager, ‘Joinha’ [Jorge Guimaraes], called me and I said at first that I was excited to be in the lineup. But, after meeting with my team, we saw that it wouldn’t be a good idea, especially because Dana White wanted me to travel to the U.S. immediately to have my training camp there. Many of the members of my corner don’t have visas right now. Then, I said, ‘If you want me to fight, pay me as a champion. Pay me like you pay Anderson Silva.’”
We Need A Name
UFC president Dana White rejected the request, and so the search for Evans’ opponent continued. The organization turned to another relatively well-known light heavyweight who was already set to fight on the event’s undercard, veteran Vladimir Matyushenko.
While he was respectable competitor, Matyushenko just wasn’t the kind of name that was going to drive fans to purchase pay-per-views. It didn’t help that he got injured too, and was replaced by Matt Hamill who stepped in to face Alexander Gustafsson.
Things weren’t looking great for UFC 133.
UFC 133: What Could Have Been
Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama was an exciting fight, but it was unlikely to sell a card by itself. Former middleweight champion Rich Franklin was scheduled to face off against Antônio Rogério Nogueira in a fight that provided more depth; then Nogueira pulled out with an injury.
Akiyama: Tries Anderson Silva front kick 🦶
Belfort: Nope 😤 pic.twitter.com/4iUWSkn6Vi
— MMA News Today (@MMANewsToday_) November 27, 2023
A rumoured title fight between featherweight champion José Aldo and Chad Mendes could have headlined the event, but it never ended up coming to fruition.
Tito’s Change Of Heart
But 24 hours after turning down the fight, Ortiz had a change of heart and accepted the fight — no longer did his desire for full preparation matter. Just five weeks after his shocking upset of Ryan Bader, Ortiz would now have little more than three weeks to prepare.
Evans, meanwhile, had been sitting out for nearly a year awaiting a promised title shot. Evans’ even saw his then-teammate Jones win the title while filling in as a replacement against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua after he was put on the shelf with an injury.
The Rematch
The first fight saw the rising Evans narrowly hold onto his undefeated record, winning the third round of and eking out a draw in a fight that saw Ortiz impose his size and power on the smaller man.
Tito Ortiz grabs the cage, loses a point and then almost chokes out Rashad Evans at UFC 73 pic.twitter.com/kLsDPtEo1A
— MMA News Today (@MMANewsToday_) November 27, 2023
In the rematch, both men were still inclined to grapple and traded power shots while standing. Having beaten Bader with a guillotine choke in his most recent outing, and having nearly snared Evans in one as well in their first fight, Ortiz declared in the pre-fight hype that this was Evans’ weakness.
Although Ortiz managed to score an early takedown, Evans was able to get back to his feet and unleashed a barrage of punches on “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy”, followed by a massive slam before coming arguably close to finishing the fight at the end of the first round.
The Finish
In the second round, Ortiz’s prediction would nearly playout. Evans threw a punch and dove in for a takedown, only to have his neck snatched by Ortiz. Being unable to free his leg to secure the choke, however, Evans popped out. Once free, he started working ground and pound.
As Ortiz was on his knees looking for a chance to stand, Evans landed an accurate — and, most importantly, legal — knee to the body of his downed opponent before finishing the fight with a flurry of strikes to follow up.
Before the event, Evans said he felt like he lost the first fight and that he “would love a chance to rewrite that draw.”
And in this Fight of the Night performance, that’s exactly what he did.