Tito Ortiz is still a tough customer and made Rashad Evans work, but the younger, more well-rounded fighter wore down the veteran for a key victory at UFC 133.
Evans got top control in both the first and second rounds, made Tito work hard to avoid a beating and then delivered a vicious knee to Ortiz's chest that essentially finished the fight. Referee Dan Miragliotta saved Ortiz at 4:48 of the second round of the main event at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
"All the hard work, all the trials and tribulations have paid off," Evans told UFC analyst Joe Rogan. "When you're in your valley that's when you're tested the most."
Evans hadn't fought in 14 months because of injuries and fight cancellations. The win gives him (16-1-1, 11-1-1 UFC) the chance to fight the winner of the UFC 135 match between Jon Jones and Quinton Jackson. Jones, the young UFC light heavyweight champ, and Evans used to be teammates at Jackson's MMA in Albuquerque, NM. Evans has since left the camp and there's been a lot of nasty banter through the media and on Twitter.
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: Watch Evans-Ortiz highlights here]
"I got my first performance, [now] I want to get at Jon Jones. I want that belt back. So whether he has it or 'Rampage' has it, I'm getting my belt back," said Evans, who won the UFC 205-pound strap after beating Forrest Griffin in Dec. of 2008. He lost his first title defense in May of 2009 against Lyoto Machida.
Ortiz (16-9-1, 15-9-1) was no slouch on this night. It was just a month ago at UFC 132 that Ortiz, written off by most including UFC management, delivered his first win since 2006 and kept his gig with the promotion. The usually hard to manage Ortiz was a team player when he agreed to turn around on less than three weeks notice to face Evans. Phil Davis was Evans' original opponent at UFC 133, but had to back out due to injuries.
"I gotta take my hat off to Rashad. Good luck and get that world title dog. Show the world you are one of the best in the world," Ortiz said. "I came here and gave it my all. I have nothing to hold back, Rashad beat me at my best."
UFC president Dana White was impressed with the performance and gave both Ortiz and Evans the $70,000 Fight of the Night bonus.
"Again I can't say enough good things about how good Rashad looked tonight and Tito fought an awesome fight, worthy of Fight of the Night," White said during the UFC 133 postfight press conference.
This was a rematch of a 2007 fight at UFC 73. That bout ended in a draw because Ortiz was penalized a point for repeatedly grabbing the cage. Evans fought tentatively that night and admitted he was a little intimidated stepping into the Octagon with the former light heavyweight champ.
Tonight, we saw a different Evans. He's added great striking and footwork to an excellent wrestling base. Against Ortiz, his work on the feet set up what turned out be some devastating ground control.
After Ortiz threatened with a guillotine choke on the ground, Evans moved into dominant position with 3:45 left in the second. Out of side control, Evans made Ortiz work hard to defend himself on the bottom. When Ortiz finally freed himself, with under a minute left in the round and got to his knees, he was exhausted. Ortiz sat on his knees for too long. Evans took a risk and delivered a knee right down the pipe to Ortiz's chest (knees to the face of a grounded opponent are illegal. If Ortiz ducked at that moment he may have been nailed with an illegal knee).
Ortiz immediately grabbed his ribs and chest with his left arm and fell to his side. Evans jumped on top of the injured fighter and wailed away with nine heavy punches.
Tito said the knee to the solar plexus locked up his body.
"The knee to the body ... it hurt. I tried to get my body up and my mind was saying 'get up' and body wasn't doing it. The referee said 'protect yourself' and I tried to put my hands up and my body wouldn't get up," said Ortiz.
This was fight No. 25 in the Octagon for Ortiz. That ties him for the most trips into the UFC cage. He's also logged more total minutes in the Octagon than anyone in UFC history.
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