Can Tito Ortiz Actually Beat Rashad Evans?
August 2, 2011 - 9:25 pm by Ryan Phillips
The world was shocked when Tito Ortiz beat Ryan Bader at UFC 132 on July 2. Ortiz was essentially guaranteed to be walking in to his last fight with the UFC when he entered the ring with Bader, then he turned his career and life around with a crazy, first-round win.
Then, thanks to other fighters backing out with injuries, Ortiz (16-8-1) was offered the chance to headline this weekend’s UFC 133 in a rematch with Rashad Evans. He will be fighting just over a month after his win over Bader, but Ortiz took the fight anyway. The question now becomes, can he actually win?
Evans (15-1-1) was one of the world’s best light heavyweights before a knee injury forced him out of a title fight with Mauricio Rua at UFC 128. Friend and training partner Jon Jones stepped in for Evans and beat Rua to become UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Jones and Evans were originally scheduled to headline this weekend’s pay-per-view, but Jones was forced out of action with a hand injury. Rising prospect Phil Davis originally replaced Jones, but Davis pulled out of the bout with a knee injury. That’s when Ortiz entered the picture.
Evans and Ortiz fought to a draw at UFC 73 on July 7, 2007. Since then, Ortiz lost three fights, then beat Bader. Evans, on the other hand, has won four of five fights, and won the UFC Light Heavyweight title, before losing it in his first defense against Lyoto Machida.
The 31-year-old Evans hasn’t fought since May of 2010, so he’s essentially in the opposite predicament as Ortiz. Tito may not have gotten enough time to recover from his last fight, while Evans is sure to show some ring rust.
Ortiz looks to finally be healthy after years of battling various injuries. He showed in his last fight that he still has powerful hands, as he knocked Bader to the ground with a few solid punches before submitting him with a guillotine choke. That could mean problems for Evans. But, again, “Sugar” is one of the best in the world at 205. He has huge hands and is a very dangerous striker.
We think Ortiz has a chance in this fight. That said, Evans is a huge step up from Bader for “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy.” He’ll be a huge underdog once again, and with good reason. But something tells us Ortiz will be fine with that situation.
If Ortiz beats Evans, you’d have to think he’d be one more win away from a potential title shot. If Evans takes out Ortiz, he’ll probably get a title shot in his next fight.
One Response to “Can Tito Ortiz Actually Beat Rashad Evans?”
Evans may have improved a lot, since he burst on the scene, but Ortiz has established himself and since he no longer has to fight while injured, he’ll be himself. Ortiz may even have more motivation for this 2nd fight with Evans, since Evans has one big mouth. He could not stop rubbing in the fact that the judges called the fight a draw, even though the only reason it was a draw and not an Ortiz victory was because of the fence grabbing incident. Give a warning, but be consistant. Many fighters grab that fence, to avoid being taken down, yet not one of them has been penalized with the lone exception of Ortiz. This claim does not include untelevised, unsanctioned bouts, either. The thing is that referee had a point deducted from Ortiz, when IMO he should have warned Ortiz about deducting a point, if done again. Always give a warning shot. Ortiz is not the only fighter to have points deducted, without warning (Lesnar/Mir bout) and he certainly ill not be the last fighter to have this happen. This is all spilled milk, anyway, but bottom line is Evans rubbed his nose in it, because of that. The finger nail on Tito’s face caused bruising, but Evans was quick to point that out, but he forgot to mention how Ortiz got that. That’s how Evans is. That is his personality. He is disrespectful and loves the mirror. He is a pretty ugly fellow also. UGLY! According to Rampage, Evans’ breath is nothing to write home about, either. Afraid to think how nasty his underarms smell during fights, also. Let’s hope Ortiz does not have to deal with Evans for very long. Ortiz wins by TKO in the first (or third) round.
By fingerssfv on Aug 3, 2011