Photo: Josh Hedges
An end to the soap opera of who will be facing Rashad Evans August 6 at UFC 133 is finally in sight. Tito Ortiz will take Phil Davis’s place a little over a month since his last appearance.
In an interview on MMAJunkie.com Dana White, the president of the UFC, remarked on the twists in the saga of coming up for a substitute for Davis. Lyoto Machida had been tipped to take the empty spot but, as it turns out, it will in fact be Tito Ortiz who takes on Rashad.
“Machida accepted and then told me to pay him what I pay Anderson Silva. I said, ‘Are you kidding me’ Tell Machida to conquer what Anderson’s conquered and I’ll pay him the same. Have a nice day,’” said White, who didn’t buy the explanation the karate stylist announced about not having enough time to prepare. According to the president, the fight didn’t happen for financial reasons.
Previously harboring a grudge against White, Ortiz saw his stock rise amid the confusion.
“Tito moved up in my book. It’s like I’m dealing with a different person. I like that, I like the new Tito,” added White, “He’s back in the picture.”
Check out the complete card:
Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans
Rich Franklin vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Vitor Belfort
Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara
Rory MacDonald vs. Mike Pyle
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Chad Mendes vs. Rani Yahya
Brian Ebersole vs. Dennis Hallman
Ivan Menjivar vs. Nick Pace
Johny Hendricks vs. Mike Pierce
Mike Brown vs. Nam Phan
Rafael “Sapo” Natal vs. Costantinos Phillippou