UFC President Dana White announced on Wednesday via his twitter account that "The Huntington Beach Badboy" Tito Ortiz (16-8-1) will replace Phil Davis in the main-event at UFC 133, scheduled to take place August 6, 2011, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Despite initially turning down the bout, Ortiz had a change of heart and answered the call; White made it clear to MMA Junkie that the former 205lbs champion's future with the promotion is no longer on the line heading into the contest.
"Tito turned it down, and then Tito called back and said, 'Did you get the fight yet?' I said, 'Nope.' He goes, 'Let me think about it. Let me talk to my team, and I'll call you back tomorrow.' This was Tuesday night," White said. "The storyline is what's so interesting. Tito went from 'You're about to be cut,' to now, if he beats Rashad Evans, he's back in the mix. He's back in the picture."
Ortiz last appeared at UFC 132 - Cruz vs. Faber II, July 2, where he upset top light heavyweight Ryan Bader, catching him in a first round Guillotine choke after flooring him with a short right uppercut. The bout next month will be a rematch of their UFC 73 showdown, when Ortiz and Evans battled to a unanimous draw due to a point deduction in the second round when Ortiz grabbed a hold of the fence during an Evans takedown attempt. This time, the stakes couldn't be higher for both men.
Meanwhile, White had some choice words for the Machida camp who according to the president accepted the bout before re-nagging and demanding 'Anderson Silva money.'
"Machida accepted the fight," White told MMAjunkie.com. "We knew for a couple days this was going down, and Machida accepted the fight. Then when we called back and said, 'OK, we're going to make this fight,' Machida's people came back and said, 'We'll tell you what. You pay us what you pay Anderson Silva, and we'll take the fight.' This was after they had already agreed to take the fight. I said, 'Are you [expletive] kidding me? I'll tell you what. You tell Machida he achieves what [expletive] Anderson Silva has achieved, then maybe he'll make Anderson Silva money. Have a nice day.'"
So there you have it; Evans vs. Ortiz II will headline UFC 133, Saturday August 6, available on UFC.tv or PPV. Tune in to catch all the action as the light heavyweight division continues to pay musical chairs, and find out if Ortiz can make his way back into title contention or if "Suga" will reclaim his place as the promotion's #1 contender.
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