Evans back in UFC cage; delays cost him title shot

PHILADELPHIA -- A victory over Tito Ortiz tonight would put Rashad Evans right back where he was when he last stepped out of an Ultimate Fighting Championship cage more than 14 months ago.

Evans officially became the No. 1 contender for the UFC light heavyweight title with a victory over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in May 2010.

He is still waiting to cash in on that opportunity.

Injuries and unfortunate circumstances have kept Evans out of action since he beat Jackson. The former champion finally returns to meet Ortiz in the main event of UFC 133.

While Evans is grateful to Ortiz for accepting the bout on short notice, it is not the matchup he had in mind.

Evans first waited out the chance to fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua when the then-champion was recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament. When Rua was finally ready to defend the belt, Evans was injured. Jon Jones stepped in for Evans and won the title in March.

That left Evans in a predicament as a friend and training partner of Jones, but Evans made a public split from Jones and his longtime training camp and said he would fight Jones for the belt.

Then Jones got hurt, and Evans was slated to fight unbeaten prospect Phil Davis. Of course, Davis got hurt and Ortiz agreed to take the fight on about three weeks' notice.

While no title will be at stake tonight, Evans just wants to compete.

"I was just happy he took the fight, to be honest," Evans said. "I've been out of the cage so long, I would have fought anyone. Whether it's Tito or anyone else, I'm motivated to just go in there and have a fight. I just want to go out there and get that feeling again and just have a great performance."

Evans and Ortiz have a history.

Ortiz was still one of the biggest stars in the sport and Evans was just stepping into the spotlight when they fought to a draw in 2007. Ortiz would have won a decision had he not been penalized a point for grabbing the fence.

Ortiz was unimpressed by Evans, whom he said felt weak compared with other elite light heavyweights.

Evans said he has evolved a great deal since then and doesn't take much from the first bout. He said he thinks the rematch is coming about four years too late. While a victory will keep him in line to challenge the winner of a September title bout between Jones and Jackson, it would have meant more when Ortiz was still at the top of his game.

"Tito is not the same fighter he was," Evans said. "To me, in my mind, he lost the whole 'Wow, that's Tito Ortiz' thing. He's not been very consistent. Sometimes he'll look good. Sometimes he'll look bad. He fell from that level."

This will be Evans' first fight since his public split with mixed martial arts guru Greg Jackson and his famed network of coaches. Evans said he has been rejuvenated working with his team in Florida, known as the Blackzilians.

"Sometimes you do what you have to do at practice, and you don't take it any further than that," he said. "In order to get to the next level, you have to do what other people are not doing. You have to make it a lifestyle, and that's what I've done in the last four or five months."

Two Xtreme Couture-trained fighters also will be in action on the pay-per-view card, beginning live at 6 p.m.

Vitor Belfort will look to rebound from his middleweight title fight loss to Anderson Silva when he meets Yoshihiro Akiyama, and veteran Mike Pyle will challenge rising welterweight star Rory MacDonald.

A welterweight fight between Brian Ebersole and Dennis Hallman, and a middleweight bout pitting Jorge Rivera against Constantinos Philippou round out the main card.

Two undercard fights, including Rani Yahya against top featherweight contender Chad Mendes, will air live on Spike TV (Cable 29) at 5 p.m. The remainder of the undercard will stream on the UFC Facebook page at 2:45 p.m.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.