UFC 133: Evans vs. Ortiz

With the increase of injury's in the UFC its no surprise that fight cards have to keep changing, but is it damaging the sport? I don't think so, no matter what happens to fighters you can almost always guarantee that the matchmakers will still put together great fights thanks to all the talent they have on board.

So originally it was Evans vs. Jones for the LHW title, a fight that really blew any friendship out of the water between the two and between Evans and Greg Jackson's camp, then "Jonny Bones" was sidelined due to a torn ligament in his right hand. An already frustrated Rashad Evans (who has been out of action since his fight in May 2010 against Rampage Jackson) was yet again out of an opponent, that was until the quickly rising Phil Davies came into play, and as Evans was eager to get back into title contention he took the fight.

July 12th, the date that Rashad Evans was once again let down. Phil Davies suffered a knee injury in training and was pulled from the fight. So the hunt was on once again to find a frustrated Evans. Tito Ortiz was offered the fight but initially he declined. Dana White then contacted Lyota Machida's camp to get a rematch between him and Evans, they initially accepted then when White contacted to confirm, Machida demanded "Anderson Silva money", something that White deemed disrespectful, pushing Machida out of the picture. So then what happened? Well, Ortiz decided that he wanted the fight and a rematch, coming off an impressive win over Ryan Bader at UFC 132.

UFC 73 Evans vs. Ortiz ends in draw

So it was set, Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz would headline the main event on the August 6th card in Philadelphia. The two previously fought at UFC 73 which ended in a draw due to Ortiz having a point deducted for grabbing the cage, a fight that in the eyes of many was deserved to Ortiz.

Twitter has been the home to a lot of "smack talk" between fighters and it's a great way of getting the online community hyped for a fight, with both of these fighters being heavily involved in smack-talking I knew it was only a matter of time until one of them tried to push the buttons of their opponent.

Here is a video evidencing the heavy words: