UFC 133 Results: Report Cards for All Main Card Fighters

By (Correspondent) on August 7, 2011

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It's official: the short-lived Tito Ortiz career revival hype train has come to a screeching halt.

This past Saturday night, Rashad Evans not only knocked off 14 months worth of ring rust, but also cemented his position as the No. 1 contender in the UFC light heavyweight division. By scoring a TKO victory in the second round against Tito Ortiz, Evans secured a fight against the winner of the Jon Jones vs. Rampage Jackson that is scheduled to go down at UFC 135.

In other action, Vitor Belfort scored a much needed knockout victory that might have ended Yoshihiro Akiyama's UFC career, Rory MacDonald further proved that he is the future of the welterweight division, and Dennis Hallman made all of us want to throw up.

So what kind of grades did the main card fighters of UFC 133 get from the unofficial resident professor of Bleacher Report MMA? Read on to find out.

Rashad Evans: B+

LAS VEGAS - MAY 28:  UFC fighter Rashad Evans (R) reacts to the crowd while speaking to UFC announcer Joe Rogan (L) about his fight against UFC fighter Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson at UFC 114: Rampage versus Rashad at the Mandalay Bay Hotel on May 28, 2010 i
Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

Rashad Evans proved to the world Saturday night that ring rust is an urban legend.

After a 14 month layoff, Evans looked on point on his way to earning a second round TKO victory over Tito Ortiz.

Evans did get taken down and tagged a few times, but he was able to overcome the adversity in front of him and earn his spot as the No. 1 contender in the UFC light heavyweight division.

Dennis Hallman: F-

Photo by MiddleEasy.com
Photo by MiddleEasy.com

Dennis Hallman gets an F for getting smashed by Brian Ebersole.

That grade gets lowered to an F- thanks to the fact that he was rocking the most awful fight trunks in the history of mixed martial arts.

Thanks to our friends over at MiddleEasy.com, we all now know that Hallman's private parts actually did what we all feared they would do. But don't worry, Zeus was kind enough to edit the picture.

Brian Ebersole: B+

Brian-ebersole_display_image

"TWAS" looked incredible in his second outing in the UFC against Dennis Hallman Saturday night.

The general belief was that if the fight hit the ground, Ebersole would be in trouble. Not only was TWAS able to hold his own, but he crushed Hallman's face with some of the best elbows thrown recently by anyone not named Jon Jones.

Fear the manscaped chest.

Jorge Rivera: C-

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 27:  Jorge Rivera of the USA and Michael Bisping of Great Britaintrade blows in their middleweight bout part of at UFC 127 at Acer Arena on February 27, 2011 in Sydney, Australia.  (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Most people believed that if Rivera left the Octagon Saturday night with another loss, he may call it a career. If it was the last time we saw him inside the UFC, he can go out knowing that he put on the best performance he could for the fans.

But unfortunately, Rivera's best at this point of his career just isn't all that great. He's a great person, an inspirational figure in the sport, but it may be time for Rivera to call it a career.

Rory MacDonald: A

Rory_display_image

Rory MacDonald's performance can be summed up with one word: beastmode.

Mike Pyle brought nothing to the Octagon that MacDonald couldn't shrug off with ease. After Rory laughed off Pyle's attempt at offense, he proceeded to beat the "living death" out of his latest victim.

Comparisons are already being made between MacDonald and current welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Let's give MacDonald a few more fights before talking about him in the same breath as the best welterweight in the world.

Mike Pyle: D-

Mike-pyle_display_image

Mike Pyle got demolished by younger, hungrier, more talented fighter.

Pyle offered up little offense, but made for a really good punching bag. Or he was a very well paid sparring partner.

Whatever the case may be, Pyle showed that he is nowhere near the top to the welterweight division.

Constantnos Philippou: C+

Costaphilippou2_111629

Philippou did well considering he took a step up in competition on late notice, but he still showed some big holes in his game.

He showed that he was easy to hit, and his cardio could have been greatly improved. When, or if, he takes another step up the middleweight ranks, he better have improved on those areas, or else he will get wrecked.

Vitor Belfort: A-

DALLAS - SEPTEMBER 19:  UFC fighter Vitor Belfort  (L) battles UFC fighter Rich Franklin (R) during their Catch weight bout at UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort at the American Airlines Center on September 19, 2009 in Dallas, Texas.  (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Ge
Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

If Vitor Belfort still wanted to be a relevant middleweight in the UFC, he needed to beat Akiyama, and do so impressively.

He accomplished both feats.

Belfort looked like the Belfort of old as he destroyed Akiyama, handing him his third straight loss in a row. This wasn't enough to get him back in the title picture, but another performance or two like it and we may see Belfort fighting for the middleweight title once again.

Yoshihiro Akiyama: D-

LAS VEGAS - JULY 11:  (R-L) Alan Belcher throws a right at Yoshihiro Akiyama during their middleweight bout during UFC 100 on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

Akiyama suffered his third straight defeat when he was knocked out by Vitor Belfort.

Now his career is in the hands of Dana White. Will they release him, or will he make the move down to welterweight?

Only time will tell.

Tito Ortiz: B-

LAS VEGAS - NOVEMBER 21: Tito Ortiz (R) battles Forrest Griffin (L) during their Light Heavyweight Fight at the UFC 106 at Mandalay Bay Events Center on November 21, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

Usually, Ortiz wouldn't get this high of a grade, but he deserves it.

It has been years since we saw Ortiz display the amount of heart that he did against Rashad Evans.

If we never see Ortiz fight again, at least he went out showing he can still compete at a high level

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