UFC 133 Fight Card: Will Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz Live Up to the "Hype?"

The fight card for UFC 133 has potential and the Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz fight has the potential to carry the whole event.  Both fighters are known to be trash talkers (with Tito Ortiz usually taking the lead in that department), but this fight feels different and that doesn't look good for Rashad Evans.  It doesn't look good at all.

I'm sure we all remember the copious amount of trash talk from Rashad Evans leading up to his fight with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson after their stint as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter.  Let's take a look at a couple of "whoppers" from Rashad taken from a UFC 133 media conference call:

"... I'm not really worried about his striking to be honest."

"My advantages will be my heart of course, 100 percent."

That's it?  I even intentionally cut out most of the first quote so it would be taken out of context.  It's still not much.  There's also this short clip from the UFC of both fighters "trash talking" each other. 

Rashad's supposed shots at Ortiz seem very stiff and almost rehearsed.  Is Rashad looking past Tito to his fight with Jon Jones if he wins?  With the amount of venom spewed forth by Evans about that fight (which didn't happen and is now not even scheduled) and Jon Jones rather than his current opponent and fight, I'm going to have to say yes.

Do I think that means Tito Ortiz will win this fight because of that?  No.  Do I think it means he has a much better shot now if this is true?  Absolutely.  This, along with Tito's alleged new-found dedication to the sport, makes this a very interesting fight. 

In the end, that can only be a good thing for the sport and, more importantly, us MMA fans.