UFC 133: Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz Head-to-Toe Breakdown

Finally, amid all the injuries, shuffles and talk of card curses, UFC 133 is coming up this weekend from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

The headline fight is set with two men who are at the top of this sport and have seen each other before. Two former light heavyweight champions will go at it in Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz and it is a match-up that UFC fans have seen before.

Evans and Ortiz fought to a draw in 2007 in an extremely close fight was declared a draw after Ortiz was deducted a point for holding the fence. This time around, Ortiz faces a different challenge as a late replacement in this tough fight with Evans, but Evans himself has not fought in over a year and may take a bit of time to adjust in the cage on Saturday night.

Here is my head-to-toe breakdown.

Stand Up

Like many areas of the fight game broken down between these two, the stand up game is razor thin close and leaves little difference come Saturday night.

Both of these fighters are in unique positions going into this fight and normal circumstances may not apply with ring rust and short training camp on each side, but Ortiz won the striking battle slightly in their first fight with quick combinations and due to the fact that Evans was so cautious of the take down.

Four years later for these two, I see Evans as the one with the more improved striking and I also see him less afraid of Ortiz' take downs, as I'm sure Evans feels he can hang with the much older Ortiz. 

I see Evans getting a slight edge through speed and footwork, as he will get in and out on Ortiz quicker than Ryan Bader could and he will not get hit hard by Tito.

Advantage: Evans on speed, footwork and set ups

Wrestling

When these two fighters get in close and lock up on Saturday night, I think Evans will hold a very slight advantage in the fact that he is younger, more fresh and had the normal training camp and will give him a mental edge on Ortiz.

That advantage will be balanced out by the fact that Ortiz has battled more recently of the two and Evans may feel a bit of wrestling rust due to his time off and injury. Ortiz just came out of a fight with Bader and his body, though worn a bit and not at peak, it will be better conditioned once they lock horns and punishment is dished out.

Wrestling is a complete draw.

Grappling / Jiu Jitsu

Neither one of these fighters is particularly known for their jiu jitsu prowess and their resumes are not lined with submissions.

Rashad Evans has two submission wins in 17 fights on his profile, but those submissions were in his first two fights and they were not against anyone significant. Ortiz, of course, is coming off a submission win against Ryan Bader one month ago, but that submission was set up by a monster punch stunning Bader and not by any ground control or grappling prowess.

I don't think there will be a lot of rolling in this one as is, but give a slight advantage to Ortiz based on experience, confidence in his guillotine on Bader and his triangle that almost submitted Machida. Evans has never been confident in his submissions game.

Advantage: Ortiz based on experience on the mat

Strength and Conditioning

Once you get past the fundamental skills of the game, you get to the second layer of what it takes to come out victorious in battle. Strength and conditioning is the biggest opponent out there in a fight.

Rashad Evans has had some injuries recently that have forced him to be inactive in his training and his conditioning. Tito Ortiz is finally healthy, so he says, after a tough couple of years of training at less than 100 percent. He had a fight last month where he came out completely unscathed and his body should be fully recovered come Saturday night.

I see the conditioning as a wash, but I give the edge in actual strength to Evans and it is based on speed strength and not brute strength. Evans will be able to explode better in exchanges and that will rule the day.

Advantage: Evans based on explosive strength

Intangibles: Fight Timing and Who Wants It More

The biggest intangible of this fight is no doubt the short notice and training camp for Tito Ortiz. This immediately puts even more pressure on Rashad Evans to win and win decisively if he is to be considered a top contender to the light heavyweight belt.

It's sort of a no win situation for Evans, as it was when he was paired off against previous opponent Phil Davis. To add more salt to the timing wound for Evans, he is coming off over a year away from action in the cage and is sure to experience a bit of cage rust.

This is a top contender match with large title shot implications and both fighters are highly motivated to come out with a win. The only difference I can think of is that it take tremendous drive and will to get to the top of the mountain and stay there and Ortiz was there longer.

To me, the fighter who has not yet achieved the top of the game may be a little or a lot more motivated to get there.

Advantage: Evans has been to the top but only for a cup of coffee and will do more in this fight to get there.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA (also a correspondent for MMACanada.net).

Catch him on Twitter @wakafightermma .