UFC 133 Fight Card: 10 Things You Need To Know About Ortiz vs. Evans Card

UFC 133 might be the most cursed event in the 18 year history of the company, but the show might actually be better off because of all the changes.

The biggest change that took place was the main event, which was originally supposed to be Rashad Evans getting a light heavyweight title shot against champion Jon Jones. That fight was scrapped because Jones had a hand injury that was thought to need surgery and Phil Davis was named as a replacement.

Davis is a good, young fighter who is still trying to make a name for himself, but he is not ready for prime-time yet. Three weeks ago, he suffered an injury in training and had to pull out.

UFC was scrambling to find a replacement on such short notice. Ultimately, Dana White was able to convince Tito Ortiz, who just fought four weeks ago at UFC 132, to take the fight on short notice.

The buy rate will likely be much better with Ortiz and Evans as the main event instead of Davis and Evans. And those two will likely be able to put on a much better fight than Davis and Evans would have, so it's probably best for the viewing audience that the change was made.

Those were far from the only changes that took place on this card. All told there were seven different fighters that had to pull out of this event, either due to injury or being moved to a different fight card, and that has taken a lot of the shine off of this event.

But be careful, it's often the events that don't look sexy on paper that end up delivering some of the best fights of the year.

Here is the lineup for the show on Saturday night:

Middleweight Bout: Rafael Natal vs. Paul Bradley

Featherweight Bout: Mike Brown vs. Nam Phan

Welterweight Bout: Johny Hendricks vs. Mike Pierce

Bantamweight Bout: Ivan Menjivar vs. Nick Pace

Featherweight Bout: Chad Mendes vs. Rani Yahya

Light Heavyweight Bout: Matt Hamill vs. Alexander Gustafsson

Welterweight Bout: Mike Pyle vs. Rory MacDonald

Middleweight Bout: Jorge Rivera vs. Constantinos Philippou

Welterweight Bout: Brian Ebersole vs. Dennis Hallman

Middleweight Bout: Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Light Heavyweight Bout: Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz

Here are 10 things you need to know to get you ready for UFC 133 on Saturday night.

1. Tito Ortiz Is Better Than You Think

Tito Ortiz has had his struggles in recent years, sure, but that doesn't mean that he isn't capable of pulling off an upset or two in his old age.

Before Ortiz made Ryan Bader tap out at UFC 132, he had gone five fights and nearly five full years without recording a victory. But it's not like he was taking on cupcakes, either.

Ortiz was fighting Chuck Liddell, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin and Matt Hamill during that winless streak. Aside from Hamill, every one of those guys was a UFC champion at some point and all of them were in their prime at the time of the fight.

In Ortiz and Evans' first fight at UFC 73, Ortiz would have gotten the win if he wasn't docked a point for holding onto the fence.

It is easy to just look at his record over the last five years and dismiss him as over the hill, but Ortiz has enough gas left in the tank to beat some younger, more talented fighters.

2. Rashad Evans Is in a No-Win Situation

Rashad Evans stayed on this fight card even after Jon Jones pulled out because he hasn't fought since May 2010 when he beat Quinton Jackson.

When Phil Davis was named as a replacement, there was some intrigue because Davis is, in a lot of ways, a young Rashad Evans. Both are world class wrestlers and Evans had to add other dimensions to his game to become a top fighter. Davis is a world class wrestler right now, but still needs to develop a stand up game and work on his submission technique.

If Davis would have been able to upset Evans, it would have launched Davis' career as a top light heavyweight in UFC.

After Davis pulled out and Tito Ortiz was named the replacement, the fan attention increased but Evans doesn't stand to gain anything with a victory over Ortiz.

A win over Ortiz means nothing for Evans' career other than the fact that he can avenge the draw that the two had at UFC 73.

A loss to Ortiz and Evans' title shot that he has been holding onto for 15 months goes away and he has nothing to show for it.

3. Rashad Evans Is Underestimating Tito Ortiz' Ability

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

That is a quote from Rashad Evans in an interview with MMAFighting.com. He knows infinitely more about fighting than I do, but I have not seen Ortiz look like he is THAT far away from being the guy that he was in 2006.

Has Ortiz lost some speed? Sure. He is 36 and has been doing this professionally for 14 years, so it's only natural that some skills diminish. But he is still very good.

If Evans goes into the cage doubting Ortiz' ability, he can be the victim of another Tito Ortiz upset.

4. Rashad Evans Will Have to Shake off Ring Rust

One reason that you can make a case for a Tito Ortiz upset is because of the 15 months that Rashad Evans has had off since his last fight.

Evans defeated Quinton Jackson at UFC 114 in a No. 1 contender match. That was in May 2010 and ever since then Evans has been waiting for the title shot to come along. It's not his fault that he has been off so long—injuries to himself and Mauricio Rua delayed his title shot—but the fact remains that he has not fought in a long, long time.

We have seen guys with a lot of time off look really bad because they aren't used to the speed of their opponent. Then again, we have seen guys come back after long delays and look better than ever.

Ortiz will no doubt make Evans work a lot early on in the fight to test his conditioning. The layoff could be a hindrance to him in this fight.

5. Tito Ortiz Is Fighting for More Than Pride and a Paycheck

If you thought that Tito Ortiz was going to be competing in a fight that could actually put him in contention for a light heavyweight title fight in 2011, raise your hand.

If you raised your hand, you are a liar. But that is exactly the position that Ortiz finds himself in against Rashad Evans on Saturday night. According to Dana White, if Ortiz wins in impressive fashion, he will be in the mix for a title shot.

It's not exactly a guarantee, but just the idea of Ortiz being in the mix for a shot given where he was just four weeks ago is pretty incredible.

There will be a lot that has to go wrong with all the other top guys for Ortiz to actually get the next title shot if he wins, but as we saw with this show, guys are going to get hurt in this sport.

6. Vitor Belfort Needs to Strike Early and Often

Vitor Belfort is a popular fighter because he has an easy-to-like personality and his life story is so heartbreaking that it's impossible to boo him. But he also suffers from the "Yips" at times when he fights.

Against Yoshihiro Akiyama, Belfort will need to come out swinging hard and fast in order to avoid getting in his own head and losing a fight that he should win.

Belfort should win this fight because he just better than Akiyama. But if he gets frustrated early on, he will abandon his game plan and Akiyama could pull off the upset.

If you want to know which direction this fight is going to go, watch the first three minutes. That will tell you all that you need to know.

7. Yoshihiro Akiyama Is Being Used to Get Vitor Belfort Over

Poor Yoshihiro Akiyama.

He is a decent Judo fighter with a good overall record, but he has lost two straight UFC fights and is being set up to lose a third consecutive fight when he takes on Vitor Belfort on Saturday night.

Belfort is a draw, he is a charismatic guy who will help bring in fans. But if he keeps losing fights, eventually that star power is going to go away. He lost to Anderson Silva at UFC 126, which is not a bad thing because everyone loses to him, and he needs to get a win back.

Akiyama could pull off the upset because this is a sporting event, but UFC has done its best to book it so that Belfort goes over in impressive fashion.

8. Brian Ebersole Will Be a Star with a Victory over Dennis Hallman

Brian Ebersole is not even a household name right now, but he is not far away from becoming a star in this sport.

In order to be a star in mixed martial arts, you have to do two things. First, and most obvious, is you have to win. Ebersole has been fighting professionally for 11 years, his record is 47-14-1 (1 NC). Granted, he has only one UFC fight under his belt, at UFC 127 against Chris Lytle, but he showed a lot in that fight.

The second thing that a fighter must do in order to be a star is have charisma and show some personality on the microphone and in the cage. Ebersole shaved his chest hair into the shape of an arrow pointing up at his head at UFC 127. He cut a great promo after he won that fight, and won the crowd over with his ability to fight and speak.

I am not saying that Ebersole is going to headline shows and be a spokesman for the show, but fans will never forget his name after he beats Dennis Hallman on Saturday night.

9. Chad Mendes Is One Win Away from a Featherweight Title Shot

Chad Mendes was expected to challenge Jose Aldo for the featherweight title on this show, but Aldo was dealing with injuries and would not be ready to compete. Mendes did not want to wait to fight, which is very ballsy on his part, and took a fight with Rani Yahya instead.

Aldo will defend the title against Kenny Florian at UFC 136. With one more win, Mendes will get the title shot that he did not want to wait for.

Yahya is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and has beaten some very impressive victories in his career—including wins over Eddie Wineland and Mike Brown—so he is no joke.

Mendes will have to use his world class wrestling ability to get a leg up on Yahya in this fight. He will have to avoid taking this fight to the ground, though, because that's where Yahya does his best work.

This fight has the potential to steal the show because both guys match up so well with each other.

10. Jorge Rivera and Constantinos Philippou Will Be the Fight of the Night

Jorge Rivera is an ugly fighter to watch. He is not crisp with his technique and his all-around style leaves a lot to be desired. But he has good power in his punches and can get a knockout when he is fighting an opponent with a similar skill set.

Constantinos Philippou is similar to Rivera only he is not as accomplished as Rivera, not that Rivera is an elite fighter. He is a young guy who is trying to make a name for himself in UFC and will do everything he can to put on a great performance.

At UFC 133, these two will stand and trade punches with each other until one of them goes down and can't get back up again. It's going to be the most entertaining fight on the show, and will win the coveted "Fight of the Night" bonus.