The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania tonight for UFC 133: “Evans vs Ortiz 2.” The event was headlined by a rematch between former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz, who first faced off in 2007.
Also on the card, Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort looked to rebound from a loss in February when he faced Yoshihiro Akiyama in middleweight action, and veterans Dennis “Superman” Hallman and Brian “Bad Boy” Ebersole met at 170 pounds. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s card.
“Suga” Rashad Evans vs “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz
Round 1:
The fighters traded left hooks early in the first round and Ortiz followed with a lunging right. Evans answered with a looping right of his own and Ortiz took him down. Evans worked back to his feet against the cage and the fighters teed off in a big exchange. Evans landed a knee and a flurry of punches that looked to hurt Ortiz, but he stayed on his feet.
Evans landed a standing elbow and Ortiz countered with two knees. Evans landed more punches and slammed Ortiz down to the mat. He punched from the top and moved to side control. Evans postured up and rained down more punches as the round came to a close. Good start to the fight. 10-9 Evans.
Round 2:
Evans closed the distance and took Ortiz down in the second round, but Ortiz locked on a guillotine choke. Evans managed to free himself and wound up on top. He moved to knee-on-belly position and unloaded with left hands. Evans passed to the side and isolated Ortiz’s arms in a top-side crucifix.
Evans continued to punch with his free hand as Ortiz rolled to escape. Ortiz moved to his side, but could not get up. He latched onto Evans’s ankle, however, and Evans had to spin to escape. He wound up on top in side control, but Ortiz scrambled to his knees. Evans landed a big knee to the body and Ortiz melted to the mat. Evans punched until the fight was stopped.
Winner: Rashad Evans by TKO (Knee To The Body & Punches) at 4:48 of round two. He improves to 16-1-1.
Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort vs Yoshihiro Akiyama
Round 1:
Belfort landed a big head kick early in the fight, but Akiyama shook it off. Belfort remained aggressive and swarmed Akiyama with punches that backed him up and dropped him to the mat. Belfort continued to punch until Akiyama was left unconscious, face-down on the canvas. Impressive win for Belfort.
Winner: Vitor Belfort by KO (Punches) at 1:52 of round one. He improves to 20-9-0.
Brian “Bad Boy” Ebersole vs Dennis “Superman” Hallman
Round 1:
Hallman, sporting Speedo trunks, opened the fight with a head kick and immediately took Ebersole down. He secured back control and worked for a rear-naked choke. Ebersole eventually managed to free himself, but spun into a guillotine choke. He escaped and postured up with a big punch and an elbow. Hallman postured for an armbar, but Ebersole blasted him with more elbows and opened a cut. He continued to pick his shots with punches and elbows. After one final elbow, referee Kevin Mulhall stopped the fight.
Winner: Brian Ebersole by TKO (Elbow) at 4:28 of round one. He improves to 58-14-1, 1 NC.
Constantinos “Costa” Philippou vs Jorge “El Conquistador” Rivera
Round 1:
Rivera landed kicks to the legs and body in the opening round and Philippou clinched. He tripped Rivera to the mat against the cage and threw short but damaging punches with his left hand. Rivera battled back to his feet and the fighters traded punches. Rivera clinched briefly, but broke away soon after and landed a nice one-two. Rivera followed with more punches, but Philippou landed an uppercut. 10-9 Philippou.
Round 2:
Philippou dropped Rivera with punches early in the second round and swarmed with more on the ground. Rivera held on and weathered the storm, however, and took top position. He teed off with punches of his own as a fatigued Philippou slowed down. Rivera looked for a guillotine choke and the fighters stood. They battled for position in a clinch and traded punches.
Referee Mario Yamasaki separated the fighters, but they immediately clinched again and exchanged knees. Rivera tripped Philippou, but fell into an omoplata. Philippou was unable to roll through and Rivera defended the hold for over a minute. Philippou used the position to try for a toe hold and wound up on top in half-guard before the bell. 10-9 Philippou.
Round 3:
Rivera backed Philippou up with a knee to the body in the final round, then hurt him with a right cross. Philippou regained his footing and fired a counter one-two. Rivera backed away and landed a pair of hooks. Philippou took him down and fought out of a triangle choke. Rivera rolled to his stomach and Philippou threw slow punches. The exhausted fighters stood and exchanged strikes.
The fighters were separated from the clinch and Philippou closed the distance again. He looked for a takedown, but Rivera countered with a guillotine choke attempt. Rivera let the choke go and landed punches, then took Philippou down to a knee against the cage. He landed short punches as Philippou stood. Both fighters connected with hooks and uppercuts and Philippou took Rivera down at the bell. 10-9 Rivera, barely.
Winner: Constantinos Philippou by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. He improves to 8-2-0.
Rory “Ares” MacDonald vs Mike “Quicksand” Pyle
Round 1:
MacDonald jabbed early on and shrugged off a takedown attempt. He caught a kick and sent Pyle to the mat with a right hand, but Pyle quickly got back to his feet. He clinched and landed an uppercut, then took MacDonald down and fought off a guillotine choke attempt. MacDonald stood, but was quickly taken down again. MacDonald got back up and appeared to hurt Pyle with punches.
MacDonald secured a tight standing guillotine choke and Pyle had to spin out quickly to escape. MacDonald settled into Pyle’s guard, then stood up and kicked at his left leg. Back in Pyle’s guard, MacDonald threw punches and elbows. Pyle rolled to his side and MacDonald unloaded with more punches. He mixed in an elbow and continued to punch until the fight was stopped.
Winner: Rory MacDonald by TKO (Punches) at 3:54 of round one. He improves to 12-1-0.
(Undercard results and play-by-play on Page Two.)