Tito Ortiz Vs Rashad Evans at UFC 71, not Jardine?

Twist of lEMOn · 03-08-2007, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Despite recent reports that former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz (15-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) will face Keith Jardine at UFC 71, Sam Caplan of CBS Sportsline.com reported this morning that UFC president Dana White told him that Ortiz will instead face Jardineâ€™s training partner, Rashad Evans (10-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC).

You can read his short bulletin on his personal blog, fiveouncesofpain.com. He says the interview with White will be posted on CBS Sportsline.com in the next couple of days.

Ortiz was originally rumored for the UFC 70 card in England and, at one time, was expected to face Forrest Griffin. However, last week MMAWeekly.com bumped him from the UFC 70 card to UFC 71â€™s. The Vegas-based UFC 71 event is expected to feature a main event with Chuck Liddell, though his opponent is unknown at this point.

Evans, the heavyweight winner on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, has emerged as one of the light heavyweight divisionâ€™s fastest-rising contenders. Heâ€™s picked up wins over Brad Imes, Sam Hoger, Stephan Bonnar, Jason Lambert and Sean Salmon.

The former Michigan State wrestler, now training with Greg Jacksonâ€™s camp in New Mexico, has shown marked improvement with his stand-up game.

The UFCjunkie.com team spent some time over the weekend with Evans, and he had no news (even off the record) about his next fight, so this reported fight with Ortiz seems to be a very recent development.

Once Caplanâ€™s story is posted, weâ€™ll be sure to mention it here.

For now, hereâ€™s the latest rumored UFC 71 card:

UFC 71 â€” May 26, 2007 (Las Vegas, Nev.)

Chuck Liddell vs. TBA
Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans
Karo Parisyan vs. Josh Burkman
Eric Schafer vs. Sean Salmon
Chris Leben vs. Kalib Starnes

Must be coming hot off the press, even Ortiz though he was facing Jardine...Atleast Ortiz has a better chance this time lol if Ortiz can get him down and keep him down I say Ortiz wins by GNP, but Rashad has a big stand up adventage.

Dmac · 03-08-2007, 04:59 PM

Rashad has something big to step up to, 10-0 in the MMA game and with a big name like Ortiz, his time is now, I don't know who to go for because I like them both, but unfortunately for Rashad I think maybe Tito's experience will overpower the fight.

Tito Ortiz Vs Rashad Evans at UFC 71, not Jardine?

This is a discussion on Tito Ortiz Vs Rashad Evans at UFC 71, not Jardine? within the MMA - Mixed Martial Arts forums, part of the Sports Forums category; Despite recent reports that former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz (15-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) will face Keith Jardine at ...