This comes from sportsline.com
Immediately after Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans fought to a draw, Ortiz asked for a rematch.
That wish was granted a few moments later.
"We have to see a rematch between Tito and Rashad. It was a good fight," UFC president Dana White said at a press conference following UFC 73 on Saturday. "The rematch will happen almost immediately. They will not fight anyone else in between."
Other notes from the UFC 73 post-fight press conference:
Pride's future
The biggest story in mixed martial arts for 2007 was the UFC purchase of rival organization Pride Fighting Championships. At this point, nothing has been decided about the future of the organization.
"When we bought Pride, we were going to put on events in both Japan and the U.S., but we need to have a TV deal to get it going," White said. "The deal needs to be in both countries."
In the meantime, many of Pride's fighters will be competing in the UFC.
"Pride has some great guys. They have contracts, and they need to fight," White said.
The champ is coming
Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko has been rumored to be entering the UFC for a quite a few months now. White confirmed that Emelianenko's debut is imminent.
"We are planning to have Fedor fighting in the UFC at the end of 2007 or early 2008," White said.
Penn to remain a lightweight ... for now
Despite some indications to the contrary, B.J. Penn will not be moving back to 170 pounds right away. Penn's recent defeat of Jens Pulver on the Ultimate Fighter 5 finale opened up a new option for "The Prodigy." That's a shot at the lightweight belt that remains around Sean Sherk's waist.
"B.J. Penn will be fighting Sean Sherk next. That fight will take place in November," White said.
The current lightweight champ is happy about the opportunity.
"I'm fine with fighting B.J. Penn," Sherk said. "I'll take on anyone they put in the cage with me. Penn is not a surprise."
Just verdict
One of the more controversial decisions of UFC 73 occurred during the Ortiz vs. Evans matchup. During the second round, referee John McCarthy took a point away from Ortiz for holding the cage to avoid takedowns. The point deduction caused Ortiz and Evans to go to a draw.
Ortiz did not argue the ruling.
"It was fair to take the point away," Ortiz said. "McCarthy is the best referee in the business. I was defending his shot well, but on a couple of occasions, I just reacted."
Enemy turf
Anderson Silva looked very impressive in his first-round TKO victory over Nathan Marquardt. However, Silva will not get much time to rest before defending his middleweight title again.
"Rich Franklin will be Silva's next fight. The fight will take place in October," White said.
White also said that the fight would take place in Franklin's hometown of Cincinnati. Silva was not very happy with the location.
"I'll take the fight wherever it is, but I'd rather fight Franklin in Vegas at a neutral spot," Silva said.
Herring explains the unexplainable
One of the more unusual occurrences of UFC 73 took place at the end of the first round in the Heath Herring vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira bout.
After connecting with a vicious left high kick to Nogueira's head, Herring took the mount position looking to ground and pound his way to victory. Inexplicably, Herring stood up, and then motioned for Nogueira to do the same.
"I thought the referee was going to stop the fight. I thought it was over," Herring said.
The fight did not end, and Nogueira recovered to win a unanimous decision two rounds later.
Cro Cop plans for future
With a fight against Cheick Kongo already on the horizon for Sept. 8, Mirko Cro Cop announced who he would like to fight after that.
"If I beat Kongo, the man I want to fight (is) Antonio 'Minotauro' Nogueira," Cro Cop said.
UFC matchmaker Joe Silva confirmed that the fight is in the works.
Shogun gets ready for debut
Plans are underway for Mauricio "Shogun" Rua to debut in the UFC. Rua is widely regarded as one of the top light heavyweight fighters in the world. Rua holds a dominating TKO victory over current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
"Shogun will be debuting on Sept. 22 in Anaheim, Calif.," White said. "At this point, we are not sure who he will be fighting against, but we are very excited to have him here."
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