Industry experts joked that UFC 133 should be named “Jinxed” due to the number of injuries that forced fighters off the event. Two of the three fights featured on the original event poster didn’t even occur as planned. However, UFC 133 was still an exciting and intriguing event.
In the main event, “Suga” Rashad Evans was able to stave off a first round swarm from Tito Ortiz en route to a second round stoppage victory, featuring an offensive onslaught that looked almost as painful to watch as it must have been for Ortiz to receive. After pressing Ortiz against the cage, Evans nailed the former champion with a knee to the body that dropped him, setting up the follow up punches that ended the fight at 4:48 in the second round.
Ortiz had his moments in the event, as he was able to take Evans down with relative ease in the first round, pressing his opponent against the cage. Still, he could not use that position to inflict any damage, as Evans fought back to his feet and responded with multiple punches. In the second round, Ortiz dropped into what looked to be a tight guillotine choke from half guard, but Evans calmly fought his way out of the hold and continued the pressure that eventually forced Ortiz to wilt.
With this win, Evans has clearly established himself as the number one contender to the light heavyweight belt currently held by his former training partner Jon Jones. Jones is set to defend against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135. And while the resurgent Ortiz may have suffered a setback, based on the fan reaction during the fight, he is far from being forgotten.
In other action, Vitor Belfort looked like his old self as he needed under two minutes to stop Yoshihiro Akiyama, leaving him face down in the Octagon. A grazing left hand seemed to startle the Judo star just enough to create an opening for Belfort to swarm. Akiyama was able to push his way back to his feet, but Belfort was already on him, ready to knock him down again and pound him out.
Rebounding from his highlight reel defeat at the hands of Anderson Silva, Belfort stated that he wants another shot at the title. However it seems most likely that he will have to wait for the winner of the fight between Brian Stann and Chael Sonnen, who are rumored to be meeting at UFC 136.
Based on the way the fights looked on paper, many people were expecting UFC 133 to be a pretty slow event, leaving fans with much to complain about. However, looking over the results, only one of the five main card events went to a decision, while the other four were finished with devastating ground and pound theatrics. Every fighter on the main card stepped up, and the UFC brought a worthwhile event to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
