By Greg Riot
Normally, predicting MMA matches is not much of a challenge for me and I get a good majority of my picks correct. But this UFC 133 Rashad Evans vs Tito Ortiz main event match really is too close to call. Online gambling sites however, are having no trouble choosing who the favorite is on this match. Check out the UFC Betting Odds from BetDSI on this match:
TITO ORTIZ PK+300
RASHAD EVANS PK-400
I can see why the BetDSI Sportsbook would make Rashad “Sugar” Evans the MMA betting favorite not only because he has a better win percent, but also because he has beaten two opponent s that Tito has lost to: Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell. On the other hand, Tito lasted all 3 rounds in his loss to Lyoto Machida while Rashad was KO’d by “The Dragon” in the second round.
Neither youth nor experience will give either fighter an advantage in this match as it all gets balanced out. Rashad is 5 years younger but Tito has 7 years more MMA experience. Both fighter have fought the division’s top fighters the UFC has to offer, but Evans has a 4-1 record in his last 5 fights while Ortiz has a 1-3-1 record. Rashad has said “As sure as my next breath, I am going to defeat Tito Ortiz.” While Tito has said “I love paybacks…and this time I am going to finish the deal.” Which fighter will stand corrected? Whose hand will be raised?
In their last scuffle the result was a draw. Technically if a point was not deducted from Tito for grabbing onto the fence he would have won. Tito’s wrestling and BJJ looked better than Rashad’s in that fight but that was 4 years ago, both fighters have evolved and it’s hard to say whether Tito will have those same advantages in this upcoming fight. Tito did a good job of controlling the fight with clinches and wrestling; if Rashad wants to win decisively he needs to work on his takedown and BJJ defense along with ways of getting out of ground n pound mounts.
Tito doesn’t change up his game plan too much. Being the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” he gets underestimated because he talks a lot of trash that he can’t always back up. But the truth is that he is now a smarter fighter, he has always been crafty and now he is putting his mind to good use. For example, in his last fight against Ryan Bader he chose to stop his ground n pound and go for the submission hold which proved to be successful. Tito now has a total of 3 submission wins and I have a feeling he will attempt to get his fourth on August 6th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA.
