"Only for the UFC!"
That's what Tito Ortiz tweeted shortly after changing his mind and accepting the offer to step in for an injured Phil Davis to take on Rashad Evans at UFC 133 on Aug. 6 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dana White himself brought word of the news earlier today on Twitter.
When "Mr. Wonderful" initially went down with a busted knee, Ortiz was the first one to get a call to save the day. His answer was less than desirable, as he decided to turn the fight down.
His reasoning? Timing is everything and he's got a career he's trying to rebuild. Taking this fight would cause a great deal of risk to what he started to resurrect just this past July 2 by submitting Ryan Bader at UFC 132.
But, apparently, the UFC made the pot sweet enough that Ortiz couldn't help but go all in.
Time for the rematch of a hotly contested July 2007 draw that "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" would have won if not for a controversial point deduction.
And there's a lot more on the line this time.
The initial meeting took place more than four years ago and ended in an anticlimactic draw after three extremely close rounds of action.
The two fighters, however, have traveled significantly different roads since then.
Evans went on to outwork Michael Bisping for a split decision win (handing "The Count" his first career loss in the process) before pasting Chuck Liddell with one of the most devastating knockouts in UFC history.
That win earned him a title shot against Forrest Griffin, which he also won. He would lose his strap to Lyoto Machida but has since gone on to defeat both Thiago Silva and Quinton Jackson.
Ortiz, meanwhile, fought just once each of the next three years after his fight against "Suga," losing all three by decision to Machida, Griffin and Matt Hamill, respectively.
Mercifully, he was given one last shot at glory against the previously mentioned Bader just under two weeks ago and saved himself from the firing squad by turning in the performance of a lifetime.
Thanks to that win, and all the press that came with it, he's earned himself a chance to prove he's truly the better fighter than Rashad while positioning himself for a title shot -- and a whole lot more moolah -- in the process.
Who'd a thunk it?
In addition to the re-worked main event between Evans and Ortiz, UFC 133 will feature a middleweight showdown between Yoshihiro Akiyama and Vitor Belfort, as well as a 205-pound slugfest between Rich Franklin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
