Ortiz & Evans Look to Rematch After Draw

After all the prefight insults and promises of victory, nothing was settled Saturday night between Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans. The two fought to a draw at UFC 73: Stacked in Sacramento, Calif., setting up a rematch for later this year.

Despite the fact a title wasn't at stake, the light heavyweight showdown was the night's most anticipated bout. And to their credit, the fighters didn't disappoint.

The larger Ortiz used his bulk to control the action early on. But in the second round he had a point deducted by referee John McCarthy for repeatedly holding on to the cage.

"He had my hands and my legs locked and my instinct was to grab (the cage)," Ortiz said. "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying."

Evans, who was the fresher fighter during the latter stages of the bout, won the final round and was pounding Ortiz when the horn sounded. All three judges scored it the same, 28-28.

"It wasn't my best performance and Rashad is tough as hell," Ortiz said. "He was a tougher guy than I thought he was going to be. Since it's a draw ... we can do it again."

Ortiz will get his wish. UFC president Dana White said yesterday that Ortiz-Evans II will happen in a matter of months.

This could be good news for New Jersey fans. Negotiations are under way to bring UFC to Newark's Prudential Arena in November.

While Ortiz was respectful of Evans after the fight, that wasn't the case before it. Ortiz directed a racially insensitive remark at Evans, who is African-American, during a prefight interview.

The comment wasn't lost on the 14,371 at ARCO Arena. When Ortiz was introduce before the fight, most in attendance booed him. They booed him again afterward. Evans, who received mostly cheers, expressed disappointment that he didn't get the decision and questioned Ortiz's fight tactics.

"Tito, you were grabbing the cage the whole fight," said Evans, whose record is now 15-0-1. "Every time I got in on you, you were grabbing the cage and (McCarthy) only called it that one time.

"You didn't do nothing, the only thing you did was take me down and hold me. ... How about the end of the third round ... when you laid down and got pounded?"

Source: www.nj.com