Constantinos Philippou (right) will pit his youth and skill against the age and experience of Jorge Rivera as a late replacement at UFC 133. (Photo courtesy of Zuffa, LLC.)
Before the bright lights shine down on“The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz (16-8-1) and “Sugar” Rashad Evans (15-1-1) at UFC 133 for the second time in their careers, the UFC will treat fans to an exciting card stacked to the hilt with veteran fighters. Middleweight fan favorites “The Phenom” Vitor Belfort (19-9) and “Sexyama” Yoshihiro Akiyama (14-4) will fight to get themselves back in the title picture after a pair of heartbreaking losses, “Superman” Dennis Hallman (45-13-2) and the Midwestern brawler Brian Ebersole (40-14-1) will square off at welterweight, and grappling aces “Quicksand” Mike Pyle (21-6-1) and “The Water Boy” Rory MacDonald (11-1) will bring everything they’ve got into the cage. Also appearing on the card are “El Conquistador” Jorge Rivera (18-8) and Costantinos Philippou (7-2), two middleweights who have had the task of rebounding from recent losses made all the more difficult by suffering late replacements in opponents. Rivera, who was brutally KO’d by “The Count” Michael Bisping (21-3) in February, was originally slated to fight “Legionarius” Alessio Sakara (15-8) who had to pull out with a knee injury. Philippou was then pulled from his fight with Rafael Natal (12-3-1), a bout he had already taken on short notice, to replace Sakara. Continue reading »
