Tito Ortiz out of Fight Night 24 bout, Phil Davis faces Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Posted on February 19, 2011, 06:52 PM by Joey SantosusTito Ortiz has been forced to withdraw from his Fight Night 24 bout with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira after suffering head trauma during training that resulted in 22 stitches. The former Light Heavyweight Champion will now be replaced by Phil Davis.
UFC President Dana White broke the news earlier today via Twitter. Ortiz vs. Nogueira was scheduled to headline the promotion's debut event in Seattle, Washington.
Davis was originally set to face Matt Hamill at UFC 129 in April. However, when Hamill was tapped as a replacement for Thiago Silva to face Quinton Jackson at UFC 130, Davis was then expected to meet Jason Brilz instead. Now with Davis being pulled in favor of the Fight Night 24 main event, it is unclear whether Brilz will remain a part of the the Toronto line-up.
Undefeated in his professional career, Davis (8-0) signed with the UFC early last year and is considered one of the division's most promising prospects. In his latest outing at UFC 123, he submitted Tim Boetsch using what appeared to be a modified hammerlock, securing his fourth straight victory with the promotion, along with a Submission of the Night bonus. The Division I wrestler has also claimed victories over Brian Stann, Alexander Gustafsson, and Rodney Wallace.
Nogueira (19-4), meanwhile, debuted with the promotion in 2009, knocking out Luiz Cane less than two minutes into the opening round before scoring a close split decision victory over Jason Brilz at UFC 114. In his most recent effort at UFC 119, the former Pride FC star was defeated for the first time since 2007, losing via unanimous decision to Ryan Bader to snap a seven fight win streak.
The Light Heavyweight clash between Nogueira and Davis will headline UFC Fight Night 24, set for March 26th from the Key Arena in Seattle, Washington. Also expected to be featured is the return of Welterweight Anthony "Rumble" Johnson who will go head to head with former title contender Dan Hardy.
Photo: CombatLifeStyle.com
Comments
This is a pretty sick card.
Time for Tito to hit the road, he hasn't won since Shamrock, and now he can't even survive sparring.
Tito must really feel the pressure. Not only because he might be cut, not only because he hasnt won in approaching 5 years, but because jenna is bringing in all the dough and that's gotta hurt him alot.
Maybe reality tv is in his future
yeah it seems like ortiz always got a way too play this game . lol but he was several time champ. cant take that away from him.
i agree man, why can the UFC keep Tito in such a stacked division but let Kieth Jardine go? Fair enough Jardine suffered successive losses but he was fighting top competition....id pay to watch jardine fight over tito any day.
because in the day tito like him or not was a punk kid that could go! and yes he was good! like it or not ! ortiz is the first a Mexican champ in the ufc! cain the second!
Wow huge step up in competiton....if Davis cant take him down he's gonna get KO'd
davis has this fight
This is a good step up for Davis, maybe if he wins this fight we'll see him against Bader.
Jason Brilz keeps getting screwed over.
Damn ! This Sucks ! I like Tito Ortiz , he is funny
davis' upper and lower body are so frickin strange
It's called being ripped, something you obviously know nothing about.
wow someones on there period, i agree the a little dispa-portioned but who cares he's a great fighter.
as much as i found ur insult hilarious, im talking about how his shoulders are so much wider than his waist and abs, kind of like you in your profile picture, is that a self portrait?
yeah, that guys back must look so wide. it's cuz his lats are ridiculously big for his size. kinda like bruce lee. the real one, not the guy on lowkick.
ya i kinda agree.. it looks so disproportional lol but he prob stronger than a silverback gorilla, so cant rele knock him for it
well at least we know about titos "injuries" now and not have to hear about them in his post fight interview with rogan
is anyone else more interested in the story about how Tito got the head wound that needed 22 stitches? that's gotta be a good read.
i heard Chuck Liddel stop by.lol
ok. apparently it was an accidental headbutt during practice. 22 stitches seems a little extreme for an acidental headbutt. i think they brought in some nobody that planted a shin, knee, or elbow on Tito that did this. i don't understand how the UFC keeps guys like Tito but takes out Gerrald Harris, Werdum, Antonio McKee. i mean even Mark Coleman.
Werdum left coz he didn't want to take a pay cut, but yeah Tito is barely a top 20 LHW in the whole of mma.
Tito is passed his time anyhow... Phil has a good chance is this upcoming fight. A win could do a lot for him and a loss can only teach him a valuable lesson...
He probably tried to practice his victory dance cause he hasnt done it in a long time, then he injured himself somehow
man, the pride stars are having tough surprises nowadays, shogun has to face bones and now nogueira will fight Davis..... be carreful Wand.
how come phil davis gets a higher caliber fighter than the hyped up jon jones, i mean not to take anything away from Bader he is a top fighter but Bader is also going up the ranks, while nogueira is more of a seasoned and experienced fighter, and JJ gets a title shot.. come on.
Here's an idea, try making sense when you hate on good fighters. Bader was coming off a victory over Nog before he was tossed around like a rag doll in his loss to Jon Jones.
lol Bader>Nog Jones>Bader got it good.
When I hear of fighters like Rashad getting injured in avoidable accidents, and Ortiz not wearing head gear, so close to big fights--I have to wonder how professional are these fighters are and how smart are their training camps.
This was Tito's last chance and he blew it.
Who is there for Tito to fight? A ring girl?
I don't think Tito blew anything here. Fighters get hurt in trainig all the time. It' s just particularly annoying in this case because this was a really interesting fight and everybody was waiting to see if Ortiz could bring it one more time. Let's not bash Tito Ortiz because of things that are totally normal and happen to every fighter all the time.
Lil Nog got problems with wrestlers i wont be surprised at all if Davis wins.
Davis looks...inflated O.o
Ortiz has added YEARS to his career through nursing injuries. The guy hasn't won since 2006.
wtf
Time for Tito to bag it. Probably a self-inflicted injury to draw more drama and attention to his now miserable life. He would have lost anyway, at least now we have a great fight with Davis stepping in.
Tito should just head into porn.
LOL, he should but jenna probably wouldnt allow it
avoiding getting cut by making up BS, typically Tito. Trying to hold on as long as he can
how wide is his back lol
Tito (now) reminds me of "Pig Pen", from Charlie Brown; a constant haze of crap around him, that never seems to go away. No matter what the guy does, he can't seem to get any wind behind his sails. Whether or not it's his back, his neck his "actress" wife and the law, he just can't seem to get it together and now, this.
I don't know if Tito has anything left to offer the 205 division in The UFC (perhaps he might be successful in SF), but I would certainly like to see him be healthy, in shape, have no excuses and give (at least) one (last) good showing of himself, before he either got cut or packed it in. I was hoping that this fight might be it, but alas, the "cloud" would have it otherwise.
Oh no dont say that he'll do good in SF cuz if he actually does people are gonna say hes legit....
Should be a great fight but it would not be smart for Davis to stand with Lil Nog for too long
Id rather see Brilz vs Davis. I think Davis will take the fight vs Nog by dominant unanimous decision....