On Monday, Hamill announced through his website, that he is retiring from competition.

Today is a sad day for me. After six years and 13 fights in the UFC I’m ready to hang up my gloves and retire from this amazing sport.

The UFC has been extremely good to me and given me an opportunity to make a great living. That exposure has allowed me options outside the Octagon as well. I just don’t have it in me to fight anymore and my last two performances have shown that.

I was ready to make this decision after UFC 130 but my friends, family coaches and most importantly my daughter encouraged me to give it one last chance. My career has been plagued by injuries starting with The Ultimate Fighter and disrupted my training ever since.

There hasn’t been even one training camp where I’ve been able to train without training around an injury. I have not been kind to my body and it has nothing left after 28 years of non stop competition. It’s time to finally give it a rest.

I can’t continue to fight without having the hunger and desire to do so. I can’t let my performances reflect on my coaches who are the best in the world and the reason I’ve made it this far.

I have fallen in love with the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and I will continue to coach at our gym Mohawk Valley MMA along side my teammates and help the next generation of fighters make it to the UFC. I also look forward to continuing my business ventures outside the UFC including “Hamill” the movie based on my life story set to be released this fall.

I want to thank Dana White, Joe Silva Lorenzo Fertitta and everyone at the UFC for the opportunity to make something special out of my life.

Thank you to Duff, Holmes, Bruno Tostes, Dave Kingwater, Renzo Gracie, Tim Greene, Daniel Gracie, Pat Popolizio, Ron Gross, Doug Blubaugh and Mark Dellagrotte.

Thank you to all my training partners who have shared their blood sweat and tears with me along the way. Thank you to all my friends and family for their unconditional support and most of all thank you to my fans! It’s the fans that have made this the truly special experience it has been.

The UFC has become family to me and I hope to be involved with the number one mixed martial arts organization in the world as a coach, ambassador and fan for a long time to come.

It’s unfortunate that Hamill is ending his career abruptly. Hopefully he will find success in whatever he does.

The former light heavyweight champion looked as good as he ever has in a second round TKO win over Tito Ortiz in the main event of UFC 133 on Saturday.

Evans looked thicker, faster, and smarter in the octagon. His lone hiccup came when he was slightly taken down by Ortiz early in the fight, but he suffered no damage and turned the tide in his favor soon after.

Evans peppered Ortiz with heavy punches in the first round, but Ortiz managed to make the bell.

The dominance continued in the second round, as Evans landed a big slam of Ortiz and then beat on him for a few minutes before ending the fight with a knee to the sternum and a flurry of punches from the ground.

Evans clearly has established himself as the No.1 contender for the UFC title, and now he waits for the Jon Jones-Rampage Jackson winner. I think Evans has a style that could cause Jones a lot of problems, and he already owns a win over Jackson.

For Ortiz, he deserves credit for taking the fight on short notice. But, his performance on Saturday seems to be a better representation of his current abilities in the UFC than his win over Ryan Bader at UFC 132.

In the co-main event, Vitor Belfort returned to form, knocking out Yoshihiro Akiyama in the first round after an explosive barrage of strikes.

Belfort was cautious in the early going, but once he landed a few punches, he went in for the kill, and got it. Belfort showed his trademark fists of fury to set up the finish, which came when he landed an uppercut on the ground that put Akiyama out cold.

Belfort is back in the mix for a middleweight title shot with the win while Akiyama is now 1-3 in the UFC and could be in danger of losing his job.

In another highlight, 22-year-old Rory MacDonald finished veteran Mike Pyle in the first round of their welterweight contest. MacDonald out-classed Pyle in every aspect of the fight and proved that he is a top-10 welterweight, if not top 5.

For complete results from UFC 133, see below.

UFC 133 Quick Results (Courtesy of MMAMania.com)

Rashad Evans defeats Tito Ortiz via TKO (Strikes) Round 2

Vitor Belfort defeats Yoshihiro Akiyama via TKO (Strikes) Round 1

Constantinos Philipou defeats Jorge Rivera via Split Decision

Rory MacDonald defeats Mike Pyle via TKO (Strikes) Round 1

Brian Ebersole defeats Dennis Hallman via TKO (Strikes) Round 1

Alexander Gustafsson defeats Matt Hamill via TKO (Strikes) Round 2

Chad Mendes defeats Rani Yahya via Unanimous Decision

Ivan Menjivar def. Nick Pace via unanimous decision

Johny Hendricks def. Mike Pierce via split decision

Rafael Natal def. Paul Bradley via unanimous decision

Mike Brown def. Nam Phan via unanimous decision

The card is somewhat tame for the UFC as of late, but still has some exciting fights.

Here are my picks for the five bouts on the main card.

Light Heavyweight Bout – Rashad Evans (20-1-1) vs. Tito Ortiz (17-8-1) – In this rematch, I like Evans to win. Ortiz is taking the fight on short notice and Evans has evolved much more since their first meeting. Evans should have a striking edge and probably has more explosive takedowns. My pick is for Evans to win by decision.

Middleweight Bout – Vitor Belfort (19-9) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-3) – Akiyama has a style that could pose problems for Belfort, but I ultimately see Belfort winning by TKO in the second round. Belfort has to stay out of the clinch and off his back, which I think he will find a way to do.

Welterweight Bout – Dennis Hallman (65-13-2) vs. Brian Ebersole (47-14-1) – This is a fight of two war-torn veterans of MMA. Both men have excellent grappling ability and respectable striking. I expect this to be a war, but I ultimately see Hallman coming out on top due to his past competition and experience in the UFC.

Middleweight Bout – Jorge Rivera (18-8) vs. Constantinos Philippou (7-2) – Rivera is a tough guy, but I don’t think he has the skills to really compete at a high level in the UFC. Philippou is unproven, but I expect this hungry fighter to get past Rivera by TKO with some ground and pound in the second round.

Welterweight Bout – Rory MacDonald (11-1) vs. Mike Pyle (21-7-1) – Pyle is a great grappler, but so is MacDonald. I think MacDonald has the better striking and is just the overall more-skilled fighter. Look for the young Canadian to continue to rise up the rankings with a decision win over the one-dimensional Pyle.

Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz (AP photo) had an intense stare down following their weigh ins. Evans played the role of the villain to the Philadelphia crowd while Ortiz pandered to the audience by wearing Philadelphia sports clothing. Despite just weighing a pound more at 205.8 to 204.4, Ortiz looks like a much bigger fighter than Evans.

In the co-main event, Vitor Belfort (185.4) and Yoshihiro Akiyama (184.6) made weight for their middleweight contest. The two are battling for position in division with Belfort possibly earning a title shot with an impressive win.

In an interesting contest, welterweights Rory MacDonald (170.6) and Mike Pyle (170.8) had an intense stare down of their own following their weigh ins. Pyle is the veteran looking to upset the promising star in MacDonald.

The lone fighter to not make weight on Friday was bantamweight, Ivan Menjivar, who weighed in at 138 pounds and opted to take the financial hit as opposed to attempt to lose two more pounds.

For complete weigh in results, check out the jump.

UFC 133 Weigh In Results

Rashad Evans (204.4) vs. Tito Ortiz (205.8)

Vitor Belfort (185.4) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (184.6)

Dennis Hallman (170.8) vs. Brian Ebersole (170.6)

Jorge Rivera (184.6) vs. Constantinos Philippou (185.2)

Rory MacDonald (170.6) vs. Mike Pyle (170.8)

Chad Mendes (145.8) vs. Rani Yahya (145.2)

Matt Hamill (206) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (204.4)

Ivan Menjivar (138*) vs. Nick Pace (135.8)

Johny Hendricks (170.8) vs. Mike Pierce (171)

Mike Thomas Brown (146) vs. Nam Phan (145)

Rafael Natal (185.4) vs. Paul Bradley (185.2

Our friends at BetOnFighting.com have released their odds for UFC 133 and there aren’t many surprises.

In the main event, Rashad Evans is a clear favorite at -430 to beat Tito Ortiz, who has a money line of +330. These two fought back at UFC 73 to a draw where Ortiz was penalized a point, or else he would have won the contest.

Still, Evans has evolved a lot over the years and has a great combination of striking and wrestling. Ortiz seems to have a new fire with his submission win over Ryan Bader, but he is taking this fight on very short notice, with just a few weeks to prepare.

In the co-main event, Vitor Belfort is favored at -300 to beat Yoshihiro Akiyama, who has a money line of +240. These two middleweights are fighting for position in the division. Belfort is coming off a KO loss to Anderson Silva while Akiyama hasn’t fought since a decision loss to Michael Bisping last October and is currently on a two-fight losing streak.

For all of the odds available for UFC 133, check out the jump.

UFC 133 Betting Odds

Saturday, August 6

Tito Ortiz (+330) vs. Rashad Evans (-430)

Mike Pyle (+215) vs. Rory MacDonald (-275)

Yoshihiro Akiyama (+240) vs. Vitor Belfort (-300)

Dennis Hallman (-110) vs. Brian Ebersole (-120)

Matt Hamill (+165) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (-205)

Rani Yahya (+415) vs. Chad Mendes (-615)

Johny Hendricks (-115) vs. Mike Pierce (-115)

Tito Ortiz (AP Photo) had a change of heart, and has elected to fill in for Phil Davis at UFC 133 and face Rashad Evans in the main event, according to MMAFighting.com.

It was the fight that Tito Ortiz simply couldn’t be talked into…until he was. Less than 24 hours after explaining via Twitter that he had turned down the fight because he had “a life and things to take care of,” Ortiz was in against Rashad Evans at UFC 133 according to a tweet from UFC president Dana White.

“Get ready philly for Rashad Evans vs Tito Ortiz!!! Aug 6th LIVE on PPV at the Wells Fargo Center!!!!!!” White wrote at around 7:30 pm ET.

Ortiz’s Twitter response was a more muted one some fifteen minutes before, as he wrote simply, “Only for the UFC!”

The move ended a furious day’s worth of speculation about who would fill in for the injured Phil Davis on short notice, with both Ortiz and former UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida reportedly turning down the fight.

This will be a rematch of a draw that took place back at UFC 73. Ortiz was penalized a point for holding on to the cage during one of the rounds, otherwise he might have scored a win over Evans.

In an interesting bit of information, Evans talked about an altercation the two former teammates bitter enemies had during the UFC Summit over a week ago. (Courtesy of MMAMania.com)

“I saw Jon this past week at the fighter summit and we were at the same location. He pulled me to the side and he said ‘Rashad, I need to talk to you, I think things are getting out of control.’ I thought it was pretty mature for the young guy instead of just ignoring me. First thing he said was ‘I just wanna be the first to tell you is I’m gonna destroy you, I’m gonna annihilate you and I’m gonna show the world you’re overrated. I’m gonna punish you and you’ll be my first highlight reel knockout’ and I just started laughing.

You brought me out here to tell me you’re gonna destroy me? Let’s not even talk about how stupid that sounds. Why would you wanna come way over here to say that in private. Furthermore, how did you even come up with that? He’s like ‘Rashad, remember when I was catching you with knees and elbows in training’ but I said ‘I was simulating Bader. I wasn’t trying to beat you, Jon. I was simulating Bader and what he might do’ I told him, ‘do you remember when I held you down and I was slapping you and punching you in the face and you were underneath me and you couldn’t move and then you looked me in the eye and said ‘Ok, can we get up now?’ and I said ‘No Jon, if you quit now, you’ll quit in the fight. You gotta earn your way up,” so we fought some more and you couldn’t move some more and you said ‘can you help me?’ and I said ‘No, you have to earn your way up’ and we go for a little bit longer and you still can’t get up so you roll on your back to let me choke you out thinking I’d let you up and be satisfied with that but I didn’t. I continued to make you work up.’ I said ‘do you remember that?’ and he said “yeah, I remember that’ and I said ‘that’s why you don’t want to fight me’ and he was just lost for words for a second and he told me, ‘Rashad, you just motivating me. You don’t know what you started’ and it just went like that and it just ended when a couple people from our parties separated the two of us. He couldn’t let it go.”

This rivalry is too good to be true. But, now with Jones pulling out of the scheduled fight and Evans taking on Phil Davis at UFC 133, it could be a fight we never see.

In the interview, Evans also discussed Jones’ injury and decision not to have surgery, which raised a few eyebrows.

Hopefully Evans-Jones takes place soon and for the title, as it could be a huge PPV draw for the UFC. This rivalry is growing into something bigger than Evans vs. Rampage.

According to a report from MMAWeekly, Jon Jones will be unable to face Rashad Evans this fall due to a torn ligament in his thumb and now Evans will face rising light heavyweight star, Phil Davis, at UFC 133.

A torn ligament in Jones’ thumb has forced the UFC’s light heavyweight champion into surgery, according to sources speaking to MMAWeekly.com on Monday. Instead of waiting, Rashad Evans will take a fight against Phil Davis at UFC 133.

The new bout was also confirmed on Monday, with former NCAA champion Phil Davis being called in to face Evans as part of the August event scheduled for Philadelphia. The Canadian Press initially reported the switch.

The Jones-Evans smack talk had really been picking up since Jones won the title at UFC 128 and now all the drama over Evans leaving Greg Jackson’s camp seems wasted.

For Evans, this is a lose-lose situation because he was fighting for the title and is now taking on a young upstart that he will be favored against. A win won’t get him any closer to the title and a loss could wash away his title dreams forever.

On the other side, this is a big fight for Davis, who can immediately jump into the top contender picture with a win over Evans. This is a fight of two strong wrestlers, so striking may ultimately determine the winner.