SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun

(Las Vegas, NV) — He's not fighting in either of the card's title bouts, but as perhaps the flashiest performer in mixed martial arts , Tito Ortiz is receiving star billing in Saturday's big Ultimate Fighting Championship show in Sacramento.

Ortiz returns to the octagon for the first time since losing to Chuck Liddell on New Year's weekend at the MGM Grand when he takes on Rashad Evans in a light heavyweight fight.

For Ortiz, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, the fight is shaping up as his most competitive and evenly matched in his past five outings - at least from a betting angle.

The fight is essentially a pick 'em in Las Vegas sports books, with Ortiz listed at minus-110 (risk $1.10 to win $1) at Caesars Palace and all related Harrah's properties and minus-120 at the Venetian. (As always, odds can and often do change by the minute.) Those odds represent a marked difference from Ortiz's previous four fights, in which either the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" (three times) or his opponent (once) was a decided betting favorite.

Liddell was better than a 2-1 favorite when he stopped Ortiz in the third round of December's light heavyweight title fight. Before that, Ortiz was a heavy favorite in each of his two first-round victories against Ken Shamrock, a UFC Hall of Famer who was past his prime by the time Ortiz got to him last year. Ortiz was a 5-1 favorite in their first meeting and at least 8-1 in the rematch.

Ortiz was favored at odds of 3-1 or better when he won a decision against Forrest Griffin in April 2006. To find the last time Ortiz entered the octagon at pick 'em, you have to go back to February 2005 , when he beat Vitor Belfort in a three-round split decision in a headliner at Mandalay Bay.

In preparation for his fight against Evans on Saturday's UFC 73 card at the ARCO Arena (pay-per-view, $39.95), Ortiz has been up to his typical antics, trying to engage Evans in a battle of trash talk (if not wits).

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