In addition, middleweight powerhouse Vitor Belfort and three-time "Fight of the Night" winner Yoshihiro Akiyama will throw down.
In preparation for this weekend's return to "The City of Brotherly Love," the UFC will hold a pre-fight press conference featuring the major players from the upcoming event including Evans, Ortiz, Belfort, Akiyama, Pyle, MacDonald and, of course, UFC President Dana White.
UFC 133 press conference updates and live blog:
Live updates: Hemmi here, the conference is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET. MMAmaniacs can also watch a live stream of the UFC 133 press conference video at MMA Nation by clicking here.
1:12 p.m. ET, we're officially starting now.
Rashad Evans: Fighting somebody like Tito Ortiz, a legend of the sport at the time, he still is, but it was really hard for me to focus on what was happening. Those days are over. I'm one of the bigger guys in the organization now and I'm very confident in my abilities.
Tito Ortiz: My confident is through the roof. I'm a different person mentally, physically an emotionally. Having Dana have my back and the UFC have my back and be where I want to be. I see some mistakes in his game. He thinks I have mistakes in my game. I expect to have my hand raised.
Rashad Evans: We both have the same amount to lose. We both don't want to be beat up by the other guy.
Tito Ortiz: After the injuries I had, athletes don't normally come back and compete the way I compete.
Dana White: It remains to be seen [if Tito gets a title shot]. Tito went and beat what many believe was the #7 guy and it put Tito back on the map.
Yoshihiro Akiyama: Hello everybody, my name is Sexyama. UFC has excellent athletes and competitors. I'm very happy to fight here and I'm going to do more.
Yoshihiro Akiyama: Vitor is an excellent and strong striker, but I will fight back.
Rory MacDonald: I was a very athletic kid growing up and I was introduced to MMA by my father at age five or six. I found a gym at age 14 and fell in love with it, turned pro at 16, dropped everything else and went for it. I would never sit down. I was a very hyperactive kid. I grew up on a lake in a very small town and I'd just run around. I was very active.
Rory MacDonald: I'm sort of growing up a little more into my looks now. When I first started, I looked like I was 12 years old. I'm used to it. When the cage door closes, it doesn't matter what I look like at that point.
Mike Pyle: My last three fights I've had have been wins and I've been the underdog every time. Whoever's making those odds, it doesn't affect me at all. A lot of people have underestimated me. My loss to Ellenberger really woke me up and made me make a lot of changes.
Mike Pyle: In my last fight, I wanted to finish and Almeida just wanted to wrestle.
Rory MacDonald: I don't really watch tape of my opponents, I just try to do my thing in the cage.
Mike Pyle: I guess I'm a late bloomer. I'll take that though. I'm healthier now than I ever have been. Due to my fighting style, I don't really get into many "rock 'em sock 'em robot" fights so I don't have a lot of years of damage on me. I can say I'm hell to deal with at 35 years old.
Mike Pyle: What Rory thinks doesn't matter to me. When we get in there and find the rhythm of the fight, he won't be able to handle my rhythm.
Vitor Belfort: I'm so excited. I trained so hard. I feel like I've evolved so much. I was a part of the past, I'm a part of the present and I'll make sure to be a part of the future.
Vitor Belfort: I think of the present. The future belongs to Dana White and Joe Silva. My present is now. I have to overcome Akiyama and that's the only thing on my mind right now.
Dana White: The old school guys are still around so the new school guys gotta beat them. When you look at the old guard, the only two that are still around are Tito and Matt Hughes. The rest are starting to retire. I guess Vitor's here too but I just dont' think of him as old as Tito (laughs).
Dana White: Chad Ochocinco talks so much shit it's unbelievable. I don't know if he just wants more followers or if he's really that nuts.
Tito Ortiz: I give props to Dana for putting us on the map to where guys from the NFL are trying to make their name off of us.
Mike Pyle: One of the most significant things I changed was my diet. I brought in Mike Dolce for my diet and that changed a lot of things for me. Also mentally. There's a lot of pressures that come with being in the big show in the UFC. I wasn't really buckling down and finding out what was important for me. I got woke up when I got to the UFC. It was a wake up call. It was time to get serious or go back to being a machinest again.
Vitor Belfort: I think I fought one of the best wrestlers before. A guy like him, he can punch. He can take a fight. He's gonna be a perfect match for me. It's gonna be a great fight, and he's gonna be ready. I'm gonna take the talents and use what God gives me. In UFC you have to be ready for whatever is put in front of me.
Rory MacDonald: I just work on stuff that Firas is teaching me in the gym and keeping a level head on my shoulders. When I get in the cage, I use the techniques that I practice. It's simple as that.
Mike Pyle: There's some very subtle things. Young guy coming up in the sport and trying to make a name for himself with the UFC backing him and building him. It's two completely different fighters. I think of what dangers that MacDonald is going to pose and deal with them. I still planning on doing the same thing I did at UFC 120.
Tito Ortiz: I've moved on from the draw 100%. I'm a completely different fighter. I look back on that fight as a learning experience. I felt how strong Rashad was. He said he was a puppy and now he's a big dog, but we'll see on Saturday.
Rashad Evans: I'm just happy he took the fight to be honest. I would have fought anybody but the fact that Tito stepped up, it was kind of cool. I had to rekindle some old feelings that happened at the draw. I've changed who I am and the type of fighter that I am and I've changed a lot in my life since then. If he assumed I'm the same fighter, then he's gonna be in trouble.
Tito Ortiz: I was so focused before the Bader fight. I was able to battle through everything. I had a great camp. I haven't been there in a long time. I haven't been pressed for six minute rounds in such a long, long time and not having to worry about that anymore, I'm just so much more focused. When Dana called me, it was such an emotional high for me. I really wanted to focus on myself but I talked it over with my team, my friends and I called Dana back and said I wanted the fight. I didn't get touched in the Bader fight. My wrestling's on par, my striker's great. I haven't felt this healthy since I fought Vitor. I trained for two and a half weeks for this fight but I'm ready to go six five minute rounds. I'm gonna try to do what I did on July 2nd.
Dana White: With the stuff that Tito and I have been through, he's been booed a lot. Going into that fight, it's hard not to feel happy for him. He was a huge underdog and nobody expected that to happen. Because of that, a lot of people are behind him and happy for him and excited about what he'll do next.
Rashad Evans: I did two camps back to back. I started training after I hurt my knee the first time and just kept training and training. The strength and conditioning program that Mike put me on helped me a ton. I feel like I'm at that position right now and my weight has been well. The whole team, with the Blackzilians down in Florida, we have good energy and a new vibe on a new level. I would go and train, go to the beach, go and train, go to beach and I think the saltwater did me good.
Rashad Evans: Mike Van Arsdale and Greg Jackson are two similar coaches. He's only ever missed two of my fights and he's always been one of my personal coaches. We started off as teammates and after he got done competing, I wanted nobody else. He's always there to motivate me, talk to me and that's what you need.
Rashad Evans: I think it has to do with, sometimes in order to get to the next level, you have to do what other people are not doing. That's what I've been doing the last four to five months. I'm living like a fighter. I'm waking up every day whether I have a fight or not and I'm training. Living the life of a fighter is something new to me and at the same time it's helping me become more confident than any fight in my life.
Dana White: Rashad Evans, if he wins on Saturday night, he will be the next guy to fight for the title. If Tito should win on Saturday night, he's probably got one or two more guys first. If he goes in there and blasts Rashad on Saturday night like he did to Ryan Bader, it would be pretty tough not to say he's one of the best in the world.
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