Credit: MMA Frenzy

With Phil Davis out of the UFC 133 main event, Lyoto Machida turned down a rematch against Rashad Evans that would have headlined the August 6 pay-per-view event in Philadelphia.

Dana White initially told Yahoo Sports that Machida was set for the August 6 headliner in Philadelphia after Tito Ortiz turned down his own rematch with Evans fresh off his first win in five years over Ryan Bader earlier this month.

However, White quickly clarified that he could only confirm Davis’ injury, while Tatame, citing manager Ed Soares, said Machida wouldn’t accept the matchup with less than a month to prepare.

White told MMA Fighting that fellow 205-pounder Rich Franklin, who’s scheduled to fight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the UFC 133 co-main event, is not under consideration to move up to face Evans.

Evans (15-1-1) dropped the 205-pound title in his only loss to date when he suffered a second-round knockout to Machida in their first meeting in 2009. “Suga” has since earned decision wins over Thiago Silva and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to near another shot at the belt currently held by Jon Jones, who puts it on the line against Jackson in September.

Meanwhile, Machida (17-2) followed up the win with a controversial decision over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua before suffering back-to-back losses to Rua and Jackson in 2010. “The Dragon” returned to the win column with a highlight reel KO of Randy Couture in April.

It is not yet known when Davis will be able to return to the Octagon from his knee injury.

In another report, Lyoto Machida initially agreed to replace an injured Phil Davis and rematch Rashad Evans in the main event of UFC 133, but the matchup was scrapped by UFC President Dana White after Machida requested “Anderson Silva money” to fight on short notice at the Aug. 6 event in Philadelphia.

Instead, Tito Ortiz, who originally turned down his own rematch with Evans citing his July 2 win over Ryan Bader and personal issues, reconsidered and accepted the bout with no demands for extra money.

Vladimir Matyushenko, who faces Alexander Gustafsson on the UFC 133 prelims, was the UFC’s third option, but wasn’t needed after Evans vs. Ortiz was confirmed yesterday. Middleweights Chris Leben and Chael Sonnen approached the UFC about moving up to fight Evans, but were promptly turned down.

Evans (15-1-1) and Ortiz (16-8-1) fought to a unanimous draw in their first meeting in 2007 after Ortiz lost a point for repeatedly grabbing the fence. The bout was the closest Ortiz came to a victory until ending his five year winless streak against Bader, while Evans would go on to win the light heavyweight title, lose the belt to Machida in his next fight, and rebound with wins over Thiago Silva and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

White said Thursday during a media conference call that Davis wanted to fight despite a knee injury that would keep him from training fully for more than two weeks, while Machida’s negotiations wouldn’t be held against him in the future.

“People lose their minds sometimes,” White said.

Credit: MMA Frenzy