Who knew a knee injury to a "Wondeful" guy would cause such a ruckus?
That's been the case, though, as Phil Davis' bum knee has created ripples through the light heavyweight division and wreaked havoc on the upcoming UFC 133 fight card going down Aug. 6 in Philadelphia.
Davis was booked to fight Rashad Evans in a number one contender bout, but once he couldn't go, a search got underway to find a replacement ... and fast.
Tito Ortiz was given a call and he promptly said no. Lyoto Machida was also given a buzz and after some careful consideration, he also turned it down.
Now rumors are flying that Rich Franklin could step in to take the fight while fighters like Chris Leben (a middleweight) and Josh Koscheck (a welterweight) are throwing their name in the hat on Twitter.
Madness.
While all this is going on, Evans has been patiently waiting on the sidelines, riding out the bumpy road he's been traveling down, lost in the shuffle.
As it turns out, he just wants to get back inside the Octagon -- no matter who it is they find to put across from him.
"If it's a fight that makes sense, I'll definitely take it. But you know what? I'm to the point right now, I think I'll just fight anybody, to be honest," Evans told MMAWeekly.com. "I just need to get in there and get in a fight. I been out of the cage for over a year, so I just need to get a fight more than anything. Whoever it may be is whoever it may be. I been in training camp, revved up the engine enough, now I just need to let it go and make things happen. ... I'm sure somebody is going to step up. The UFC is going to make it sweet for somebody. So somebody will step up and give me a fight for Aug. 6."
Indeed, in order to keep Evans in the main event slot for the promotion's return to "The City of Brotherly Love," the UFC will have to pull out all the stops to find someone to step in.
Like adding a zero or two on the check.
Speculation, and I stress that word, has the fight being re-offered to Tito Ortiz with more incentives for him to accept. The UFC has never needed Tito as much as they do now, which means he's in a position of great power at the bargaining table.
But can the differences between company President Dana White and Ortiz be put aside for the greater good of the upcoming pay-per-view event?
Either way, it seems Evans is okay with fighting whoever finally says yes. That's mostly because he hasn't been in action since a May 2010 decision win over Quinton Jackson that earned him a title shot.
Fast forward to today and "Suga" has turned down multiple fights, suffered a knee injury, lost out on a title shot thanks to an injury to the champion and now has his number one contender bout in jeopardy thanks to another injury to his scheduled opponent.
To bring this full circle, "Rampage" will be fighting for the title in September.
The fight game can be a cruel mistress.