[bigboydan]

Racial slur offends Evans

he only thing mightier than Tito Ortiz's ground and pound is his mouth.

On the receiving end of his latest verbal volley is, not surprisingly, upcoming opponent (Sugar) Rashad Evans.

But Evans says this time the notorious trash-talker may have crossed the line.

Taking a page out of the Don Imus 'how-to-get-fired-in-a-heartbeat' playbook, Ortiz recently wrote in an underground web forum that the African-American fighter Evans "will be my nappy-headed ho."

"He crosses the line and those comments are offensive," Evans said this week

Ortiz said he meant nothing personal by the crack, which cost CBS broadcaster Imus his job when he made the same comment about a U.S. college basketball team.

"It was just a joke to get a laugh out of my fans," says Ortiz, who's 16-5 in the UFC.

Evans says the joke will be lost on throngs of blacks who will feel insulted.

"Even if you're saying it in a joking around manner, a lot of people don't joke like that," said Evans, who is undefeated in 15 Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts but will face his biggest challenge in Ortiz in Sacramento, Calif., on July 7.

"It makes him look like a clown. My uncle called me and he said 'You gotta whoop that boy's ass. You gotta whoop his ass for all the years of slavery.' It rubs some people wrong," Evans said.

Evans took a couple of shots of his own at Ortiz saying he thought the Huntington Beach Bad Boy lost his fight against Forrest Griffin last year despite the judges giving him the decision.

Evans says Ortiz isn't the fighter he once was.

"He's just distracted in a lot of areas," says Evans. "Once you start reading your own press clippings, that's the end of anybody."

The pair will be one of the feature fights at UFC 73: Stacked in California.

The event will see two belts up for grabs as lightweight champ Sean (The Muscle Shark) Sherk takes on Brazilian powerhouse Hermes Franca and defending champ Anderson (Spider) Silva battles Nate (The Great) Marquardt for middleweight supremacy.

The card will also feature the UFC debut of Pride heavyweight star Antonio Rodrigo (Minotauro) Nogueira, who will take on Heath (The Texas Crazy Horse) Herring.

For the latest mixed martial arts news, check out The Scrapyard blog at canoe.ca

[shady610]

it didnt bother me when imus said it and it doesnt bother me when tito said it. I dont believe in offensive words.

[sdjoe]

Rashad Evans started this a few months ago , coming out and say he doesnt think tito is mexican , Tito shaves his head all the time but when is grows out its nappy like a african , Evans was saying that Titos latin side is proably from be part dmgnrepub . i cant find the link but that why tito made that comment . cant wait for the fight

[colt29]

Dana white said Tito looks like a gorilla. Who cares? If a white man isn't involved, it doesn't generate news. "Dana" is a big nosed moneymaker. Who cares. get in the ****ing ring.