Were it not for a penalty in the second round for holding the fence, Ortiz would have won the non-title light heavyweight division fight at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

Bleeding from a cut under his right eye, Ortiz, who's trying to get back to the top of the division after losses to Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, got Evans in a tough lock in the second round and kept him against the chain-link cage fence for much of the third.

But Evans ended the fight with a flourish, slamming Ortiz to the ground before landing several hard blows to his head.

All three judges scored the three-round mixed martial arts bout 28-28.

There were two title fights today.

In the main event, middleweight champion Anderson Silva of Brazil held on to his title by technical knockout, with the referee calling his fight against Nate Marquardt at 4:50 into the first round.

Silva had Marquardt on the ground and landed several hard blows to this face before the fight was ended. Silva is one of the UFC's most devastating strikers, and Marquardt is a seven-time King of Pancrase winner, an award given to top fighters by a respected Japanese organization.

In the other title fight tonight, Sean Sherk successfully defended his UFC world lightweight title, using all 25 minutes of a grueling five-round bout to beat challenger Hermes Franca.

Sherk consistently took hard knees to the chest and face from Franca, but stayed dominant once the fight hit the mat, winning by the judges' decision.

Earlier, in the first fight on the main card, Brazilian heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, a former champion in the Japan-based Pride Fighting Championships, won his UFC debut by the judges' unanimous decision after a three-round battle with Heath Herring of Las Vegas.

Nogueira had Herring staggering and bleeding early on after wearing him down with a barrage of standup blows. But Herring rebounded, connecting on a powerful kick to Nogueira's chin, knocking him to the ground to a roar of cheers from the crowd.

In the preliminary matches, light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar won 2:14 into the first round by choking Mike Nickels from behind, forcing him to tap out.

After going all three rounds of their fight, Jorge Gurgel won by the judges' unanimous decision against rival Diego Saraiva.

In a matchup of two welterweight fighters, Chris Lytle won 2:15 into the first round by locking Jason Gilliam into a choke and forcing him to tap out.