Undefeated light heavyweight prospect, Phil Davis, says that his withdrawal from his UFC 133 bout with Rashad Evans "feels like a loss" according to fightersonlymagazine.co.uk.

"I wanted to fight, but I think Dana White has had more experience with my personality-type. I think he made a good call. But being the person I am, I don't like to back out. I don't think it's a defeat necessary, but somehow it feels like a loss. There's no saying ‘uncle,'" Davis said.

The bout was to be a title contention eliminator, with the winner earning a crack at the UFC's light heavyweight title. As such, it would've been Davis' most significant fight to date. Additionally UFC 133 was held in his hometown.

"I have so many friends and family in the area. I wanted to perform in front of everybody in Philly, being close to home. That's a huge part of my disappointment... It's going to be a little bittersweet seeing how great the show is going to be. But that's part of the game." Davis said.

Davis' injured his knee during training which prompted his removal. In the time that followed the UFC pursued two fighters, Tito Ortiz and Lyoto Machida, to fight in Davis' place.

It was originally believed that Machida would be fighting Evans until UFC president, Dana White, said otherwise and revealed that Machida's camp tried hardball tactics to gain more money from the fight. Ortiz is now set to fight Evans after initially declining the bout.

UFC 133 will be held on August 6 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Headlining will be the Ortiz vs. Evans rematch. The two initially met at UFC 73 and fought to a draw.