UFC 98: Evans Vs. Machida - Afterthoughts
by Sam Steinhardt




LAS VEGAS, Nev. - After a somewhat lackluster UFC 97, our sports' well-known promotion is back and failed to disappoint.

The night's main event featured two of the sports top 205'ers. Rashad Evans, coming off an impressive upset win over Forest Griffin, defended his title against Light Heavy standout Lyoto Machida. Most of the sports top journalists had this fight picked as a snoozer because of Rashad's wrestling back round coupled with Lyoto's elusive hard to hit style. Lucky for us fans, the predictions were incorrect. The fight ended with Lyoto knocking out Rashad in the second frame. Lyoto's performance was absolutely impressive. This guy is scary good. Joe Rogan said it best at the end of the fight, "the Machida era has begun". Lyoto has found a way to combine his already noted elusive style with crowd / fan pleasing aggressiveness. In my opinion Lyoto is going to be the 205 pound champ for a long time. UFC president Dana White announced at the post fight press conference that Lyoto's next challenger is going to be former UFC 205 Light Heavy Weight champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. If it happens, that fight has the potential to be amazing.

UFC 98's co-main event featured two former Welter Weight champions in a grudge match four years in the making. The match between future hall of famer Matt Hughes and Matt Serra was not the war I would have liked to have seen, but it did manage "fight of the night" honors. The bad blood between these two appeared to go pretty deep as the two failed to touch gloves after the referee instructions. At the beginning of round one Serra hit Hughes with an accidental head bunt sending him to the canvas. The fight looked like a Serra victory but in a show of tremendous heart Hughes battled back. In the end Hughes's wrestling pulled him through the fight, securing him a unanimous decision victory. In a show of mutual respect Hughes and Serra shook hands at the end of the fight.

Another notable mention from the card was the fight between former UFC Light Weight champ Sean Sherk and Frank Edgar. On paper this fight looked like an easy Sherk victory, but Edgar had different plans. Frank Edgar, putting on a boxing clinic completely dominated the striking game earning him a unanimous decision victory. In what was a very surprising game plan, Sherk never really made much attempt to utilize what should have been a superior ground game. Sherk was content to stand and bang the entire fight and it cost him a victory.

UFC 98 Official Results
MatchWinner Method Round
Rashad Evans Vs. Lyoto MachidaLyoto Machida Knock Out 2
Matt Hughes Vs. Matt SerraMatt Hughes Unanimous Decision 3
Drew McFedries Vs. Xavier Foupa-PokamDrew McFedries Technical Knock Out 1
Dan Miller Vs. Chael SonnenChael SonnenUnanimous Decision 3
Sean Sherk Vs. Frank EdgarFrank Edgar Unanimous Decision 3
Brock Larson Vs. Mike PyleBrock Larson Submission (Choke) 1
Pat Barry Vs. Tim HagueTim Hague Submission (Choke) 1
Phillipe Nover Vs. Kyle BradleyKyle Bradley Technical Knock Out 1
Krzysztof Soszynski Vs. Andre GusmaoKrzysztof Soszynski Technical Knock Out 1
Yoshiyuki Yoshida Vs. Brandon WolffYoshiyuki Yoshida Submission (Choke) 1
Dave Kaplan Vs. George RoopGeorge Roop Split Decision 3


Sam's Stock Report:
Rashad Evans+/--1Mike Pyle+/--2
Lyoto Machida+/-3Pat Barry+/--1
Matt Hughes+/-0Tim Hague+/-1
Matt Serra+/--1Phillipe Nover+/--3
Drew McFedries+/-1Kyle Bradley+/-2
Xavier Foupa-Pokam+/-1Krzysztof Soszynski+/-3
Dan Miller+/--1Andre Gusmao+/--2
Chael Sonnen+/-2Yoshiyuki Yoshida+/-1
Sean Sherk+/--2Brandon Wolff+/--2
Frank Edgar+/-2Dave Kaplan+/--3
Brock Larson+/-2George Roop+/-1


* Note that the article and opinions of the Writer does not necessarily reflect those of CITC.