UFC 98 Results

UFC 98 Results

By Brad Marchetti, Doghouse Boxing (May 24, 2009)

UFC 98 saw a title switch hands in the Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida fight with the 2-1 favorite Lyoto taking the UFC Light-Heavyweight strap with a highlight reel 2nd round KO. Their was a feeling out process early with Machida pressing the action with some lightning fast leg strikes while Evans used lots of movement, weary of Machida’s kicking power. Late in the 1st Lyoto dropped Evans with straight left to the jaw after setting up Evans with a leg kick to the body. Machida jumped on Evans but couldn’t close the show as Evans managed to get back to his feet.

Machida continued to control the fight in the 2nd frame with lightning-fast leg kicks while Evans remained mostly defensive. Both men went toe-to-toe briefly in 2nd and Evans landed a short right but it had no effect Machida. The right hand by Evans would be the only significant punch that Evans could land on the super-slick and electric quick Brazilian. A straight left on the chin midway through the 2nd snapped Evans’s head back and dropped Evans to the mat . Machida jumped all over Evans who gamely tried to grab on but Machida landed a couple of right hooks followed by a spectacular left cross to the chin that dropped Evans like a corpse. Machida hit Evans so hard with the left cross that it almost appeared that he broke Evans’s ankle on impact. Machida became the new Light-Heavyweight champion of the world and still has not lost a professional round of fighting in MMA. Final time of the knockout was 3:57 of the second round.

In the co-main event of UFC 98 the Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra fight saw the 5-2 UFC favorite Matt Hughes win by a 3-round unanimous decision. The fight started with an exciting round 1 with Serra rocking a southpaw set Hughes with an accidental head-butt on the chin that dropped the farm boy. Hughes weathered the storm but ate some hard punches and seemed to be on unsteady legs at the end of the round.

Hughes was content going to ground early in round 2, implementing his strong ground and pound technique on Serra who played defense on his back. Hughes controlled the remainder of the 2nd round by keeping Serra on the defensive and handling him with his superior tactics on the mat. Hughes took Serra to the ground early again in round 3 and was controlling the action with some workmanlike ground and pound that Serra never seemed to have an answer for. Late in the 3rd round however Serra slammed Hughes on his back and but was unable to follow up. Final scorecards read 29-28 on all in favor of the UFC legend Matt Hughes.