UFC 98 Recap: Machida KO's Evans To Become New Light Heavyweight Champion
by Kelvin Hunt on May 24, 2009 1:01 AM EDT
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PrintSean Sherk/Frankie Edgar-I thought Edgar looked good in this fight. His striking looked to be a lot sharper than usual and he was putting his punches together on Sherk. In fact, he was tagging Sherk at will a couple of times in the fight. Why has Sherk tried to become a striker in his last 3 fights? This shoots Edgar up the ladder in the lightweight division. However, what does that say about Gray Maynard though as he just be Edgar not long ago. I told yall Maynard is the truth! I have no idea who I'd like to see Edgar face next.
Chael Sonnen/Dan Miller-I guess Miller's strategy was to lay on his back and try to catch Sonnen in a sub the whole fight? I mean sure Sonnen has suspect sub defense, but damn after getting worked over for two rounds you would think Miller would try something else? Sonnen gave Miller the business the entire fight.
Drew McFedries/Xavier Foupa-Pokam-Drew McFedries has crazy power...that is all.
Krzysztof Soszynski/Andre Gusmao-Say goodbye to Gusmao...good stuff for Soszynski...winning on back to back PPV cards.
Matt Hughes/Matt Serra-Man, I figured this fight would go kinda like it did. I thought Serra did enough to win the fight. He definitely won the first round....Hughes LnP the second round....the second round say several sub attempts from Serra...and he reversed Hughes and ended up on top.
Rashad Evans/Lyoto Machida-You guys can check the open thread and discussion...I told MMA4Real reader Felix that I had a dream that Machida KTFO Evans before the event even started. That KO went exactly how it did in the dream...that was scary. Well, I said that Rashad would lose if he tried to strike with Machida. However, I never thought Machida would KO Evans. Rashad showed a lot of heart, but couldn't recover. That was impressive by Machida and my hats off to him. Rampage has his work cut out for him. I also think Machida could become a star, as the fans were chanting Machida during the fight. They also responded well to him during the post fight interviews. I can't wait to see Rampage/Machida even though it'll be a long time from now.
Brock Larson/Mike Pyle-Very good fight here. Mike Pyle was throwing everything at Larsen early in the fight. Good showing with him coming in on short notice against a very good opponent. I like Larsen and he could make some noise.
Tim Hague/Pat Barry-Wow...Barry rocked Hague...and then gave Hague his neck like it was a gift on Christmas Day.
Overall, this card was ok I suppose. Some of the fights were slow in the action department, but I guess that was to be expected with the matchups. However, seeing Machida destroy Rashad Evans just left me in awe. We did get to see 8 fights though so that was good. Should Matt Hughes retire after this performance at UFC 98? What's next for Matt Serra? Can Rampage Jackson beat Lyoto Machida? Who should Rashad Evans fight next?
Give me your thoughts on the event...and more results after the jump.
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I have to disagree with you. I thought Matt Hughes did more then enough to win the fight. He did what he always has done He laid on Serra and hit him in the face. You look at Serras face it had damage on it at the end of the fight. Wrestling is a huge part of MMA if you don’t like the LnP Serra should have done something about it. Serra was no where near completely any sub. I like both guys but Serra let his emotions get the better of him
Sean Sherk vs. Frank Edgar - Leading up to the fight Sherk talked alot about being a complete and exciting fighter, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at him trying to box the entire fight. The difference was that Frank had spring in his feet and good movement, while Sherk looked tense and flatfooted. Excellent win for Edgar and to be honest I wasn’t all that excited at the prospect of seeing Sherk in another championship match.
Chael Sonnen vs. Dan Miller - Can you say male-on-male love-in? While Sonnen hit Miller with some good shots in round 1 this fight was a sleeping pill. Sonnen was too strong and Miller looked content lying on his back shooting for half-hearted submissions.
Drew McFedries vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam - The professor kept his chin high up in the air which is asking for trouble against someone as powerful as McFedries. At least it was a finish with some drama to it.
Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra - Grudge match turned judge match. While Serra dropped Hughes early it looked like he blew his wad after that. Lay and pray bonanza after that with Serra coming back just a little too late.
Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida - Tentative start, Machida landing some kicks and eventually dropping Rashad late in round 1. Rashad never got Machida’s timing down and he was made to look pretty helpless in there – I’m a bit pissed at these wrestlers who learn how to strike but seem to forget what brough them to the dance in the first place. Machida is scary.
Bloody hell.
Frankie Edgar’s head movement was impressive. Put that together with a strong wrestling base and this kid could be a problem for any lightweight fighter out there.
I’ve always kinda liked Hughes but I’d like to see him ride off into the sunset with this win. He did not look impressive (nor did Serra) but I thought that he eeked out a razor thin decision. At worst it was a draw, I think. He passed his prime long ago and there’s really no point in continuing. That’s just one fan’s perspective. The thing I kept thinking with both Sherk and Miller is that they just seemed to never make adjustments. Seeing that your gameplan isn’t working happens all the time in every sport, but that’s when you have to mix things up and they just didn’t seem to attempt to make the necessary adjustments. All in all I thought it was a good card. There were about 5 of us watching it and the overall consensus was that it was a good night of action. You had an exciting main event with a very definitive finish. I think a star might have been born in Lyoto Machida, man. Time will tell. Frank Edgar showed polish and a lot of promise against a world class lightweight fighter. We saw a dancing Frenchman get put on blast. We saw some sick submissions from Larson and Hague. We got to say goodbye to a fighter that probably should have hung it up long ago, but I was glad to see Hughes one last time and he and Serra got to do their thing and settle it in the cage. I think after the PCL tears and injuries that have accumulated, though, we’ve seen Hughes in the Octagon for the last time. Overall I just enjoyed the show and seeing two class guys like Rashad and Lyoto fight in such a high profile match was exciting.
i thought hughes just layed on serra for the most part of the 3rd and defended submissions, no offense and serra did more with his takedown. too close to whine about though. overall i thought it was a pretty good card, didn’t do so well in my picks but, nonetheless it was entertaining. i believe it’s going to be a long time before machida loses. rashsad is a excellent all around fighter and lyoto just owned him. rampage has a punchers chance, i think he hits harder than anyone at lhw. he does have a very good chin as well and great foot work, but not as good as machida’s and i don’t see that fight going to the ground. jardine’s timing gave rampage problems, i can only imagine what machida’s will do. their tuf is going to be a blast, but just like everyone else, it’s gonna take too damned long. maybe they(the ufc) will change their minds but i doubt it. edgar surprised me as did sherk(he thinks he’s in k-1 all of a sudden). diego will get winner of florian/penn as long as he puts on a good show.
Full disclosure: I watched this show through a Vicodin-induced haze, but damnit I enjoyed it. lol…I always try and look at an event in retrospect and ask, “Did I get my $45 worth.” (I do this with all sporting events actually: football, baseball, etc…) I definitely think that I did with this show. I know that opinion is subjective for every show, though, and some shows that I hated might be more favorable to others. One thing I love about MMA that boxing never figured out how to do, was that I can watch anywhere from 6 to 9 fights for my money on a MMA card.
^^ THIS^^
boxing’s rounds are alot longer, but they should at least have 3-4 great fights, not just 1 main (which may or may not be good) and the rest nobodies. i quit paying $50+ dollars for boxing a looong time ago (thank you channel surfing) its events like these that don’t look so great on paper, that always turn out great. you just never know until after the event is over. BTW, be carefull with that vicodin rick, that shit will sneak up on you. :-)
this even sucked….even with a few in me, it still sucked….if I hadn’t paid for it, I’d be slightly happy but I had to pay so nah it wasn’ t good….the fighters just didn’t gel…it was like…playing Undisputed on Beginner…..the guys that lost did exactly what they SHOULDN’T have done in every fight….I mean the only competitive fight was Hughes/Serra and even that went basically who most imagined….don’t get me wrong, I think Machida is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> all LHWs right now, but I do think Rashad and even Rampage can give him fits….Greg Jackson came up with the absolute WORST gameplan in history….Rampage isn’t exactly a chaser though, so it’ll be interesting to see how those 2 style mesh in the cage….as of tonight, as much as I’m a Jackson fan, I give Machida a slight edge, but that’s only if he’s dumb enough to chase and try to slug it out
IMO Shogun’s the perfect style match up for Machida…if anyone, Rampage is a tough one…and if Machida blows by him….well……we can always hope Couture can muster up one final run…lol
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