UFC 98 Results

UFC 98 Results: Last night’s UFC 98 PPV event was a good event in my opinion. Sometimes things were kind of slow, but that’s what happens when you have fighters trying to out-think the other and wait for them to make the first move. Through out the event they showed3 of the 5 preliminary fights to fill the time.

UFC 98

The first prelim fight they showed was Andre Gusmao vs.  Krzysztof Soszynski .  Krzysztof came out the winner in the first round with a TKO after a ref stoppage. Krzysztof actually knocked Gusmao out cold.

The second prelim fight they showed was heavy weight Tim Hague vs. Pat Barry . Hague got rocked by Barry early in the first round but recovered, took the fight to the ground and sunk in a tight guillotine for the submission in round 1. Hague is very emotional after the fight and then asks Barry to get some drinks.

The last prelim fight they showed was Brock Larson Vs. Mike Pyle . Pyle attempted a few submissions and had a pretty good defense against Larson ground and pound, but Larson came out with a win in the first round when he sinks in a nice arm triangle on Pyle.

Main Card:

Frankie Edgar Vs. Sean Sherk . This fight went all three rounds. Edgars reach pretty much dictated this fight at every turn. Neither fighter could really get around the other defense but Edgar came out with the unanimous decision at the end with a score of 30-27. This was a very close fight to call but most people watching knew that Edgar would get the decision.

Dan Miller Vs. Chael Sonnen : Chael Sonnen dominated Miller in all three rounds. Besides two attempts to get Sonnen in a guillotine, Miller really couldn’t do anything but hold on through three rounds of ground and pound. Sonnen took him to the ground in all three rounds, showing that his Grecko-roman wrestling skills are still relevant but I think Sonnen is going to have to seriously evolve his style and strategy if he plans on climbing the ladder for a title shot of any sort. After three rounds Sonnen came out with the unanimous decision over Miller.

Drew McFedries Vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam . Honestly I dozed off for the first 10 seconds of this round as McFedries stunned Xavier three times before the ref stops the fight. McFedries was throwing some bombs early but somehow Xavier, though being knocked down was able to get back up. Ref Yves Lavine, whom the crowd was booing all night, saw that Xavier was actually getting knocked out and stopped the fight. If he hadn’t stopped the fight I think McFedries would have won by knock out sooner or later anyway. McFedries wins by TKO at 0:37 of round 1.

Matt Hughes Vs. Matt Serra . Three rounds, the first round really belonged to Serra as far as strikes goes. Hughes did get a takedown and took Serra’s back but Serra defended any attempt at Hughes sinking in a rear naked choke. Serra rolls free before the bell rings to end the round. The second and third pretty much went like this; Serra and Hughes clinch, throw a few punches, Hughes get’s the take down to try some ground and pound, Serra defends and then holds tight for the ref to stand them up. Wash, rinse, repeat until the end of the the third. Unfortunately for Serra, Hughes’ takedowns and ground offense won him the unanimous decision of 29-28. Is the drama between these two over? I certainly hope so, because frankly, I’m tired of it.

Rashad Evans Vs. Lyoto Machida : Slow, started off slow. Evans was trying to figure out Machida and Machida was trying to figure out Evans. After about a minute and a half and a lot of air-boxing, Machida threw a head kicked that was blocked by Evans. Machida soon became the aggressor by charging in with a body kick that is blocked again by Evans, Machida threw another that knocked Evans down and he charged in with a flurry of punches that didn’t really do much, if any damage. Evans works and gets back to his feet.

Round 2: Machida missed with a body kick early in the second round. Machida threw another body kick and charged in for a take-down but couldn’t get it. Machida threw an inside leg kick and followed it up with two punches that Evans quickly answered with two of his own. I think that was the first time I saw Machida take some big punches to the face. Still it didn’t even daze him. Soon after, Machida comes at Evans with a combo that rocked him. Machida saw that Evans was hurt and he stayed busy as Evans tried to fight back. Machida had Evans up against the cage and unloaded a combination that were connecting in all the right spots. Evans gets knocked out cold at 3:57 of round 2 and Machida gets the TKO (ref stoppage). Lyoto Machida is the new UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion .