Quinton Jackson - Image: Zuma Press

Working backwards, UFC 105 on November 14th is in the UK and expected to feature Michael Bisping vs Anderson Silva if Bisping gets past Dan Henderson. No word yet on what the plan is when that doesn’t happen…. UFC 104 the day before Halloween has Lyoto Machida versus Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, but the real match to watch on that one is the one that was just leaked yesterday: Shane Carwin versus Cain Velasquez. These guys are the future of the heavyweight division and it looks like the UFC is putting them in an eliminator to see who’s ready for a title run.

Those Chuck Liddell rumors I mentioned last week are still floating around, and there are enough headliner gaps in the UFC’s future to slot him into UFC 103 on September 19th or UFC 106 in Vegas on November 21st. Whatever ends up happening, you can pretty much guarantee that the rest of the year is going to be a very good one to be an MMA fan. Here’s the schedule:

UFC 101: August 8th in Philly with BJ Penn vs Kenny Florian
UFC 102: August 29th in Portland with Randy Couture vs Big Nog
UFC Fight Night 19: September 16th with Roger Huerta vs Gray Maynard
UFC 103: September 19th in Dallas
UFC 104: October 24th in Los Angeles with Lyoto Machida vs Shogun Rua
Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale: December 5th with Kimbo Slice
UFC 105: November 14th in Manchester UK
UFC 106: November 21st in Vegas
UFC 107: December 12th in Memphis with Quinton Jackson vs Rashad Evans

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Quinton Jackson vs Rashad Evans in December

UFC 98 Rashad Evans Loses To Lyoto Machida (Image: Newscom)

Matt Hughes and Matt Serra (whom did not win but got a bonus anyway), walked away with an extra $60k each for their fight which was awarded “Fight Of The Night”, even though many considered it to be a relatively boring fight. I can’t argue.

The new UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida earned an extra $60k for “Knockout Of The Night” with his impressive win over, now former champion, Rashad Evans .

Brock Larson won an extra $60k with his “Submission of the night” when he submitted Mike Pyle with an arm triangle on the preliminary card. Brock is a good fighter and I’d like to see him on more main card fights.

Overall, the UFC 98 Pay-Per-View wasn’t bad but I wish we could see [all of the] the preliminary card fights. You always get to see at least one or two when they use them to fill time, but it would still be nice to see all of them, if for nothing more than to showcase under-card fighters as they make their way to future main card fights.

Oh, and by the way, Harley Davidson Motorcycles are the only motorcycle worthy of being in the octogon.

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UFC 98 Bonuses

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 .

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UFC 98 Results

UFC 98

Lyoto Machida often get criticized for his “running away”. I’ve never thought it was “running away” but a great defense. No fighters wants to get hit and/or potentially knocked out. He’s very tactical and often dodges the incoming punches and kicks with great speed and skill. He backs off when being aggressed and waits for his moment to strike. When he does, he unleashes a fury of powerful and accurate strikes. Can you really hold that against a fighter?

Rashad Evans is a more of a guns out, seek and destroy type fighter that has been on a path of victory since his inception in to the UFC from The Ultimate Fighter season 2. It will be interesting to see how Rashad fights Lyoto compared to some of his other opponents. Rashad is a very fast, eplosive and technical stand up fighter. Lyoto says no one can defend his style. I guess we’ll see if Rashad can counter his style and pull out a win to retain the title or if Lyoto continues his undefeated streak and comes out the Light Heavyweight champion. I’ll have a full update with results in the morning.

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Lyoto Machida Vs. Rashad Evans

Lyoto Machida (Image Via Newscom.com)

Rashad Evans took the title from Forrest Griffin at UFC 92 and is also undefeated in his professional career. Rashad Evans has been on quite the trail since his inception in to the UFC via The Ultimate Fighter Season 2, defeating  and knocking out UFC Veteran Chuck Liddell at UFC 88 and fighting Tito Ortiz at UFC 73 , which ended in a draw. Lyoto Machida fought Tito Ortiz at UFC 84 and won by unanimous decision. This was Tito Ortiz’ last fight in the UFC.

Co-main event will be the grudge match between Matt Hughes and Matt Serra, a fight that’s been brewing for well over a year.  Here is the entire fight card according to MMAMania.com .

Main event: UFC Light-Heavyweight Title Fight

Rashad Evansvs. Lyoto Machida

Main Televised Fight Card

Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra
Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Wilson
Yushin Okami vs. Dan Miller
Sean Sherk  vs. Frank Edgar

Non-Televised Under Card:

James Irvin vs. Drew McFedries
Tim Hague vs. Patrick Barry
Phillipe Nover vs. Kyle Bradley
Andre Gusmaovs. Houston Alexander
Yoshiyuki Yoshidavs. Brandon Wolff
Kaplan vs. George Roop

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Lyoto Machida Gets His Shot At The Title

• Patrick Barry wins over Dan Evensen: TKO (Evenson injured by a leg kick and unable to continue) @ 2:36 in the first round
• Brad Blackburn wins over Ryo Chonan by unanimous decision after 3 rounds. Judges score the fight 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.
• Matt Hamill beats Reese Andy with a strikes TKO @ 2:19 in round 2
• Antoni Hardonk scores the win over Mike Wessel with a strikes TKO @ 2:09 in round 2.
• Yushin Okami wins by unanimous decision over Dean Lister after 3 rounds. Judges score the fight 30-27, 30-27, 30-27.
• Cheick Kongo defeated Mostapha Al-Turk with a strikes TKO @ 4:37 in round 1.
• Quinton Jackson knocks out Wanderlei Silva with a left hook in round 1 @ 3:21.
• C.B. Dollaway wins over Mike Massenzio with a TKO from strikes @ 3:01 in round 1.
• Frank Mir defeated Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira @ 1:54 in round two by TKO from punches, fight stopped by Herb Dean.
• Rashad Evans wins the lightweight championship title by beating Forrest Griffin in three rounds (@2:46) by TKO punches.

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UFC 92 Results

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Dana White’s UFC 92 Video Blog

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Rashad Evan UFC 92 Interview

Main Card

UFC light heavyweight Championship Title Match

• Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans

Interim UFC heavyweight Title Fight

• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir 

C.B. Dollaway vs. Mike Massenzio

Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva

Mustafa Al-Turk vs. Cheick Kongo

Preliminary Card

• Dean Lister vs. Yushin Okami
• Antoni Hardonk vs. Mike Wessel
• Reese Andy vs. Matt Hamill
• Brad Blackburn vs. Ryo Chonan
• Pat Berry vs. Dan Evensen

Post from: EveryJoe

UFC 92 Fight Card

So TNA has delved in some ‘MMA’ style matches. Taking a wrestling angle and trying to make it look more real. They will continue to do this, however there is not a thin line between the differences of MMA and Pro Wrestling. There is a line a mile wide between the two. Everyone knows that. Each has it’s own quality and form of entertainment. Kurt Angle recently said in an interview with SLAM! Sports:

 "In wrestling, there’s a story in every match. In MMA, you cannot tell that story." Elaborating, he told SLAM! Wrestling, "There is not story in a ’shoot’ fight — you either get knocked out, choked out, tapped out, or you make it and the referee decides who wins by decision. It becomes very difficult to tell a story in a worked shoot."

Sure the first half is correct. There is a story in Wrestling. An almost soap opera style story. In MMA there is a story as well but it’s not all drama. It’s some promo cutting trash talk here and there, but in the end it’s two guys pitting their skills against each other. Sometimes it’s a stroke of a lucky punch that catch’s the better fighter on the button and sometimes it’s pure skill that reigns supreme. The interview (not angle in particular) also goes on to say:

For Angle’s money, it’s that kind of unpredictability that makes MMA less appealing than pro wrestling. That, and the fact that pro wrestling’s focus is on engaging and entertaining the crowd.

Sure there is that predictability in Prow Wrestling, but it’s the lack of Predictability that keeps  people on the edge of their seats during an MMA fight. A lot of people would ‘predict’ that Chuck Liddell would go out there and beat Rashad Evans. Nobody predicted’ that chuck would get knocked out. When I watched the Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver fight I was on the edge of my seat the entire 5 rounds. I like both fighters and I was actually hoping that Pulver would win but expected Faber to. In the end was something I never say before. Urijah Faber going 5 rounds without a submission or knock out to win, but a win by decision. That was a first for me and nobody would have predicted that. It’s that unpredictability that keeps MMA interesting and fun to watch. Unless it’s a repeat you really don’t know who might win. With wrestling you see it every week and it can become stale at time. With MMA there is usually a good month between big fights and it builds up your anticipation. Do I think one sport is better than the other? No, but I do enjoy MMA more than wrestling.

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Kurt Angle Says "Wrestling’s Better Than MMA"… I Beg To Differ.