UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida

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Contents

Background

UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida is a 11-bout fight card that is set to take place on May 23, 2009 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The card will air live on Pay-Per-View at 7pm PT/10pm ET and will feature a UFC light heavyweight championship bout between champion and TUF 2 heavyweight winner, Rashad Evans and undefeated Lyoto Machida as its main event.

A welterweight grudge match between former UFC welterweight champions, Matt Serra and Matt Hughes will serve as the co-main event.

Fight Card

Preliminary Card

Main Card

Pre-Event Notes

UFC 98 was originally headlined by a heavyweight championship bout between UFC heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar and UFC Interim heavyweight champion, Frank Mir. However a knee injury ruled Mir out of the bout and the fight was postponed to UFC 100.

Rashad Evans was then called up to defend his light heavyweight title against Quinton Jackson in the main event. A hand injury to Jackson and little preparation time since his March bout at UFC 96 against Keith Jardine forced Jackson's removal and Evans' opponent instead became Lyoto Machida.

The Matt Serra/Matt Hughes bout was originally meant to take place at UFC 79 as a UFC welterweight championship bout, however a back injury to Matt Serra nixed the bout. Georges St. Pierre replaced Serra and defeated Hughes via armbar. St. Pierre then beat Serra at UFC 83 making this rescheduled Serra/Hughes bout a non-title affair.

Josh Koscheck had to pull out of his bout with Chris Wilson due to injury and was replaced by former WEC welterweight title challenger, Brock Larson.

James Irvin was originally scheduled to face off against Drew McFedries in a middleweight bout on the main card, but a knee injury to Irvin forced his replacement. Xavier Foupa-Pokam stepped in as a replacement.

Yushin Okami was to face Dan Miller on the main card but an injury forced his removal. Initial rumors were that Ed Herman would replace Okami but Chael Sonnen was finally announced as Miller's new opponent.

Krzysztof Soszynski replaced Houston Alexander after Alexander had to pull out with a broken hand.

Due to an undisclosed medial issue, Chris Wilson was forced off the card the day of the weigh-ins. He was replaced by stand-by and UFC newcomer, Mike Pyle.

Results

Preliminary Card

Main Card

The first round saw the champion and challenger waiting for the other to engage. Machida began firing kicks which caught the champion. A brief flurry saw Evans put on his back from a Machida punch. Evans weathered the rest of the round and the two fighters returned to their corners. The action picked up in the second round as Machida secured his timing and dropped Evans with a flurry of punches. The fight returned to the feet and a hurt Evans began fending for his life but Machida landed a vicious flurry that dropped the champion cold and thus awarding Machida the UFC light heavyweight championship.

Bonus Awards

Fight Of The Night: Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra

Submission Of The Night: Brock Larson

Knockout Of The Night: Lyoto Machida

  • Each bonus was worth

UFC Event Chronology

Preceded by: UFC 97: Redemption

Followed by: UFC 99: The Comeback

External Links

http://98.ufc.com - Official UFC 98 Website

http://www.cagepotato.com/ufc-98-evans-vs-machida-%E2%80%94-you-cant-liveblog-what-you-cant-catch - Cage Potato Live Play by Play

--Wrldchmpnabrvtr 15:09, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

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