UFC 98: Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida
Quinton Jackson unable to fight, Machida steps in
Mar 12, 2009 Mellissa Scotland
On May 23rd 2009, the main event of the night will feature two unbeaten light heavy-weights, in competition for the Ultimate Fighting Championships light heavy-weight title.
UFC Lightheavy Weight Number One Contender
At UFC 96, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson won the right to be the next in line to face light heavy-weight champion Rashad Evans, by beating Evans’ teammate Keith Jardine via unanimous judge’s decision at UFC 96. In the post fight interview, Rashad and Quinton had a brief face off in the octagon where Quinton taunted Rashad, claiming that he was going to be champion again, while Rashad dared him to try.
The option was put on the table for Jackson to accept the title fight. However, after suffering a jaw injury while training for his match up against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92, Jackson is unable to compete on May 23rd for the title. The opportunity was handed down to unbeaten Lyoto Machida, next in line after Jackson, to challenge for the belt.
Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir Off
Originally, the main event spot at UFC 98 was to feature the heavy-weight unification bout, between Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar and Interim Champion Frank Mir.
After unconfirmed rumours, of the Heavyweight title fight being postponed, Frank Mir made the official announcement at UFC 96. Due to a knee injury, Mir will have to withdraw from the heavy-weight matchup. The fight has been postponed as a result, and is now scheduled to take place at UFC’s 100th show.
Brock Lesnar will have to wait a few more months for his revenge against Mir, to determine who the Heavyweight champion is once and for all.
Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida
Coming off of his win against Thiago Silva, Machida made it no secret that he was ready for a shot at becoming the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavy-weight champion, and his hard work has paid off.
At UFC 98, Rashad Evans will put his newly won belt on the line for the first time. Fighting out of Jackson Submission Wrestling, Rashad specializes in Kickboxing and Wrestling, very different from the Black House fighter Machida, who is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and practices Shotokan Karate.
Machida has shown that he is comfortable on the ground or standing up, where he normally forces his opponents to follow his game and attacks them off guard. Although the majority if Machida’s fights have gone the distance and came down to judges decision, he has showed great improvement in his stand up and his ability to capitalize on any given opportunity, as he demonstrated in his match-up against Thiago Silva.
Light heavy-weight champion Rashad Evans has shown tremendous improvement in his stand up, finishing four of his last six fights via TKO or KO. In his championship title match against former light heavy-weight champion Forrest Griffin, Rashad displayed his ground and pound, which put Forrest away with brutal blows to the head and face.
On May 23, 2009 at the MGM Grand Arena, in Las Vegas Nevada, UFC 98 not only holds the championship bout for the light heavy-weight title, but either “Sugar” Rashad Evans or Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida will walk away with the first loss of his MMA career.
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