Normally, I would have posted my thoughts immediately following UFC 98, however I was dealt a severe bout of food poisoning that put me on the shelf yesterday.

UFC 98 was not too bad.  The main event was spectacular, which generally makes up for any fights on the undercard that do not live up to par.  Evans vs. Machida was a great main event, and superceeded expectations due to the fact that both fighters are counter punchers.  Neither fighter’s style is geared to pushing the action, yet Machida took the fight right to Evans and ended up the victor.

Machida was a bad matchup for Evans due to his style.  Machida is a karate fighter, who is very difficult to hit.  He takes approximately one punch every 2.5 rounds, which is unheard of in MMA.  His striking is very precise as well.  Combine these skills with a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and you have the making of a very dangerous, elusive fighter.

Machida’s next opponent in the octagon will be Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.  After being dethroned in a controversial decision by Forrest Griffin, Rampage has two solid victories and deserves a shot at the title many believe he shouldn’t have lost.  In so saying that, Machida is a very bad matchup for Jackson due to his elusiveness.  Jackson will be Machida’s toughest test to date.  Jackson has very good wrestling and is extremely strong, however none of that will do him any good if he can’t hit the champion.

Machida’s style revolves around creating space between his opponent and counter punching.  It is pure art, watching him work his magic.  In my opinion, the only styles that would give him problems are those that want to close with him fast and put him on the ground.  A judo fighter or greco-roman wrestler would be an ideal foil for Machida’s style.  Randy Couture, Dan Henderson (as long as he could give up his tendency to want to strike) or maybe Hidehiko Yoshida would be interesting matchups for Machida down the road.

In other bouts, I do not understand what Sean Sherk was thinking when he decided to strike for three rounds with Frankie Edgar.  Sherk has world class wrestling skills and they should have been on display for this match.  Not using them cost him the match.  Edgar has no ability to defend the takedown (see his match against Gray Maynard) and Sherk could have ground and pounded out a win in this match.  As he is one of my favorite fighters, I hope that he reviews the tape of this match and comes back strong, mixing his rapidly improving boxing skills and wrestling ability.

In the co-main event, Matt won.  Matt Hughes, that is.  After two long years, Matt Serra and Matt Hughes finally threw down in a very competitive bout.  Hughes won a unanimous decision, but this fight could have gone either way.  It was very close.  Serra had trouble dealing with Hughes size, and didn’t have the length or the time to attempt any submissions.  Hughes is smothering on the ground, yet could not do any meaningful damage to Serra.  After the fight, Hughes and Serra buried the bad blood between them.

In other fights, Tim Hague subbed Pat Barry with a sick guillotine, after taking a beating in the opening minute.  Good for him (have to cheer for the Canadian boy).  Brock Larson executed a sick arm-triangle choke against Mike Pyle.  Drew McFedries blasted Xavier Foupa-Pokam in the opening minute to claim a knockout victory.  Krzysztof “The Polish Experiment” Soszynski (another Canadian kid) knocked out Andre Gusmao in the first round.

UFC 99 is being held in Germany, with the main event pitting Wanderlei Silva against Rich Franklin.  In addition, Mirko “Cro-cop” Filipovic returns to the octagon after a year in Japan.