UFC 88: Rashad Evans' Electrifying Knockout of Chuck Liddell

Rashad Evans (Photo: mmajunkie.com)

UFC 88: Breakthrough – Atlanta – Philips Arena - Sept. 6, 2008

Rashad Evans scored an amazing knockout win over Chuck Liddell at UFC 88.

Evans clobbered the former light heavyweight champion with an overhand right in Round 2.

Witness the brutality for yourself.

"I wanted to beat him at his own game," Evans said.

He improved his record to 12-0-1 and earned a light heavyweight title shot against Forrest Griffin at UFC 92.

Former middleweight champion Rich Franklin returned to the light heavyweight division to defeat Matt Hamill. Franklin used a body kick to score a TKO in Round 3.

Dan Henderson rebounded from the loss of his two PRIDE championships with a unanimous decision over Rousimar Palhares.

UFC 87: Georges St-Pierre's Title vs. Jon Fitch's Win Streak

Jon Fitch (Photo: mmaweekly.com)

UFC 87: Seek and Destroy – Minneapolis – Target Center – Aug. 9, 2008

Georges St-Pierre dominated Jon Fitch at UFC 87, the company’s first show in Minnesota.

GSP cleaned up on the judges’ scorecards: 50-43, 50-44 and 50-44. Fitch was a very worthy opponent, racking up 16 wins in a row to earn the title shot.

Kenny Florian won his fifth straight fight in the lightweight division, beating Roger Huerta by unanimous decision.

Brock Lesnar scored his first win in the Octagon with a unanimous decision over Heath Herring. Despite his inexperience, Lesnar got a shot at the UFC heavyweight title three months later.

UFC Fight Night 14: Anderson Silva Fights Outside the Box

Anderson Silva (Photo: famososartistas.com)

UFC Fight Night 14: Silva vs. Irvin – Las Vegas, Nev. – Palms Casino Resort – July 19, 2008

Anderson Silva took a break from dominating UFC middleweights to beat light heavyweight James Irvin at UFC Fight Night 14.

Silva knocked out “The Sandman” in 61 seconds to improve his UFC record to 7-0.

UFC presented this show up against the first Affliction pay-per-view, which featured Fedor Emelianenko beating Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds in the main event.

Brandon “The Truth” Vera went down a weight class, debuting in the light heavyweight division with a unanimous decision win over UFC newcomer Reece Andy.

UFC 86: Forrest Griffin Overcomes a Rampage

Forrest Griffin (Photo: localemagazine.com)

UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin – Las Vegas, Nev. – Mandalay Bay Events Center – July 5, 2008

Forrest Griffin upset Rampage Jackson to win the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 86.

Griffin became the second winner of The Ultimate Fighter to win a UFC championship, as he beat Jackson by unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 49-46).

Matt Serra was the first to pull off this feat when he beat Georges St-Pierre at UFC 69.

The Griffin-Jackson bout was the coaches’ fight from the seventh season of TUF. At one point in Round 4, Griffin locked on a triangle choke, and Jackson slammed his way out of it.

The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale: Amir Sadollah's Double Victory

Amir Sadollah (Photo: boxnewsbox.com)

TUF 7 Finale – Las Vegas, Nev. – The Pearl at the Palms – June 21, 2008

Amir Sadollah had to beat CJ Dolloway twice in order to win the middleweight tournament in The Ultimate Fighter Season 7.

Sadollah defeated Dolloway in the semifinals on the TV show, but his opponent, Jesse Taylor went on a rampage in Las Vegas and was removed from the final match.

Dolloway defeated Tim Credeur to earn a spot in the finals, but Sadollah used an armbar to force Dolloway to submit at the 3:02 mark.

Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin were the coaches for TUF 7, and they battled for Jackson’s light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 86 two weeks later.

UFC 85: Matt Hughes Battles Thiago Alves in London

Thiago Alves (Photo: foxsports.com)

UFC 85: Bedlam – London – O2 Arena – June 7, 2008

Thiago “Pitbull” Alves won the UFC 85 main event over former welterweight champion Matt Hughes.

Alves and Hughes battled at a 174-pound catchweight, stepping in after the original main event of Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua fell apart due to injuries to both fighters.

Despite a sprained ankle, Alves nailed Hughes with a flying knee and followed up with strikes to earn a TKO win in Round 2.

Michael Bisping improved his record to 16-1 with a win over Jason “Dooms” Day by TKO at the 3:42 mark.

UFC 84: BJ Penn and the Roadblock to Redemption

BJ Penn (Photo: richestcelebrities.net)

UFC 84: Ill Will – Las Vegas, Nev. – MGM Grand Garden Arena – May 24, 2008

BJ Penn stopped Sean Sherk from regaining the UFC lightweight title at UFC 84.

Sherk had been stripped of the title one year earlier after a positive steroid test. Penn pounded his way to a TKO victory as the bell sounded to end Round 3.

UFC 84 drew nearly half a million buys on pay-per-view. All of the other bouts on the main show were in the light heavyweight division.

Lyoto Machida beat Tito Ortiz by unanimous decision for the biggest win of his career. Machida improved his record to 13-0.

UFC 83: Georges St Pierre's Canadian Coronation

Georges St-Pierre (Photo: bjpenn.com)

UFC 83: Serra vs. St-Pierre 2 – Montreal, Canada – Bell Centre – April 19, 2008

Georges St. Pierre began his five-year reign as welterweight champion at UFC 83.

GSP avenged his loss to Matt Serra at UFC 69 one year earlier, using a series of knees to the body to win by TKO late in the second round.

UFC made its Canadian debut, as a record crowd of 21,390 cheered their hometown boy on to victory.

In the co-main event, Rich Franklin beat Travis “The Serial Killer” Lutter by TKO in Round 2.

UFC Fight Night 13: Fade to Gray

Gray Maynard (Photo: bloodyelbow.com)

UFC Fight Night 13 – Broomfield (Colo.) Event Center – April 2, 2008

Gray Maynard won the first leg of his fight trilogy against Frankie Edgar at UFC Fight Night 13.

Both lightweights were undefeated heading into the fight, and Maynard got the unanimous decision with 30-27 scorecards across the board.

Edgar and Maynard fought twice in 2011 for Edgar’s lightweight title. They battled to a draw at UFC 125, and Edgar won their final encounter at UFC 136.

In the main event of UFC Fight Night 13, Kenny Florian scored a TKO win over Joe Lauzon in the lightweight main event.

Florian notched in fourth win in a row on a march toward a title shot at BJ Penn, which he received in August 2009.

UFC 82: Championship Collision

Photo: Dan Henderson (mmamania.com)

UFC 82: Pride of a Champion – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena – March 1, 2008

Dan Henderson’s second PRIDE-UFC title unification fight didn’t go any better than the first.

Six months after losing his PRIDE middleweight title to UFC light heavyweight champ Rampage Jackson, Henderson dropped the PRIDE welterweight title to UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Silva used a rear naked choke to win the fight late in Round 2.

“The Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring beat fellow rising heavyweight Cheick Kongo by split decision.

Yushin Okami knocked out Evan Tanner with a knee strike in Round 2. Chris Leben beat Alessio Sakara by TKO at the 3:16 mark.

In the pay-per-view opener, Jon Fitch improved to 9-0 in the UFC with a unanimous decision over Chris “The Professor” Wilson.

Poor Andrei Arlovski, a former UFC heavyweight champion, was relegated to the pre-show. He beat Jake O’Brien by TKO in Round 2.

Josh Koscheck used a head kick a flurry of punches to beat Dustin Hazelett by TKO in Round 2.

Diego Sanchez, who invented the “YES!” chant, made David Bielkheden of Sweden tap out to strikes late in the first round.

Other pre-show results included Luigi FIoravanti over Luke Cummo by unanimous decision; and Jorge Gurgel over John Halverson by unanimous decision.

UFC 81: Brock Lesnar Debuts

Brock Lesnar (Photo: sports.directorzcut.com)

UFC 81: Breaking Point – Las Vegas, Nev. – Mandalay Bay Events Center – Feb. 2, 2008

Brock Lesnar debuted in the Octagon at UFC 81, losing to Frank Mir in 90 seconds on Super Bowl weekend.

The former NCAA and WWE champion lost a point for striking Mir in the back of the head before tapping out to a kneebar.

Lesnar’s debut drew 600,000 pay-per-view buys, and he would later capture the UFC heavyweight championship. This gave Lesnar even more credibility when he went back to the WWE.

Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera captured the UFC interim heavyweight title by defeating Tim Sylvia with a guillotine choke in Round 3.  Big Nog became the first man to hold heavyweight titles in PRIDE and UFC.

UFC Fight Night 12: Slim Margin of Victory

Mike Swick (Photo: bloodyelbow.com)

UFC Fight Night 12 – Las Vegas, Nev. – The Pearl at The Palms – Jan. 23, 2008

Mike Swick debuted in the welterweight division by narrowly defeating Josh Burkman in the main event of UFC Fight Night 12.

Swick improved to 11-2 with a majority decision victory in the battle of The Ultimate Fighter alumni. Two judges scored the fight 29-28 for Swick, while the other called it 29-29.

In the middleweight co-main event, Patrick “The Predator” Cote beat Drew McFedries by TKO at the 1:44 mark. Cote’s third straight win moved him closer to a title shot against Anderson Silva.

UFC 80: The Double-Champion Club

BJ Penn (Photo: thefightnation.com)

UFC 80: Rapid Fire – Newcastle, England – Metro Radio Arena – Jan. 19, 2008

BJ Penn became the second fighter to win titles in two weight classes at UFC 80.

“The Prodigy” beat TUF 2 winner Joe Stevenson win the UFC lightweight title, which Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk lost due a steroid-related suspension.

Penn, a former welterweight champion, joined Randy Couture as champs of two weight classes.

In the heavyweight co-main event, Fabricio Werdum beat Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO in Round 2.

“The Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis won his 11^th fight in a row, knocking out Jess Liaudin of France in 64 seconds.