UFC 98: Lyoto Machida Wins Battle of the Undefeated

Lyoto Machida (Photo: sportsnet.ca)

UFC 98 – Las Vegas, Nev. - MGM Grand Garden Arena – May 23, 2009

Lyoto Machida captured the UFC light heavyweight title, handing Rashad Evans his first career loss at UFC 98.

Machida, a former sumo and karate champion, used a right-left combination to knock “Suga” out and claim the title.

In a battle of former welterweight champions, Matt Hughes won a narrow but unanimous decision over Matt Serra. All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Hughes.

Drew McFedries beat Xavier Foupa-Pokam by TKO in 37 seconds. Chael Sonnen beat Dan Miller by unanimous decision, as Miller also landed in the loss column for the first time.

Frankie Edgar kicked off the pay-per-view with a unanimous decision over “The Muscle Shark” Sean Sherk in the lightweight division.

On the pre-show, Tim “The Thrashing Machine” Hague used a guillotine choke to defeat Pat Barry at the 1:42 mark.

In a battle of TUF 8 contestants, George Roop beat Dave Kaplan by split decision. Brock Larson beat Mike Pyle at 3:06 by submission to an arm triangle choke.

Yoshiyuki Yoshida beat Brandon Wolff with a guillotine choke to score his 10^th win in his previous 11 fights.

Krysztof Soszynski knocked out Andre Gusmao in 3:17 for his third straight win. Kyle Bradley beat TUF 8 finalist Phillipe Nover by TKO in 63 seconds.