THE CANADIAN PRESS
LAS VEGAS — Lyoto Machida knocked out light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans in devastating fashion in the second round in a battle of unbeaten fighters at UFC 98 on Saturday night.
Machida (15-0) nailed Evans (18-1-1) with a straight left and then pounced, slugging away at the dazed champion. Evans somehow survived but the Brazilian caught him again and again.
Machida connected flush with a left to the chin and Evans toppled at the fence at three minutes 57 seconds of the second round.
"I tried all my life to be champion and I am very happy," Machida said in English. "Now I want to keep this belt for a long time."
In the co-main event before 12,606 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Matt Hughes won a close decision over Matt Serra in a grudge match between former welterweight champions.
Neither man looked their best but Hughes got the nod 29-28 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Evans and Machida, both counter-punchers, were wary in the first round with nothing happening until Machida launched a kick two minutes in.
The lightning-fast Brazilian southpaw put Evans down with a body kick followed by a left late in the round, pouncing on him. Evans survived and got to his feet.
The two had a good exchange midway through the second, with Evans giving as good as he got from Machida. Then came the clinical, brutal finale that was all Machida, who has yet to lose a round in the UFC.
"I was blown away by his performance tonight, absolutely blown away," UFC president Dana White said of Machida.
Asked about Evans, White replied: "He’s OK, he’s obviously a little bummed out."
Machida, 30, made US$2000,000, including a $70,000 win bonus and $60,000 for knockout of the night. Evans, 29, made $200,000, missing out on a $175,000 win bonus, according to figures provided by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
"Very fast and explosive," Evans said of Machida in a post-fight interview.
Machida will next fight Quinton (Rampage) Jackson.
Hughes (44-7) and Serra (16-6) have been at odds since they were rival coaches on Season 6 of "The Ultimate Fighter." They were supposed to meet in December 2007 but injuries delayed their meeting in the cage.
Serra, 34, came out first to the theme from "Rocky." Hughes, 35, followed to his trademark "Country Boy Can Survive" by Hank Williams Jr. The two did not touch gloves.
Serra caught Hughes early on, knocking him down and hurting him. It was the same kind of looping right to the back of the head that put Georges St. Pierre down at UFC 69.
Hughes survived, using his wrestling skills, and eventually took Serra down. Hughes took Serra’s back but could not lock in a choke and Serra scrambled to his feet.
In the second, Hughes survived Serra’s superior standup to take him down again, controlling the smaller man on the ground if not doing a lot of damage. Referee Steve Mazzagatti stood them up as the round ended.
Hughes continued to fight from the southpaw stance in the third, taking Serra down early. There was little action on the ground and they were stood up again. Serra urged Hughes to hit him and when the two clinched, Serra took Hughes down.
The two embraced as the fight ended. Hughes said in his post-fight interview he wanted to keep fighting.
"He’s a tough dude, he’s got a good chin," said Serra, adding he would mull over his fighting future.
Hughes’ purse was $260,000, including a $100,000 win bonus and $60,000 for fight of the night, while Serra made $135,000, including his fight of the night bonus.
Those numbers don’t tell the entire story, however. They do not include other UFC bonuses or cuts of the pay-per-view revenue for marquee fighters.
It was a good night for Canadians with wins for both Edmonton heavyweight Tim (The Thrashing Machine) Hague, in his UFC debut, and Winnipeg light-heavyweight Krzysztof (The Polish Experiment) Soszynski.
Hague, a former kindergarten teacher who stands six foot four and weighs 265 pounds, scored a first-round submission win over kickboxer Pat Barry while Soszynski knocked out Andre Gusmao in the first round.
Both fighters were warmly received by what seemed a large Canadian contingent in the crowd.
.An impressive Frankie (The Answer) Edgar showed quick hands in winning a decision over former lightweight champion Sean (Muscle Shark) Sherk. The fight, contested almost entirely on the feet, was a clear win for Edgar and ended with him trying a guillotine choke.
The win moves Edgar (10-1) up the 155-pound ranks as he joined Hughes, St. Pierre and B.J. Penn as the only men to have beaten Sherk (37-4-1).
Sherk, favoured by the bookies, seemed befuddled by Edgar on the night and apparently responded to the loss by leaving the arena, in his fight gear, for parts unknown. He later returned to the building, an official said.
.Hague (10-1) was a big underdog and seemed in trouble when he took a kick and punch to the head early on. He survived and got Barry to the ground, which is largely uncharted territory for the kickboxer. Hague then adeptly rolled Barry (4-1) into a guillotine choke and the smaller American tapped at 1:42.
Hague said he may have had his nose broken but didn’t seem to care.
"It’s all good," he said. "Ready to drink some beers."
Soszynski (19-9 with one no contest) had superior standup skills and wasted no time showing it, hammering Gusmao (5-2) with a looping right to the head at the fence and then put him down with another right at 3:17 of the first round.
Soszynski, who trains out of Temecula, Calif., came into the fight on three weeks’ notice for the injured Houston (The Assassin) Alexander.
Hague made $10,000 including a win bonus of $5,000 while Soszynski collected $16,000, including an $8,000 win bonus..
Drew (The Massacre) McFedries, who had lost three of his last four, knocked out French middleweight (The Professor X) Xavier Foupa-Pokam in just 37 seconds.
McFedries (8-5) put him down with a right and when Foupa-Pokam (20-11) somehow got up, felled him again with an uppercut and kept punching until Montreal referee Yves Lavigne stopped the carnage.
Middleweight Chael Sonnen (24-10-1), another injury replacement who had to cut 36 pounds in three weeks, survived a first-round guillotine attempt to beat Dan Miller (11-2 with one no contest) up on the ground for three rounds.
Sonnen’s wrestling proved to be the difference as he put Miller on his back and kept him there.
Lightweight Kyle Bradley stopped Phillipe Nover at 1:03 of the first round, tripping him, throwing him to the ground violently and then tagging him in the face on the ground.
Lavigne hesitated and then stepped in after Bradley (14-6 with one no contest) hit him again and Nover (6-2-1) went limp briefly. Nover disputed the stoppage, as did the crowd which booed Lavigne the rest of the night.
Japanese welterweight Yoshiyuki Yoshida showed slick submission skills in stopping former Navy SEAL Brandon Wolff by guillotine choke at 2:24 of the first round.
Welterweight Brock Larson (27-2) stopped Mike Pyle (17-6-1) via arm triangle at 3:06 of the first round. Pyle was a late replacement for Chris (The Professor) Wilson and had trouble making weight Friday. Larson collected $60,000 for submission of the night.
George Roop (9-5) defeated lightweight Dave Kaplan (3-3) by split decision on an undercard that saw five of the six fights end in the first round.
