Recently in UFC 98 Category

from mmaweekly.com:
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans spoke out for the first time about his loss to Lyoto Machida at a media day for the tenth season of "The Ultimate Fighter."

Evans, who will coach opposite Quinton Jackson, said he accepted the reality show position to move beyond the loss, refusing to wallow.

"I got my ass whooped, so, I was like, you know what, I could sit in the dark and cry myself to sleep every night... or I can do something about it," he said in a green room of the "TUF" training center. "I think that me losing was probably one of the best things for me just because it helped me see a lot of things clearer.

It was a great night of fights at Hooter's of York last night. The place was packed and many of the MMA academies in the York area were represented.

Tom and I were there, doing some filming, so hopefully that video should be up later today.

Fresh from a training session with "Tatu" Taborda - and working as an extra in "Warrior" George McGinnis of York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion, stopped by.

James Olewiler, who owns MACE in Red Lion, was there with one of his top students, Jimmy Chappell.

York County pro Biff Walizer and aspiring fighter Casey Bush were there, along with Tap or Sleep owner Jerod Phillips.

I also met Sibora Chan, a guy I had heard a lot about, but had never met. He runs Sibora Chan's American Kenpo Karate Studio.

Tom and I also ran into Red, who had helped us do a wrap-up show a while back, so we had to do it again.

Tom and I talk Pain on Penn Street, UFC 98 and the Super Hulk tournament.

I just watched the UFC 98 weigh-ins and although I had the sound down for most of it, it looked like everybody made weight.

There were no confrontations when the fighters squared off, although Hughes and Serra did not shake hands. No surprise there.

For the main event, Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida got a warm welcome from the crowd, but LHW champ Rashad Evans got a mix of boos thrown in. As Joe Rogan said, maybe it has to do with the fact that Evans has beaten two of the most popular UFC fighters of all time (or "of all times" according to Dana White) in Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. Or it could be his in-cage antics, which are seen by some to be cocky and arrogant.

Anyway, Machida made a good stab at English in his post-weigh-in comment to Rogan, and that probably endeared him to the crowd as well.

When Evans and Machida squared off, Evans chose not to raise his hands. Machida, on the other hand, struck a Shotokan stance and put his right fist up to Evans' face. He bowed deeply to Rashad before and after he did that though.

It's personal when Hughes meets Serra at UFC 98
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer

Although their sport is among the world's most violent, it's actually rare to find two mixed martial artists who genuinely dislike each other. The UFC is a largely respectful, sportsmanlike league of fighters who often train together, sometimes socialize together and realize they're in business together.

Matt Hughes and Matt Serra can't stand each other, and that's only one reason they're fighting Saturday night at UFC 98.

The card's main event might be Rashad Evans' 205-pound bout with Lyoto Machida in a matchup of unbeaten fighters, but the grudge match right before it is the reason so many fans are salivating for the league's latest Las Vegas event.

"The Answer" is taking on Sean Sherk at UFC 98.

Evans vs. Machida

Hughes vs. Serra

MMA Live looks at UFC 98.

A quick look at the life of Lyoto Machida, who takes on LHW champ Rashad Evans at UFC 98.

Video chronicles the LHW title fight between Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans, plus the ultimate grudge match, Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes.

Frank Mir Interested In Coaching Brock Lesnar Down The Road

from mmanews.com:
From an interview with MMAWeekly.com, interim heavyweight champion Frank Mir tells the site down the line he would like to coach heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar. The two are set to decide the rightful heavyweight king in July at UFC 100:

"I think that a lot of people realize that he was only 1-1, he had a .500 record in the UFC when he got a title shot.... I know at the end I'm going to be able to get a hold of him.

Another fun-filled day with Matt Serra as he gets ready for his fight with Matt Hughes at UFC 98.

Thanks to profighting-fans.com for the pics.

For those who don't know, Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva were longtime teammates on the Brazilian MMA team known as Chute Boxe. Apparently, they were cool with each other for many years, but now that Wanderlei has announced he will be moving down to middleweight, where A. Silva is king, there's reportedly some bad blood brewing. Of course, the other interesting thing is that A. Silva beat Franklin twice - really, destroyed him twice _ the first time taking Franklin's UFC middleweight belt.

Matt Serra is taking on his old arch-nemesis Matt Hughes at UFC 98. You probably couldn't find two more polar opposites than these guys, they should really do a whole 24/7 special on them, like, who is it - Showtime - does when they have big boxing fights? And something I didn't really know about Serra before - the dude is funny as s---.Have a look.

This video was posted for his training camp for UFC 94, but it's cool to watch and get psyched for UFC 98.

MAIN CARD

* LHW Champion Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida
* Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra
* Dan Miller vs. Yushin Okami
* Frank Edgar vs. Sean Sherk
* Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Wilson*

PRELIMINARY CARD

* James Irvin vs. Drew McFedries
* Kyle Bradley vs. Phillipe Nover
* Pat Barry vs. Tim Hague
* Houston Alexander vs. Andre Gusmao
* Brandon Wolff vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
* David Kaplan vs. George Roop

The story from ufc.com:
Las Vegas, NV (USA) - In the UFC® light heavyweight division, the most talent-rich weight class in all of mixed martial arts, every bout is a Super Fight. This will never be more evident than on Saturday, May 23rd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, when champion "Sugar" Rashad Evans defends his crown for the first time against fellow unbeaten Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida in the main event of UFC 98, which is presented by Tequila CAZADORES.

"With 32 wins and no losses between them, this may end up being one of the most memorable UFC title fights of all time," said UFC President Dana White. "Neither guy has learned how to lose yet, and I'm interested to see if Rashad is the first fighter to figure out Machida's style, as well as if Machida can withstand the striking power and wrestling of Rashad. The winner of this one is truly the best 205 pounder on the planet."

After all that trash talking, it may be two undefeated fighters - Lyoto Machida and UFC LHW Champ Rashad Evans - who go at it at UFC 98.

by Lotfi Sariahmed of sherdog.com:

Despite every assurance made during Saturday night's UFC 96 pay-per-view broadcast, UFC light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans doesn't believe Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will be standing across the Octagon to face him at UFC 98 on May 23.

"As I learned, 'Rampage' might need time off," Evans told the Sherdog Radio Network's "Beatdown" show on Monday. "It'll probably be Lyoto Machida, but I haven't gotten a confirmation on that."

Jackson, who earned a hard-fought decision over Evans' teammate Keith Jardine in the main event on Saturday, told reporters afterward that he needed time to evaluate the May title bout offered to him that night before he'd give his answer.

from Kevin Iole of Yahoo sports:
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The heavyweight title unification bout between champion Brock Lesnar and interim champ Frank Mir at UFC 98 on May 23 remains on despite arthroscopic surgery performed on Mir's right knee earlier this week.

Fiveouncesofpain.com initially reported Friday that the bout was off because of a back injury sustained by Mir. It later corrected that to say it was a knee injury. And then MMAWeekly.com reported Mir had knee surgery.

UFC president Dana White said after the weigh-in for UFC 96 at the Nationwide Arena that he knew nothing of an injury by Mir. Mir and manager Dean Albrecht did not return messages.

"I don't know anything about it, so I honestly couldn't tell you anything about it," White said of Mir's injury and the report that the fight was off. "I'm not too worried about it now. If that were the situation, I'd know about it. I honestly don't know right now. I haven't talked to Frank and I haven't talked to Lesnar and if that's the situation, I'm not going to make any statements until I talk to everybody."

But a source in Las Vegas close to Mir said his knee began swelling excessively last week after a workout. After an examination, Mir had arthroscopic surgery to "clean up" the knee.

Mir won the interim title from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 92 in December despite a training camp that was filled with injuries. Mir's back was bothering him and he received frequent treatment on it in an attempt to enable him to compete.

An alternative would be to push the title bout back to UFC 100 on July 11 in Las Vegas, but White said because he had no information, he couldn't comment.

from fiveouncesofpain:
A planned rematch between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir for UFC 98 on May 23 that would have unified Lesnar's UFC heavyweight title and Mir's interim UFC heavyweight has been canceled.

Multiple sources have confirmed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com that the UFC was recently informed by Mir's camp that he was forced to withdraw due to injury. Five Ounces of Pain originally had been informed that Mir had suffered a back injury but MMAWeekly.com has since reported that Mir actually suffered a knee injury and has already undergone surgery.

mmajunkie.com has the card so far:
Champ Brock Lesnar vs. interim champ Frank Mir (heavyweight title unification)
Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra
Frank Edgar vs. Sean Sherk
Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Wilson
Kyle Bradley vs. Phillipe Nover
James Irvin vs. Drew McFedries
Brandon Wolff vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Houston Alexander vs. Andre Gusmao
Pat Barry vs. Tim Hague
David Kaplan vs. George Roop

Brock handing wife Rena the UFC HW belt.

If you're in Columbus, Ohio for UFC 96, stop by at the Arnold Sports Festival, going on the same weekend. UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar - who fights Frank Mir at UFC 98 on May 23 - will be there, according to a news release from the International Business Times:

Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) January 26, 2009 -- Dymatize Nutrition®, a leading sport nutrition supplement company, has signed MMA Heavyweight Champion Fighter Brock Lesnar in an exclusive multi-year endorsement contract.

"We are pumped to have Brock Lesnar join the Dymatize® Team," said Brad Cooke, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Dymatize®. "By signing Brock we are not only supporting a world champion fighter, we are supporting a top athlete who is a big fan of Dymatize® products."

Brock Lesnar is a MMA fighter as well as a former champion professional wrestler. He is a superior competitive athlete who believes very strongly in the results he achieves with Dymatize® products.

"I have been using Dymatize® supplements for a long time," said Brock Lesnar. "I use Energized XPAND® Blue Raspberry before every workout...the stuff rocks! It's the reason I'm excited to be a part of the Dymatize® Team."

Brock Lesnar's first appearance as a Dymatize® spokesperson will be during the 2009 Arnold Sports Festival & EXPO in Columbus, Ohio on March 6th.

For more information about Dymatize® nutritional supplements, go to dymatize.com