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Friday, April 3, 2009

Article Written April 29, 2009. "UFC 98: Clash of the Undefeateds, Clash of the Giant Killers"

UFC 98: Clash of the Undefeateds, Clash of the Giant Killers

Kevin Sampson by Correspondent Written on April 29, 2009

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I'm extremely excited to see Evans vs Machida, but most of MMA fandom is barely even talking about it.

UFC 98 features the first-ever championship bout between two undefeated fighters, both with over 10 MMA vicotories.

Both men have racked up an extremely impressive resume of victories. This is a battle between two men that nobody has been able to figure out how to beat, and both are continually getting better and better.

It's truly sad that there appears to be more interest in the Hughes vs Serra undercard than the main event. Both Machida and Evans have beaten multiple of the best fighters in the world. What does it take for these guys to get a little bit of respect?

Both have the reputation of being "boring fighters." I disagree. If your "boring" strategy means you can kick the crap out of all comers, then I'd say it's a pretty damn good strategy.

Evans has demonstrated that he can take out anyone, including men who outweigh him by 50 pounds or so, by winning the Ultimate Fighter Two as a Heavyweight. To the best of my recollection, Machida has never lost any round in any fight in his entire career.

Big names that Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida has beaten:

1.) Stephan Bonnar
2.) Rich Franklin
3.) BJ Penn
4.) Vernon White
5.) Sokoudjou
6.) Tito Ortiz
7.) Thiago Silva

Big names beaten by "Sugar" Rashad Evans:

1.) Keith Jardine
2.) Brad Imes
3.) Stephan Bonnar
4.) Jason Lambert
5.) Michael Bisping
6.) Chuck Liddell
7.) Forrest Griffin

The overall fight card looks solid enough. Irvin vs McFedries looks like a "who knocks out who" fight. Sherk and Edgar will say a lot about what kind of future both of those men will have in MMA. The winner of that will (probably Sherk) is probably one fight away from a title shot.

I'm even curious to see if Serra can actually come up with a way to beat Hughes. He'll have a bit of help there, as Hughes is definitely not the fighter he once was. Then again, neither is Serra.

I'm just dying to see who wins the main event. Who's with me?