Just got back from Nowhere, Georgia…but in time to catch UFC 98.

Sherk vs. Edgar goes to a decision…who would’ve guessed? Ummm, I think it was almost guaranteed to go a decision, I wouldn’t have guessed anything else. Frankie Edgar wins via decision. According to Dana White’s twitter, “Sean sherk ran out of the ring and out the doors and down the street in his fight shorts and no shirt”.. LOL.

Chael Sonnen vs. Dan Miller…Sonnen says he’s gonna punch a hole in Millers face. So far, it’s looking like he’s right. Round three and Sonnen is pretty much dominating the fight, except for a couple of good, but unsuccessful guillotine attempts by Miller. Chael Sonnen wins via judges decision.

Drew McFedries vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam “Professor X”.. the audience boos when Referee Yves Lavigne isi ntroduced.. and shortly thereafter, Drew McFedries KO’s Xavier Foupa-Pokam, knocks him down, Xavier recovers, back to his feat momentarily, then KO’d again by McFedries, knocked around some more before the referee stops the fight. Foupa-Pokam protests the stoppage, but it was fair, in my opinion. Drew McFedries wins by KO at 37 seconds of round one.

Hey, there’s Holly Madison from Girls Next Door and Dancing With The Stars…but I want to know who the other blonde chick is beside her.

btw: WAR Machida.

Krysztof Soszynski vs Andre Gusmao – Gnarly knockout win for Krysztof Soszynski in round one. Gusmao took some good shots without seeming hurt, but finally dropped unconscious from a right cross.

IRON MIKE TYSON IN THE HOUSE.

Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra! -  I kinda want Hughes to win this, but I also like seeing underdogs win, and I think Serra is the underdog here. I just hope it’s an entertaining fight. Holy shit, Matt Serra using the Rocky entrance music. Awesome. I think I want him to win now…but of course, it’s hard to beat Bocephus music. Above average staredown between Hughes and Serra.

Round One: WOW Serra hurts Hughes badly! Has him rocked bad, but Joe Rogan says it was from a head-collision. Matt Hughes has Serra’s back now, this might be bad for Serra, Hughes has his hooks in, just under one minute left in round one. Serra escapes and their both back to their feet. Great fight so far. Round Two starts, and it’s spent mostly with Hughes in Serra’s half guard. Not much ground and pound from Hughes, and Serra was rolling his eyes at the lack of action. ROUND THREE, last round. Hughes takes Serra down, controls him, but Serra gets some good sub attempts, tries a triangle, omaplata, referee starts them back on their feet. SERRA THROWS HUGHES,  lands some good shots, controls, round over. Will it be enough for the win? Nope, judges give it a 29-28 unanimous decision victory for Matt Hughes.

Joe Rogan interviews Hughes after the fight, and Hughes mentions he is now a free agent and has no fights left with the UFC… he says he and Dana White will talk it over and see about one more fight in his hometown. Hughes also clearly says he won’t be fighting for any other organization.

LYOTO MACHIDA vs. RASHAD EVANS – I 100% want Machida to win this fight. I also hope the fight is entertaining, I hope Rashad brings it and doesn’t try to counter Machida’s counter.

Round One: How long will it take before they actually tough eachother? Machida throws the first strike, with a low leg kick that doesn’t land. So far one minute into the fight and nothing yet. There’s a kick from Rashad, it doesn’t land. Still no contact. I already hear boos in the audience. Machida is southpaw, and Evans is orthodox right now. NICE head kickfrom Machida, lands, but not enough to hurt Rashad yet. MACHIDA knocks Rashad down with a kick to the body. MACHIDA wins round one easily.

Round Two: THAT WAS AWESOME. Machida is unstoppable. He just left Rashad Evans unconscious laying against the fence. He probably broke Rashad’s nose, also.

I think I just heard Rogan say “Mixed Mortal Arts”..

BTW: Rashad Evans seems like a genuinely good dude. Good post-fight interview with Rogan, even under such disappointing circumstances for him.

PRELIM FIGHT RESULTS:

George Roop defeats Dave Kaplan via judges decision
Yoshiyuki Yoshida defeats Brandon Wolff via guillotine, round one
Kyle Bradley defeats Phillipe Nover by TKO, round one
Tim Hague defeats Pat Barry by Guillotine, round one
Brock Larson defeats Mike Pyle by arm-triangle choke, round one

**Rumor has it that two of the fighters’ mothers got into a fight in the audience? I need to hear more about this entertainment.

Disappointment. The fight was interesting, and Patrick Cote lasted longer with Anderson Silva than anyone else in the UFC so far. It didn’t seem like Silva was as offensive as he usually is, he was constantly backing up and letting Cote force the pressure, however, Silva still connected with precision and was winning the fight up until Patrick Cote injured his knee and couldn’t continue.

I predict we’ll see Anderson Silva fight again very soon, probably within just a couple of months, as UFC Matchmakers will want to make up to fans for tonights disappointment.

PROPS TO JOE ROGAN FOR HIS EVAN TANNER TRIBUTE BEARD.

Other results from UFC 90 are:
Pete Sell beat Josh Burkman by unanimous decision
Hermes Franca beat Marcus Aurelio by unanimous decision
Dan Miller beat Matt Horwich by unanimous decision
Spencer Fisher beat Shannon Gugerty by third-round submission (triangle choke)
Thales Leites beat Drew McFedries by first-round submission (rear-naked choke)
Sean Sherk beat Tyson Griffin by unanimous decision
Junior “Cigano” dos Santos defeated Fabricio Werdum by first-round KO
Gray Maynard beats Rich Clementi by unanimous decision
Thiago Alves beat Josh Koscheck by unanimous decision

Dan Miragliotta still sucks, and he looks fatter.

Houston Alexander tried some illegal-looking knees but was ultimately unsuccessful. He’s 37 years old and seems to run out of gas really quick, and obviously is helpless on the ground. Will he be back in the UFC? Props to Eric Schafer for dedicating his win to Evan Tanner. Props to Eric Schafer for taking those illegal knees to the face while he was down.

The UFC is definitely in partnership with or has purchased StrikeForce. With Dana White’s recent comments about StrikeForce having a good business model, and Cung Le in the audience at a UFC event recently, along with Joe Rogan mentioning Strikeforce tonight during the Clay Guida/Mac Danzig fight, the evidence is too strong.

Joe Rogan appears to be working on his Evan Tanner tribute beard. Props to him.

Clay Guida is a badass.

Josh Neer’s board shorts were cool. They were black with a chain link fence design that blended perfectly with the cage, creating a near optical illusion.

Nick Diaz got his name mentioned a few times by Goldberg and Rogan, further evidence of a UFC/Strikeforce partnership… or Nick will be back in the UFC soon.

Although many saw the fight as a unanimous decision, the official scoring had Evan Tanner winning one round. Although Evan was able to take Kendall Grove down, the reach advantage of Grove proved to be too much for Tanner. Kendall used his long legs to land good knees. I hope to see Evan Tanner back in action though, he is a true warrior, and despite being 12 years older than Grove, and living a harder life, he managed to last all 3 rounds and fought all the way through.

Other results from the show include Amir Sadollah scoring a 1st round armbar submission victory over CB Dollaway.

Diego Sanchez defeated Luigi Fioravanti by TKO (strikes) – Round 3
Matt Riddle defeated Dante Rivera by unanimous decision
Spencer Fisher defeated Jeremy Stephens by unanimous decision
Dustin Hazelett defeated Josh Burkman by submission (arm bar) – Round 2
Drew McFedries defeated Marvin Eastman by TKO (strikes) – Round 1
Dean Lister defeated Jeremy Horn by submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1
Matt Brown defeated Matt Arroyo by TKO (strikes) – Round 2
Rob Kimmons defeated Rob Yundt by submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1