UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida comes to us live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada for one of the most highly anticipated battles in recent history! In the second of this two-part series, we will look at the main event between two of the top light heavyweights in the UFC, the dominant “Sugar” Rashad Evans and the formidable Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida!

UFC Light Heavyweight Title: Rashad Evans (c) vs. Lyoto Machida

In recent times, we have seen matches that truly showed off the power of MMA. Matches that have either lived on in the minds of enthusiasts for a very long time and matches that have inspired other fighters to finally step up and prove to the world that they are the very best. Then a match like this comes along and you know that it would eventually become yet another classic. The stakes could not have gotten any higher. The UFC Light Heavyweight Title is on the line, but in addition to that, bragging rights are at stake to determine who will be the one to end the other’s undefeated streak.

Rashad Evans is one of the true great success stories the UFC has ever had. Since winning the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, Evans has been tearing through the competition in the UFC’s Light Heavyweight Division. The Light Heavyweight Division is quite possibly the UFC’s toughest and most competitive division, yet Evans has gone on to prove that he is pound for pound one of the best light heavyweights in the world today. He’s defeated an elite list of fighters that have ever step foot in the UFC, including Stephen Bonnar, Michael Bisping, Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin, whom he won the UFC Light Heavyweight Title from in an exciting battle at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008. He even drew against Tito Ortiz at UFC 73: Stacked, proving why he is here to stay in the UFC. Possessing amazing standup and great wrestling skills, Evans is destined to prove why he is the UFC’s best light heavyweight of today.

But one man is looking to change all of that. Lyoto Machida is not your average MMA fighter. Combining extraordinary Shotokan karate skills with mastery in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Machida can either be a nightmare or a blessing to the fans due to the techniques he employs as a fighter. Described as being elusive, Machida is a fighter who relies on strategy and smarts than pure aggression that has led him to racking up an undefeated streak which he owns right now. Throughout his MMA career, the Japanese-Brazilian has went on to defeat the likes of Stephan Bonnar, Rich Franklin and B.J. Penn, all fights that took place before he made his eventual UFC debut in February 2007. Last year, he was able to go toe to toe with Tito Ortiz and fought him to a decision victory, his biggest win thus far. With the exception of an arm triangle choke submission victory over Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, all of Machida’s fights came by way of decision. UFC 94 was an event where Machida proved that he has power in his strikes and right at the end of the first round was he able to knock out and end the undefeated streak of fellow Brazilian Thiago Silva in spectacular fashion! With sudden interest building up, Machida has slowly grown into one of the more exciting fighters in the UFC’s Light Heavyweight Division.

Two amazing fighters, one title, an undefeated streak which could come to an end for either men.

Many have felt that the UFC Light Heavyweight Title has been eluding Lyoto Machida for a very long time with those same people saying that he deserves a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Title. Granted, Machida’s title shot came by way of sheer luck as Rashad Evans had been scheduled to defend his title against Quinton Jackson, but due to an injury, Rampage was forced out of title contention and will have to wait for a future event to meet the winner of this fight. It couldn’t have come at a better time. Both Evans and Machida are at the prime of their careers and both men are still undefeated as we speak. While Evans possess great wrestling skills, it is his striking that makes him very dangerous and sometimes, unpredictable. This complements Machida’s equally effective striking skills very well, although Machida has a slight edge due to his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background. If anything is to go by, this could very well be one of the best fights of the year between two of the UFC’s top light heavyweights.

The UFC Light Heavyweight Title is at stake. Unless the match goes to a draw, one man’s undefeated streak will come to an end. Who will walk out of Las Vegas as the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion? It all takes place this weekend at UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida!

UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida comes to us live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada for one of the most highly anticipated battles in recent history! In the first of this two-part series, we will look at the highly anticipated co-main event two and a half years in the making between two former UFC Welterweight Champions and rival coaches of The Ultimate Fighter 6 as Matt Hughes squares off against Matt Serra!

Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra

Matt Hughes is quite possibly one of the greatest welterweights to ever step foot in the UFC and quite possibly in the world of MMA as well. A future UFC Hall of Famer, Hughes is a former two-time UFC Welterweight Champion, having made a total of seven successful defenses during his time as champion and also racking up not one, but two six-fight winning streaks, a remarkable achievement in the history of the UFC! The list of fighters Hughes has defeated reads a who’s who in the world of MMA and these include fighters such as Carlos Newton, Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, Georges St-Pierre, B.J. Penn and even the legendary Royce Gracie! Hughes is an accomplished wrestler and one of the very bests in the UFC, but in recent times, he has hinted that he would be retiring from MMA after his next fight.

Matt Serra on the other hand is an accomplished Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter, so this makes the fight more interesting in the on-going war between which grappling style is most favored, be it wrestling or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Having accomplished a Silver Medal in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship and a handful of UFC bouts under his belt, Serra decided to take the opportunity to take part in Season Four of The Ultimate Fighter. As part of Team Mojo, Serra was able to prove that he was the best welterweight of that season, defeating teammate Chris Lytle to become the welterweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter. The win immediately earned Serra a UFC Welterweight Title shot against the champion Georges St-Pierre and in a major upset, the Italian-American was able to knock out St-Pierre despite coming into the fight as an underdog and winning the UFC Welterweight Title!

A long awaited grudge match two and a half years in the making.

Both Matt Hughes and Matt Serra were opposing coaches during The Ultimate Fighter 6 with Team Hughes taking the win at the end of the season. There have been some bad blood boiling between both coaches, with Serra at one point mocking Hughes and calling him a chipmunk. As per tradition, both coaches were to square off against each other in a future bout. The event was UFC 79 where both fighters were to headline the event interestingly enough right above the co-main event between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva! Serra’s UFC Welterweight Title was on the line, but weeks before the fight took place, Serra suffered an injury during training, leaving Hughes without an opponent. Enter Georges St-Pierre who stepped in to take Serra’s place with St-Pierre and Hughes now facing each other to determine who will be the UFC Interim Welterweight Champion. St-Pierre won the match, then went on to face Serra at UFC 83 and the rest they say was history. Both men will be competing without any titles on the line, but considering how long it has already been since both Hughes and Serra were supposed to face each other, this could very be a match fans will truly be excited for.

Which of these two Matts will walk out as the victor? Will Hughes walk out of what could very well be his final ever fight the victor or will Serra crush what could possibly be the perfect ending of Hughes’ long and storied career with a victory of his own? We will find out this weekend at UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida!

How aptly titled. It is indeed a love affair that i had with submission grappling. I remember watching professional wrestling shows when i was growing up and i was never into the larger than life antics of wrestlers like Hulk Hogan or The Ultimate Warrior. Instead i was obsessed with the technical style of mat technicians like Chris Benoit and Bret Hart. I soon realize that the so called technical style has its roots in submission grappling and that these moves can be very lethal when applied with malicious intent. When professional wrestlers uses a side headlock, a neck crank or an armbar, its simply rest time for both wrestlers, but when a professional fighter applied the same moves, the results could be very different. Then i chance upon an MMA show and find that the display of striking and submission holds really interests me alot. I then started sourcing out MMA shows from the UFC and PRIDE and gradually amassed quite a collection of MMA media.

There was this one time during my national service; i was posted to a service unit and was an auto tech. Myself and a couple of other technicians were fooling around during lunch time and then out of no where one of my fellow NSF grabs me from behind in a rear naked choke, sinking it in so deep that i simply felt the world fading to black! He immediately releases the hold and i turn around to look at him but i was not angry at him, in fact i was intrigued by how easily i was put to sleep. At that moment i told myself, if i ever get the chance, i would want to learn this move. Ten years down the road, i am currently training with one of the top MMA gyms in the region, Evolve MMA under a great submission grappling instructor, Ben Iams and i learnt not just the rear naked choke but also other holds like the kimura, the americana, the heel hook, the knee bar, the armbar, the triangle and many other holds that can potentially injured anyone. The one thing though that Ben always instill in us is the safety aspect; that we are here to train and learn and not maim each other. Never in my life did i ever thought that i will join a MMA gym and actually learn submission grappling techniques. Though i am not really proficient in the techniques, i do believe that practice makes perfect. I have an unofficial mentor in Mike Thompson, one of the student training at Evolve who is a BJJ brown belt and he often teaches me the basics like how to go for a takedown or how to escape mount whenever he have time to spare after classes. Ben and Mike always emphasize to me how important the basics are and if you do not have a solid foundation, you actually have nothing at all.

It’s ironic how i started out in Evolve MMA wanting to just train in mixed martial arts after watching MMA shows and ended up training in submission grappling. To me the art of submission grappling is so fascinating, every single joint in the human body can be manipulated to cause pain to a person. I walk away from every lesson feeling sore and tired, sometimes with injuries but i always went home thinking about what Ben will teach us in the next lesson. One of my other gym instructor, Chatri spoke to me the only day on how i should take up another art, Muay Thai or BJJ to make me a more complete fighter. I am leaning towards BJJ since there are students telling me that after training in BJJ, it will bring my submission grappling (aka no gi grappling) to another level. Whether or not i gradually take up BJJ is another story altogether but for now, my love affairs with the art of submission grappling continues..

Hello everyone and welcome to Fight! Fight! Fight! on SG Pro! I’m Johan Yusof and I will be manning this column on the SG Pro site where I’ll be discussing on my views in the world of mixed martial arts today.

For most of you who are checking this post out for the first time, you must be wondering, why MMA? Why not pro-wrestling? That is much more happening and popular. Well, I do enjoy watching pro-wrestling from time to time, but the problem is, and I don’t intend to offend or put down any pro-wrestlers cause I do have a lotta respect for them, pro-wrestling on a whole is scripted and pre-determined, so it’s a bit hard for me to write on a “realistic” approach without having to go kayfabe in my articles.

Therefore, I chose to work on MMA as it is real and unscripted and therefore, it is a whole lot easier for me to write articles based on the happenings of MMA. Plus, many are looking towards MMA as the combat sport of the future right after boxing as PPV revenues and interest have been high on MMA in the last few years or so.

For those who don’t know, I’m also taking up MMA classes at KDT Academy with a focus on Crazy Monkey Defense, a form of MMA pioneered by Rodney King using elements of boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, making it one of the most complete form of MMA today. One of the reasons as to why I take it up is because of this very column you are reading. I want to know how a throw feels or how it feels to take a shot to the head, not to mention how it would feel to be armbar-ed or choked out. Basically, I wanna get a feel of what a pro fighter feels so that I could relate to them when I write an article about them, be it a review or other thoughts. Of course staying fit is another factor, but that’s a different story altogether. At the same time, I also look to become a commentator as well much like Kenny Rice, Mike Goldberg, Joe Rogan and Michael Schiavello and as mentioned earlier, getting a feel of what a pro fighter feels in a fight is an added advantage.

I would like to thank Gary for providing me this opportunity to share my views and thoughts in the world of MMA to you, the MMA fan and casual reader who is looking to getting interested in this sport. I hope you all would have a fun time reading my articles just as I would writing them.

Thank you and look forward to hearing from you!