| UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | May 23, 2009 | |||
| Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena | |||
| City | Las Vegas, Nevada | |||
| Attendance | 12,606 | |||
| Total gate | $3,257,350[1] | |||
| Buyrate | 635,000[2] | |||
| Total purse | $957,000 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida was amixed martial arts event held by theUltimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on May 23, 2009 inLas Vegas,Nevada.[3]
A title unification match between the InterimUFC Heavyweight ChampionFrank Mir andUFC Heavyweight ChampionBrock Lesnar was originally slated to be the main event, but was postponed untilUFC 100 due to a knee injury to Mir.[4][5]
By way of replacement,Quinton Jackson, former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, was to fight the undefeated current championRashad Evans but had to undergoarthroscopic surgery to repair ligament damage in his jaw that he received in a previous training camp. Instead, Evans headlined the card against fellow undefeated contenderLyoto Machida.[6][7]
The card featured the long anticipated grudge match betweenThe Ultimate Fighter 6 coachesMatt Hughes andMatt Serra.
Due to injury,Josh Koscheck was not able to participate on this card.Brock Larson stepped in as the new opponent forChris Wilson.[8][9] Chris Wilson was unable to complete the necessary medical paperwork in order to compete at the event and was replaced byMike Pyle.[10]
James Irvin was set to make his Middleweight debut againstDrew McFedries, but was not able to fight due to a knee injury.[11] Xavier Foupa-Pokam stepped in to fight McFedries.[12]
Yushin Okami was set to fightDan Miller on the main card but was taken off the card after Okami suffered a torn ligament. Early reports suggestedEd Herman would replace Okami,[13] howeverChael Sonnen stepped in to take the bout.[14]
Houston Alexander was scheduled to fightAndré Gusmão, but was forced to pull out due to a broken hand.Krzysztof Soszynski stepped in to fight Gusmao.[15]
| Main card (PPV) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Light Heavyweight | Lyoto Machida | def. | Rashad Evans (c) | KO (punches) | 2 | 3:57 | [a] |
| Welterweight | Matt Hughes | def. | Matt Serra | Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Drew McFedries | def. | Xavier Foupa-Pokam | TKO (punches) | 1 | 0:37 | |
| Middleweight | Chael Sonnen | def. | Dan Miller | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Frankie Edgar | def. | Sean Sherk | Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| Catchweight (172 lb) | Brock Larson | def. | Mike Pyle | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 1 | 3:06 | [b] |
| Heavyweight | Tim Hague | def. | Pat Barry | Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 1:42 | |
| Lightweight | Kyle Bradley | def. | Phillipe Nover | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:03 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Krzysztof Soszynski | def. | André Gusmão | KO (punch) | 1 | 3:17 | |
| Welterweight | Yoshiyuki Yoshida | def. | Brandon Wolff | Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 2:24 | |
| Lightweight | George Roop | def. | Dave Kaplan | Decision (split) (28–29, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $60,000 bonuses.[16]
