Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida
The main event of the evening is a Light Heavyweight title matchup between two undefeated fighters in the form of champ “Sugar” Rashad Evans and challenger Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida. Full UFC 98 betting odds are now available. Both men have extremely odd styles, which means that this could either be a barn-burner or a painfully odd fight.
Machida, as you will no doubt hear Joe Rogan affirm upwards of 100 times, is a notoriously elusive fighter with awkward but extremely effective standup. His karate background gives his punches extremely odd angles of approach without sacrifing power and accuracy. His takedown defense is very good, but his jiu jitsu is excellent, making him a threat to finish from any position on the ground. Thusfar in his career, Machida has looked completely unbeatable. His chin is a question mark because of the simple fact that none of his opponents has ever really connected. He made Rich Franklin look nearly as bad as Anderson Silva did, and that was very early in his career.
The champion, Rashad Evans, is a little easier to figure out. A powerful wrestler with awesome athleticism, Evans has really come into his own as a striker, showing some disturbing punching power against Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. The only notable hole in Rashad’s game is mental, as he has shown a distinct tendency toward both lethargy and showboating in previous fights. Even though Evans has the clear edge in knockout power, it would probably be a bad idea for him to stand with Machida, just because Machida has a distinct technical advantage, both in terms of punching and footwork.
To win this fight, Rashad Evans is going to have to do what Tito Ortiz failed spectacularly at, and that is to take Machida down and hold him there. Considering Machida’s fondness for backpedaling, as well as his dangerous submission attack from his back, that is going to be no easy task, and ultimately I think Evans will come up short. I see Machida utilizing his usual gameplan, dancing around on the outside, making Rashad pay for any aggression by sticking him quickly and then running out, and trying to keep the range long enough that Rashad has to telgraph his takedown attempts.
This one doesn’t look to be pretty, but I see Machida leaving with the belt after 25 grueling minutes. Grueling for the spectators, that is.
