UFC 98 Preview & UFC 101 Ticket News
The main-event of UFC 98 features UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans (13-0-1 MMA, 8-0-1) against Lyoto Machida (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC). The story behind this fight is beyond the undefeated records. As great as this one looks on paper, it has the potential to rival Anderson Silva’s last fight in boredom.
There aren’t many fighters that I truly don’t like. Rashad Evans is one of them. It is his arrogance that gets me. He makes it harder to like him every time he fights. His arrogance goes back to the Ultimate Fighter and is nothing new. Most of the time I enjoy that kind of bravado, but with him it rubs me the wrong way.
In all honesty it is his style more than anything else that kills me. Hey, it is hard to argue with a style that nets you an undefeated streak and a title. The style works for him. I just can’t get into that defensive catch-me-if-you-can standup game. His success truly boggles my mind.
Lyoto Machida is not any better than Evans. As a matter of a fact, he may be worse. His fight against Tito Ortiz was a disgrace in my opinion. I was shocked when he knocked out Thiago Silva so quickly. I think like most people going in, that it was Alves’ fight to win. The guy obviously deserves the opportunity, but I can’t see a fight between two guys with this same boring kind of style being anything but disappointing.
Shockingly Machida is the betting favorite with a -200 line as of this writing at sportbet.com. I learned a while back that you don’t bet against Rashad Evans. I probably would have lost my life savings if I went with my instinct every time Evans fought. For the gamblers out there, Evans at +160 is a fantastic bet and my prediction to win the fight.
The real main-event to me is Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes. I have been waiting almost two years for this one. I said earlier that there aren’t many fighters I don’t like. I don’t think I dislike anyone more than Matt Serra.
To me, the guy got lucky and he walks around like he is a Hall of Fame fighter. He and Matt Hughes coached opposite each other in season six of The Ultimate Fighter. Like Hughes or not, he deserves a certain amount of respect. Serra was nothing but arrogant, cocky, and annoying throughout the entire season. I want to see him ko’d in round 1!
The problem here is that it isn’t 2007. The fight was originally made in 2007 and at the time I thought Hughes would knock his block off. Hughes hasn’t won a decisive fight since beating B.J. Penn in 2006. His decision over Chris Lytle in 2007 was nothing to brag about.
Hughes lost his last two fights decisively and looked terrible. He looked as if he lost all of his speed and reflexes. One thing to keep in mind was that he was fighting Georges St-Pierre and a Thiago Alves who came in way overweight. I just don’t know how much he has left.
Hughes said after his last fight that he wanted one more fight and that was with Serra. At 35, he is likely fighting his last fight in UFC or anywhere else. Hughes is another polarizing figure in the fighting world. I would just hate to see him lose his final match at the hands of a jerk like Serra.
Hughes is the betting favorite here by a bigger margin than Machida over Evans. As much as I want to see Serra out, I would easily roll the dice with him getting anywhere from +187 to +250. As much as it pains me to say it, I predict a Serra win on Saturday night.
Place your bets online at Sportbet.com
UFC 101 in Philadelphia, PA tickets go on sale this Saturday May 23 to the public. Tickets are already on sale to Fight Club members. UFC 101 features a Dream Match between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and ex-UFC light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin. B.J. Penn also finally defends the UFC lightweight title against Kenny Florian.
Tickets will be priced at $600, $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50.
Don’t get shutout. Get your tickets on StubHub.com or get 5% off the ticket purchase at PurchaseTix.com ! – Enter the Coupon Code: fiveforyou.
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