UFC 98 Recap: Karate Rules
Published by Jim Genia on May 24th, 2009 in Current Events

 Print |  Email |  RSS

It’s been over a decade coming, but the nigh-esoteric art of kicking and punching known as karate has finally gotten its day in the sun. At UFC 98: “Evans vs. Machida”, an undefeated half-Japanese-half Brazilian fighter with black belts in both Shotokan and jiu-jitsu stepped into the cage against a decorated wrestler, dangerous striker and undefeated light-heavyweight champ in Rashad Evans. And Lyoto Machida, the practitioner of the “empty-handed way”, beat the ever-loving crap out of Evans, leaving the TUF 2 winner unconscious on the canvas in the latter part of the second round. It’s time to dust off that old t-shirt tucked away in the back of your drawer since the mid-80s – the one that says “Karate Rules” – because in the UFC’s talent-rich 205-pound division, it most certainly does.

From the outset, the entire main event tilt was one-sided and ugly, with Machida wading in millimeter by maddening millimeter, drawing his foe in with long-range kicks and blasting him with counter-punching. Evans fell and ate leather in the first, and though he flashed a brief moment of striking success in Round 2, it paled in comparison to the beating Machida was throwing his way. The end came in the form of a flurry, and when Evans was wobbled, the pugilistic onslaught only intensified. The champ’s first and only title-defense was over just shy of the four-minute mark, with Machida screaming up at his karate gods in celebration and Evans an unconscious mess on the ground.

Fading legend Matt Hughes managed to “lay and pray” for a decision that was his only by virtue of him remaining on top. But, if anything, the co-main event grudge match between Hughes and Matt Serra reaffirmed that the New Yorker has heavy hands and that Hughes’ ability to get opponents down is the only thing keeping the country boy in the game. In the early moments of their three-round affair, the two looked to have accidentally clashed heads, with Serra following up with a grazing hook. Hughes’ legs turned to jelly, and the ensuing mad dash saw Serra trying to feed him more fists while dodging takedowns. Hughes recovered enough to make like a blanket in the second round and through part of the third, while in the final round Serra managed a throw of his own. It was, however, too little, too late for the judges, who chose to ignore the jiu-jitsu specialist’s submission attempts and instead gave Hughes what could very well be his last win.

The rest of the card was a mix of quick finishes and protracted battles. Lightweight up-and-comer Frankie Edgar cemented his “rising star” status with a high-profile decision win over former champ Sean Sherk. For three rounds the New Jersey native employed a “stick and move” while avoiding the Minnesotan’s storm of punches, and with takedowns in the first two rounds and a deep guillotine attempt at the final bell, Edgar had done more than enough to warrant having his arm raised after the scores were tallied. In middleweight action, Chael Sonnen methodically grounded out a decision over Dan Miller, while Drew McFedries used his best weapon – his hellacious punching – to devastate an overmatched Xavier Foupa-Pokam in under 40 seconds. In a preliminary bout that made it to the pay-per-view broadcast, Krzysztof Soszynski walked through the Capoeira-based striking of Andre Gusmao to TKO him midway through the first round.

Thanks to the dominant performance of Machida, karate rules, plain and simple. The question now is, “For how long?” Well, if his destruction over Evans is any indication, the answer may be, “Quite a while.”