Kiem
11-03-2009, 11:49 PM
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
by Sherdog.com Staff
UFC President Dana White confirmed Wednesday that Lyoto Machida, not Quinton Jackson, will challenge champion Rashad Evans for the light heavyweight title at UFC 98 on May 23.
In an interview with Yahoo Sports, White said Jackson needs jaw surgery and would not be ready for UFC 98.
The Jackson-Evans matchup, which was hyped Saturday following Jackson’s win over Keith Jardine at UFC 96, was intended to replace the Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir main event that was postponed after Mir’s knee surgery.
Evans told Sherdog.com on Monday that he had a “feeling” that Jackson would not be able to fight. In Machida, he faces an opponent who, like himself, is undefeated.
“The kid’s been phenomenal,” Evans said of Machida. “He’s been better than phenomenal. He’s been looking better every fight. But that’s the fight business. That’s the fun part about a fight is the fact that you go in there with an opponent that sometimes seems insurmountable. But then you figure it out and that makes the victory that much sweeter. With that said, there may be some kinks in his armor that I have yet to see that I can exploit when I look at the tapes more closely. Nobody’s unbeatable. Machida’s been looking slicker than I don’t know what, but everybody has a weakness even if you do look slick as oil. Everyone has a weakness.”
by Sherdog.com Staff
UFC President Dana White confirmed Wednesday that Lyoto Machida, not Quinton Jackson, will challenge champion Rashad Evans for the light heavyweight title at UFC 98 on May 23.
In an interview with Yahoo Sports, White said Jackson needs jaw surgery and would not be ready for UFC 98.
The Jackson-Evans matchup, which was hyped Saturday following Jackson’s win over Keith Jardine at UFC 96, was intended to replace the Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir main event that was postponed after Mir’s knee surgery.
Evans told Sherdog.com on Monday that he had a “feeling” that Jackson would not be able to fight. In Machida, he faces an opponent who, like himself, is undefeated.
“The kid’s been phenomenal,” Evans said of Machida. “He’s been better than phenomenal. He’s been looking better every fight. But that’s the fight business. That’s the fun part about a fight is the fact that you go in there with an opponent that sometimes seems insurmountable. But then you figure it out and that makes the victory that much sweeter. With that said, there may be some kinks in his armor that I have yet to see that I can exploit when I look at the tapes more closely. Nobody’s unbeatable. Machida’s been looking slicker than I don’t know what, but everybody has a weakness even if you do look slick as oil. Everyone has a weakness.”