UFC 98 Predictions, Picks & UFC Odds

Written by Matt Foust

Saturday, 23 May 2009

UFC 98 Predictions, Picks & UFC Odds: "Sugar" Rashad Evans and Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida's light heavyweight title match is the headliner in tonight's UFC 98 fight card. The event is scheduled to begin at 10:00pm ET at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. UFC 98 Predictions at online bookmaker Sportsbook.com have the challenger, Lyoto Machida, listed as a -200 money line UFC 98 odds favorite in this evening's feature fight.

Rashad Evans probably knows how it feels to be underappreciated, it is as if people just expect him to lose. The 29 year old is undefeated in 19 professional MMA fights, but it seems as if he is always the underdog. That may have something to do with his fighting style, which is often a feeling out process that can make Evans look as if he is about to bow out at a moments notice.

A perfect example of this was Evans' title match against Forrest Griffin at UFC 92. Griffin, for all practical purposes, dominated the first round, dictating the pace and landing several nice combos on Evans. The second round started much the same way, but all it took was a mistake by Griffin and Evans was there to pounce on him and end the fight rather quickly.

The same thing happened in Evans' fight will Chuck Liddell. Liddell pushed things, cut the Octagon off and appeared to be the aggressor (although it was evident that Evans was the much quicker fighter). "The Iceman" left himself open in the second round and Evans promptly ended the fight with one of the greatest knockout punches ever captured on film.

Tonight's battle with Machida figures to have the same kind of pace, even though both fighters are counter-strikers. Perhaps Machida is the favorite because odds makers see him as a more well rounded fighter than Liddell or Griffin; a guy who causes mistakes rather than making them.

Lyoto Machida, like Evans has never tasted defeat as a professional fighter. He has been masterful in his last two UFC fights, beating Tito Ortiz by unanimous decision and overcoming Thiago Silva via a first round knockout.

The Brazilian, whose father is a Shotokan Karate master, does not go to the ground very often and Evans may try to use that to his advantage given his wrestling background. However, if Rashad does go that route, he can rest assured that Machida will have put his time in preparing for that development.

Regardless, tonight's fight should be more than entertaining. It may take things a while to warm up, but once they do, both Evans and Machida have the kind of skill to make for an entertaining UFC 98 Predictions dust up.

Sportsbook.com UFC 98 Predictions:

Lyoto Machida (-200) vs Rashad Evans (+160)

Matt Hughes (-240) vs Matt Serra (+190)

Sean Sherk (-365) vs Frank Edgar (+285)

Phillipe Novar (-500) vs Kyle Bradley (+300)

Yoshiyuki Yoshida (-525) vs Brandon Wolff (+325)

Xavier Foupa-Pokam (-200) vs Drew McFedries (+160)

Dan Miller (-180) vs Chael Sonnen (+150)

Brock Larson (-290) vs Chris Wilson (+230)

Pat Barry (-500) vs Tim Hague (+300)

Andre Gusmao (-155) vs Krzysztof Soszynski (+125)

George Roop (-165) vs Dave Kaplan (+135)