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"Sugar" Rashad Evans will make his first light heavyweight title defense on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Evans, who has never lost a fight in his professional mixed martial arts career, is being listed as an 8 to 5 betting odds underdog at SBGglobal.com in the UFC 98 headliner on May 23rd.

Rashad Evans, who captured the light heavyweight title in December of 2008 by scoring a TKO against Forrest Griffin in the third round, was scheduled to make his first title defense against former champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. However, an injury to Jackson bumped the undefeated Machida into the challenger slot on Saturday night's card. For his part, Evans believes Machida is every bit as big a test as Jackson, possibly even more so.

"Lyoto is much more of a difficult and complicated fight than Rampage is," Evans said. "Stylistically, techincally, Lyoto is better than Rampage is."

Odds makers apparantly feel the same way about Machida, considering the Brazilian is a favorite in this weekend's fight with Evans. Many have speculated that Machida's unorthodox use of Karate and his wait and see approach could pose a major problem for The Ultimate Fighter 2 champion. Evans begs to differ, in spite of his insistence that Lyoto his "better than Rampage."

"[His style] doesn't present problems. Watching someone fight and breaking them down, sometimes the best ammunition is just knowing what you can do well and seeing that you'll be able to do that," Evans said. "So, I am not worried about game planning at all."

Evans, who has beaten the likes of Michael Bisping and Chuck Liddell in addition to Griffin, does not seemed to be bothered by his underdog status either.

"I don't take it personal," Evans said. "It doesn't really matter to me either way. It is not the first time I have been the underdog. I haven't lost yet so..."

SBGglobal.com UFC 98: Rashad Evans 8 to 5 Betting Odds

Rashad Evans (8/5) vs Lyoto Machida (1/2)

Visit SBGglobal.com today to get the latest odds on UFC 98: Evans vs Machida and get down on your favorite to win the light heavyweight championship fight.

Matt Serra will finally get his long awaited chance on Saturday night to attempt to put an epic beat dwon on his most hated rival, Matt Hughes. The two fighters are part of the 11 fight UFC 98 card that is set to take place on May 23rd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Online bookmaker Bodog.com has Matt Serra listed as a 2 to 1 betting odds underdog in his match-up with Hughes. 

Serra, who coached opposite Hughes on The Ultimate Fighter 6, has been out of the cage for over a year. He last fought in April of 2008 when he relinquished the interim welterweight title to Georges St. Pierre. The New Yorker suffered a back injury after the fight that sidelined him for several months.

However, his absence from the Octagon has done nothing to squelch his severe dislike for Hughes.

"I'm lucky to get back in there with a guy like Matt Hughes," Serra said. "There's nobody in the world I'd rather fight right now. I think that he's a stuck up kind of guy; he's a smug guy. I'm so happy I get to fight him."

Despite the personal nature of the fight with Hughes, Serra knows that the former champion is no pushover inside the cage. Serra indicated he is not so blind with rage that he cannot see how skilled Hughes as a fighter and he has prepared accordingly.

"Matt Hughes has been very good at what he does which is take guys down and beat them up," Serra said. "I know where he is dangerous so I have to go back to what I am great at."

Matt Serra, who is 16-5 in 21 professional MMA fights, believes his training has put him in the best position to take Hughes out. Regardless of his respect for Hughes strengths, he still sees him as somewhat one-dimensional.

"I had a very hard, but a very smart training camp for this fight" Serra said. "I feel really well prepared for this fight. He's pretty simple in the sense that he thinks he's the bigger guy, he can bench more and he can win with the size advantage and the wrestling, but there's more to it, and as you get older in this game you rely more on technique."

Bodog.com UFC 98: Matt Serra 2 to 1 Betting Odds

Matt Hughes (5/13) vs Matt Serra (2/1)

UFC 98 will take place this Saturday, May 23rd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Former welterweight champion Matt Hughes will be taking on his arch nemesis, Matt Serra, at the event. Online bookmaker Bodog.com has listed Hughes as a 5 to 13 betting odds favorite to win the long anticipated battle.

Most of the talk around Saturday night's UFC 98 fight between Matt Hughes and Matt Serra has centered on the mutual dislike that the two combatants have for one another. And although Hughes has addressed that point many times, he may have bigger things to worry about than how much he despises Serra.

The once unbeatable champion has lost three of his last four forays into the Octagon and he suffered a major knee injury in his last bout, a June 7th, 2008 loss to Thiago Alves in London. Hughes tore his medial collateral ligament and partially tore his posterior cruciate ligament in the defeat.

Hughes believes his injury has healed properly, and that his long stint away from the cage was more of a blessing than a setback.

"I'm getting older now, so the time off was actually pretty nice," Hughes said.

However, the Hillsboro, Illinois native acknowledged that that he has not had the fire that he once had and that it has taken his dislike of Matt Serra to get him to really put his heart into training.

"It's to the point where I need something like this (anger) to get motivated for fights," Hughes said. "It's good for me in that there's plenty of motivation to get me to train properly and be 100 percent prepared."

Despite the age and injury factors, Hughes longtime trainer, Marc Fiore, thinks the former champ still has all the tools he needs to get Serra to the ground and administer old-fashioned beating. According to Fiore, Hughes camp has been focused on doing just that.

"Going with the statistics, it's in our advantage if we get Serra on his back," Fiore said. "I mean, if you look at a lot of Matt's wins; they're from that position, where Matt's on top of his opponent and he grinds 'em out, or he goes for a submission or goes for a ground-and-pound. That's where Matt is strong."

Bodog.com UFC 98: Matt Hughes 5 to 13 Betting Odds

Matt Hughes (5/13) vs Matt Serra (2/1)

Visit Bodog.com today to get the latest UFC 98 odds and to place your bet on Saturday night's Matt Hughes vs Matt Serra grudge match.