Rashad Evans is the third man to hold the UFC's Light Heavyweight Championship belt this year after defeating Forrest Griffin.  Evans and Griffin fought in the main event for the title at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 Saturday night.  The two were awarded FIght of the Night honors after their bout and each received $60,000 bonuses for their efforts.

Rashad Evans has come along way since his time on the Ultimate Fighter series and has proven his mettle against every fighter the UFC has put in the Octagan with him.  Evans will not fly under the radar anymore as he is now the Champion of the most stacked division in mixed martial arts.  His first title defense should most likely be against Rampage Jackson who also put on a stellar performance against Wanderlei Silva Saturday night at UFC 92.

Frank Mir put on an amazing performance Saturday night at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 in not only defeating one of the top UFC Heavyweights, but finishing a man that has never been stopped in 37 MMA fights.  Mir came in with an excellent gameplan and stopped Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to claim the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship Title.

Frank Mir knocked Big Nog down three times with clean striking in the first round but never took top position against him.  Unstead he forced Nogueira to stand and trade with him rather than taking the fight to the ground and allow Antonio to recover.  In the second round Mir hit him with two stiff left hands and dropped him.  Mir is the first man to stop Nogueira.

Frank Mir will now face Brock Lesnar in what is sure to be a huge UFC event sometime early next year to unify the UFC Heavyweight Championship belts.

Stay tuned for up to date fight results for each bout for UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008.

Preliminary Card Results for UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008

PATRICK BARRY VS. DAN EVENSEN
Patrick Barry beats Dan Evensen - TKO

BRAD BLACKBURN VS. RYO CHONAN
Brad Blackburn beats Ryo Chonan - unanimous decision

REESE ANDY VS. MATT HAMILL
Matt Hamill beats Reese Andy - TKO - Round 2, 2:19.

ANTONI HARDONK VS. MIKE WESSEL
Antoni Hardonk beats Mike Wessel - TKO - Round 2, 2:09

DEAN LISTER VS. YUSHIN OKAMI
Yushin Okami beats Dean Lister - unanimous decision

Main Card Fight Results for UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008

C.B. DOLLAWAY VS. MIKE MASSENZIO

C.B. Dollaway takes Massenzio's back and finishes him with ground and pound.  Dollaway wins via strikes in the first round.

MOSTAPHA AL-TURK VS. CHEICK KONGO

Kongo defeats Mostapha via strikes after the two fighters trade groin shots.  Kongo shows some vicious ground and pound as Mazagati stops the fight in the first round.

QUINTON JACKSON VS. WANDERLEI SILVA

Quinton knocks out Wanderlei!  Gruesome knockout by Rampage Jackson against Wanderlei Silva in round one.

CHAMP ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA VS. FRANK MIR

Frank Mir is the first man to ever finish Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.  Mir finishes Nogueira early in the second round.  Frank Mir will face Brock Lesnar to unify the Heavyweight title.

CHAMP FORREST GRIFFIN VS. RASHAD EVANS

Rashad Evans is the new LIght Heavyweight champion!  Rashad took Griffin down and pounded him out in the third round to claim the Light Heavyweight Championship Title.

Justin Eilers

Many mixed martial arts news sites are reporting that Justin Eilers was shot and died shortly after on December 26, 2008 in an apparent domestic disturbance at an acquaintance’s home in Canyon County, Idaho. Eilers was 30 years old.

He was reportedly shot by his mother's boyfriend, James Robert Malec.  Malec has since been arrested and charged with second degree murder.

Eilers was 19-7-1 as a mixed martial artist.  That record includes four fights in the UFC of which Eilers went 1-3.

Rich Franklin

UFC 93 Main Event

UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson is the UFC's next event in Dublin, Ireland at the O2 Arena.  This will be a pay-per-view event.

The main event features a highly anticipated matchup between Rich "Ace" Franklin and Dan "Hendo" Henderson.  This is an exciting bout as it is Rich's second in the Light Heavyweight division this year and Henderson's first back at 205 since his loss to Quinton Jackson.  Rich last defeated Matt Hamill at UFC 88 and Dan recently defeated Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88 also.

Both Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson are top ranked MMA fighters and should put on a great fight.  I expect Rich to do what he can to keep this fight standing and look to outstrike Henderson.  Henderson should try to use his wrestling to stay inside of Rich and get the fight to the ground.

Main Card

Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin
Mark Coleman vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Alan Belcher vs. Denis Kang
Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares
Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle

The main card also features a rematch from pride between Mark Coleman and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.  Coleman hasn't fought since a loss to Fedor Emelianenko in Pride in 2006.  Shogun last at fought UFC 76 and lost to Forrest Griffin.  In their first matchup, Mark Coleman beat Shogun after Shogun broke his arm during the bout.

Another fight to look out for is Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle.  Both are heavy hitters with fast hands.

Preliminary Card

Alexandre Barros vs. Martin Kampmann
Antonio Mendes vs. Eric Schafer
Thomasz Drwal vs. Ivan Serati
Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway
Denis Siver vs. Nate Mohr

GSP Vs Penn

Fights have been finalized for UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn II.  The main event is a Super-Fight between current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and current UFC Lightweight Champion Bj Penn.  This is a Welterweight Championship fight, not a winner take all fight.  It is the first time the UFC will feature a fight between two UFC Champions.

In their first matchup, Georges St. Pierre won a razor thin split-decision against Bj Penn.  Penn battered and bruised St. Pierre early but GSP survived and fought a more technical fight to earn the victory.  Bj is coming off a win against Sean Sherk in which he destroyed the former Champion.  St. Pierre is coming off a similarly impressive win against Jon Fitch.

Interestingly, Jon Fitch will also fight on this same card against Akihiro Gono.  A few months ago this bout would have surely been on the main card, but since Fitch seems to have fallen out of the UFC's good graces it would appear he is being punished by being on the Preliminary card.

Here is the complete card of this UFC Event:

MAIN CARD

Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn
Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva
Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones
Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida

Besides the main event, there are a couple of great fights on this Main Card.  Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva is an excellent matchup of an elusive style fighter in Machida and a very agressive striker in Thiago Silva.  Thiago has been on a tear through the Light Heavyweight division winning four straight including wins against James Irvin and Houston Alexander.  Also, watch for the Nate Diaz and Clay Guida fight as it has the potential to be Fight of the Night.  Diaz is a durable Lightweight fighter with excellent submissions and Clay Guida is known for his ground wars.

Here is the Prelimary Card:

PRELIMINARY CARD

Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono
Manny Gamburyan vs. Thiago Tavares
John Howard vs. Chris Wilson
Jake O'Brien vs. Christian Wellisch
Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer

The other combatants are expected to be Preliminary Card fighters, but Jon Fitch has proven his mettle in the UFC and Gono is certainly no slouch himself.  Hopefully the fight will be aired.

UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008

I didn't do to well for my UFC 91 predictions last time around.  Let's see how UFC 92 goes.

For this event I will make predictions for the big three bouts that will be taking place.  I will start with what might be the biggest draw for MMA fans. 

Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva

This fight makes me nervous, anxious, excited, all of the above.  Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva have faced off two times before with the same results: Wanderlei Silva via big knockouts.  I have a hard time believing the same will happen again though. 

Rampage has improved much since his Pride Fighting days and is more dedicated to his training.  Rampage most recently lost his Light Heavyweight title to Forrest Griffin.  Wanderlei Silva seems not to have lost any of his speed since his days of glory in Pride Fighting Championships in Japan.  Wanderlei displayed excellent striking and strength in his recent win over Keith Jardine.

Both fighters are at the top of, not only the Light Heavyweight division, but pound for pound MMA fighters in the world.  I will take Wanderlei Silva in this fight, not because he's beaten Rampage twice before, but because of Quinton Jackson's rocky life since he lost his title to Forrest Griffin.  Wanderlei Silva by decision in UFC 92's fight of the night.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir

This is an exciting fight because Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir are the two best Heavyweight brazilian jujitsu MMA fighters on the planet.  Big Nog has not fought in almost a year.  He last beat Tim Sylvia to capture the interim Heavyweight Title.  Frank Mir last fought against Brock Lesnar defeating Lesnar with a knee bar after taking early punishment.

I can't say I'm overly impressed with Mir.  His last win came against Lesnar who had fought one MMA bout before that.  He has never shown stamina in his bouts, something that Nogueira is famous for.  Look for Big Nog to keep his interim Heavyweight Title and fight Brock Lesnar sometime in the spring to unify the belts.

Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans

Forrest Griffin vs Rashad Evans is a matchup of Ultimate Fighter alums.  Forrest Griffin is the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion after beating Quinton Jackson at UFC 86.  Rashad Evans is coming a stunning knockout of Chuck Liddell at UFC 88.  This bout is for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Title.

I was shocked by Rashad Evans knockout of Chuck Liddel as I'm sure most of the MMA world was.  Rashad has shown us that he is a different fighter than the lay and pray wrestler we saw during his time with the Ultimate Fighter show.  Forrests' change has been just as dramatic seeming to always outwork his opponents and being as technical a striker as the UFC has to offer.

I am anxious to see what kind of gameplan Greg Jackson will put together for Rashad Evans.  Regardless, we should not be to surprised to see nipple twisting from Rashad before the bout begins.  I don't think he can outwork Forrest Griffin, so look for Rashad to try to knockout him out.

I predict that Forrest will be able to successfully defend his title for the first time.  I'm looking forward to his next title defense which, if the MMA gods are listening to me, will be against Wanderlei Silva.

Diego Sanchez most recently defeated Luigi Fioravanti at the Ultimate Fighter 7 finale via strikes.  Sanchez caught Fioravanti with a head kick in the third round.

Joe Stevenson is coming off a loss to Kenny Florian via rear naked choke at UFC 91: Couture Vs. Lesnar.  Stevenson owns a black belt in brazilian jujitsu.

UFC 95 is scheduled to take place at the O2 Arena in London February 21st.  This UFC Event does not currently have a headliner.

Tito Ortiz

The "big announcement" at Affliction's press conference concerning Tito Ortiz was held today.  Although most assumed Ortiz would be siging a fight deal with Affliction, instead Ortiz will be siging on as a color commentator for the January 24th fight card, Affliction: Day of Reckoning.

Tito Ortiz is coming off back surgery and is expected to need about six more months to heal properly.  Ortiz is not ruling out a potential fight with Affliction.  Affliction plans on holding four events in 2009.

The headliner of Affliction: Day of Reckoning is a highly anticipated bout between Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski vs. Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko.  Both are coming off victories from their last bouts, Arlovski defeating Ben Rothwell, and Emelianenko defeating Tim Sylvia.

Juanito Ibarra and Rampage Jackson

Juanito Ibarra has denied rumors that he offered Wanderlei Silva "help" at defeating Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at the upcoming UFC event UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008.  According to Ibarra, he has not contacted, not has he approved a representative to contact Wanderlei Silva about possibly training Wanderlei.  Ibarra is quoted as saying:

I can't believe the stuff that gets printed in these magazines and websites.  This is exactly why I don’t read them. 

I never once contacted Wanderlei or his manager. I know them, sure. I really like Wanderlei. He's a great fighter and an extremely respectful person. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about him, his manager or his trainer, but if he received any kind of letter from someone claiming to be affiliated with me, then I honestly don't know anything about it and I didn't approve it.

It seemed like a sketchy story since Wanderlei has already handed Quinton two previous losses in Japan, however, both fighters are in very different places in their careers and the UFC has different rules than PrideFC.

Quinton Jackson and Juanito Ibarra split ways after Rampage lost his Light Heavyweight title to Forrest Griffin via decision at UFC 86.