FanHouse UFC 98

Matt Hughes has signed a new multi-fight deal with the UFC, officially ending rumors and speculation that the former UFC welterweight champ had fought his last fight at UFC 98 in May.

"Last week I went out to Vegas and I signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC, which is much like my last contract," Hughes wrote Thursday on his blog. "I also brought up the fact that I wanted to do a hunting show and they thought that would be a good thing."

Hughes (43-7) was victorious in his last fight against Matt Serra, but had entered UFC 98 with three losses out of his previous four fights.

Following his impressive win over Xavier Foupa-Pokam at UFC 98, Drew McFedries was quick to thank Matt Hughes and the rest of the H.I.T Squad for helping him get prepared in the days leading up to the fight. He also added that he "didn't get a lot of support from actually my own team at MFS [Miletich Fighting Systems], which is sad. I mean, that's my hometown."

FanHouse recently spoke to the founder of MFS, Pat Miletich, about why McFedries said that to the media at the post-fight press conference.

Ariel Helwani and I are back for another edition of our weekly MMA Podcast, and this week we're as busy as ever, discussing the future of Lyoto Machida and Matt Hughes after their big wins at UFC 98, plus the future of Dream after the surprising loss of Kid Yamamoto and the unsurprising loss of Jose Canseco at Dream 9. Listen below to the best hour of MMA talk you'll hear all day.

After a weekend in mixed martial arts that saw big lightweight fights in both the UFC and Dream, it's time to revise our list of the Top 10 lightweights in MMA. Frank Edgar is new on our list after his impressive UFC 98 win over Sean Sherk, while Gesias "JZ Calvan" Cavalcante has dropped off the list after a disappointing loss to Tatsuya Kawajiri at Dream 9. The full Top 10 is below.

How big a surprise was Frank Edgar's victory over Sean Sherk at UFC 98? So big that UFC President Dana White thought it was impossible.

It hasn't been a good 2009 for Yves Lavigne, and it got worse on Saturday night at UFC 98. Lavigne, one of the best-known referees in mixed martial arts, was loudly booed at the MGM Grand Saturday night because he brought the undercard bout between Phillipe Nover and Kyle Bradley to what many in attendance thought was a premature ending.

If you want to know the difference between good Brazilian jiu jitsu and great Brazilian jiu jitsu, watch Chael Sonnen's last two fights. On Saturday night at UFC 98, Sonnen beat someone with good BJJ, Dan Miller. Three months ago at UFC 95, Sonnen lost to someone with world-class BJJ, Demian Maia.

Both of those two fights went to the ground quickly. But against Miller, Sonnen was able to escape from an early guillotine attempt and then use his superior wrestling ability to overpower Miller throughout the fight. Against Maia, Sonnen also went to the ground quickly, but Maia put him into a triangle choke from which he couldn't escape.

First thing's first. Matt Serra was not robbed at UFC 98. Neither though, did he lose. After two years of back and forth, after injuries delayed their original fight, and after 15 minutes in the octagon, the two Matts were fit to be tied, and their match should have been ruled a draw.

The judges, however, saw things differently. After three rounds, they gave Matt Hughes a 29-28 across-the-board win. They no doubt gave Serra the first round, and Hughes the final two.

The fight was close enough that neither fighter was quite sure whose name ring announcer Bruce Buffer would call.

The light heavyweight division is the most talented weight class in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but after watching Lyoto Machida dominate Rashad Evans for the title Saturday night at UFC 98, I'm having a very hard time seeing how anyone is going to beat him any time soon.

That might sound like a crazy thing to say, because upsets happen all the time in mixed martial arts, and the light heavyweight title has changed hands four times in the last two years. But the fundamental way to win a fight is to hurt your opponent without getting hurt yourself, and there's no one better at that than Machida.

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