FanHouse Ufc88

When I last listed the Top 25 pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts, I had Chuck Liddell ranked 14th and Rashad Evans not ranked at all. After UFC 88, in which Evans knocked Liddell out with a brutal right hand, it's a good time to update the list, which has few changes at the top but plenty in the middle.

UFC President Dana White's latest YouTube post shows his preparations in the hours leading up to Saturday night's UFC 88:

What's most interesting to me is what a micromanager White is -- no detail is too small for White to work on.

And I think that's a good thing: You can say a lot of things about Dana White, but you can't say he doesn't care about giving UFC fans a good show.

Rashad Evans knocked out Chuck Liddell with a brutal punch to pull off a stunning upset tonight at UFC 88 in Atlanta.

It was the best moment of Evans' young career, a powerful right-handed strike directly on the chin in the second round. That right hand firmly establishes the undefeated Evans as one of the up-and-coming stars of the UFC, and potentially a light heavyweight title contender.

On the other side of the coin, the loss was Liddell's third in his last four fights, and it raises the question of whether The Iceman -- long UFC's biggest star -- still has anything left. One of the most accomplished fighters in the history of the sport may be nearing retirement.

Liddell's professional MMA record falls to 21-6. Evans improves his record to 12-0-1.

Welcome to the FanHouse UFC 88 live blog, where we'll provide round-by-round and minute-by-minute updates of all of the fights on tonight's UFC 88 show:,

Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans

Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill

Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares

Nate Marquardt vs. Martin Kampmann

Matt Brown vs. Dong Hyun Kim

The pay-per-view show and our live blog have begun, after the jump.

We carried the UFC 88 weigh-in live just moments ago, and everyone made weight.

Here are the results:

Light heavyweights: Chuck Liddell 204, Rashad Evans 205
Light heavyweights: Rich Franklin 205, Matt Hamill 205
Middleweights: Dan Henderson 185, Rousimar Palhares 184.5
Middleweights: Nate Marquardt 185, Martin Kampmann 184.5
Lightweights: Thiago Tavares 155, Kurt Pellegrino 156
Light heavyweights: Tim Boetsch 205.25, Mike Patt 205.25
Welterweights: Matt Brown 170, Dong Hyun Kim 170
Middleweights: Jason Lambert 185, Jason MacDonald 185
Welterweights: Roan Carneiro 170, Ryo Chonan 170

Mike Patt looked like an out-of-shape 205.25, but everyone else looked ripped. And the fact that Liddell actually came in at a pound under the light heavyweight limit makes me think he's taking his training for this fight very seriously.

Will Chuck Liddell beat Rashad Evans and earn a light heavyweight title shot? Can Rich Franklin successfully make the move up to 205 pounds and beat Matt Hamill? Will Dan Henderson re-establish himself as a force in the middleweight division or will Rousimar Palhares show that he's a title contender? We discuss all of that in our UFC 88 preview live chat, today at 1 p.m. Eastern.

Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans were both college wrestlers, and yet as their fight at UFC 88 approaches, I get the feeling that it's going to be mostly a stand-up battle. Evans' best chance is following the Keith Jardine game plan and throwing plenty of leg kicks, while Liddell says himself that he plans to strike, rather than wrestle. From UFC.com:

"I know Rashad is a good wrestler," Liddell continued. "And I think he will try to strike with me. I think he'll take some shots (for takedowns) once he gets hit by me a few times though. I don't tend to take any shots, so he won't have to show his takedown defense with me. I am planning on striking. We'll see how he responds."

I think Evans will respond by getting knocked out. Although Evans has never lost, he's never fought a guy who can throw a punch like Liddell can, and Liddell will show that even at age 38, he can still strike with the best of them.

Karo Parisyan, who will fight Yoshiyuki Yoshida on the undercard at UFC 88, says his approach to the fight is more than just grinding out a victory:

"People ask me, 'Do you care more if you give a good show, or do you just want to win?' I just love to give a good show to the crowd," Parisyan said. "If we have no fans, we have no fighters, we have no shows, we have no sport. So I've always said I'd rather give it a good show than do a boring fight and win the fight."

I think Parisyan's fight with Yoshida is an interesting matchup because of the judo background of both fighters, and I think the winner becomes a clear Top 10 welterweight. I was at UFC 84 when Yoshida put Jon Koppenhaver to sleep with an anaconda choke, and I like Yoshida's approach, but I think Parisyan is going to win the fight Saturday night.

The hype surrounding UFC 88 is focusing almost entirely on the return to the Octagon of Chuck Liddell, who suffered a hamstring injury in training and as a result hasn't fought yet in 2008. But while Liddell's fight against Rashad Evans is the main event, the whole card is solid.

Here are the details:

What: UFC 88: Breakthrough

Who: In addition to the main event, the televised fights are Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill, Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares and Nate Marquardt vs. Martin Kampmann.

When: Saturday, 10 p.m. ET

Where: Philips Arena, Atlanta

How: Pay-per-view, $44.95 ($54.95 in HD), or just follow along with my FanHouse live blog.

Predictions after the jump.

Chuck Liddell will finally get back into the Octagon for the first time in 2008 at UFC 88 on September 6, and he's already thinking about who he might fight next.

Liddell tells The Sun that he wants a third shot at the man who's beaten him twice, Rampage Jackson:

"I want to fight Rampage real badly. I actually think I match up very well against him, but I've managed to lose to him twice now.

"But the third fight will not have anything to do with the first two, it will be a fresh start. Rampage is the one fight I really want, as much as I want my title back.

"He's lost the belt now, so I can't beat him and win the title back in one fight, but I want to fight him just as bad as when he was champion."