Evans v. Rampage @ UFC 98 + 96 Run Down

Mir v. Lesnar is officially being pushed back to July due to Frank's knee injury rumored earlier this week, then confirmed late yesterday by Frank himself. Moments ago live at UFC 96 it was announced that the replacement headline bout for that card will be Rashad Evans v. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson if he wins tonight; if not, Evans will face Lyoto Machida at UFC 98.

Miller v. Maynard
Earlier in the evening Grey Maynard beat the living snot out of Jim Miller for three full rounds, winning a unanimous 30-27 victory on all three judges score cards. Although Miller's face ended up looking like cheap hamburger meat, he kept coming at Maynard the entire time and landed several good strikes of his own. I look forward to seeing both these guys take to the octagon again.

Hamill v. Munoz
Hamill looked like he was going to lunch with friends from the walk in through the end of the fight. Strolling around the octagon as comfortable as I am sitting here watching the fights in my sweat pants, Hamill's pressure was too much for Munoz. Hamill's striking was very impressive, but Munoz finally settled in and started landing his right. Then it happened. A head kick from Hamill brought Munoz down and had his head bouncing off his own knee late in the 1st. TKO victory for Hamill.

Brown v. Sell
Matt Brown is the man. "Ding". Head kick. Left, right combo. Sell smiles. Another kick followed by another combo right on the button. Bada bing, bada boom. Sell is on his ass and Yves Lavigne stops Brown from closing the show, then changes his mind and tells them to keep fighting? WTF?

Clearly Sell was confused, but that's because his brain was just scrambled by a few viscous strikes. Not sure what Eve Lavigne's excuse was. Brown beat Sell around the octagon for a few more and pretty much begged Lavigne to stop the fight, as Sell was clearly in another dimension and just going through the motions...wobbling around like a damn weeble. TKO vistory to Brown in the 1st. Twice.

Grove v. Day
Fortunately, this fight made it on the PPV thanks to Matt Brown's impressive performance. Kendall landed a straight right hand early in the 1st that had Jason horizontal and catching a fews z's in the middle of the octagon.

Carwin v. Gonzaga
Wow. Gonzaga landed some strikes early that looked like they were going to send Carwin in to next week. Carwin hung in and landed back, folding Gonzaga much the way he folded Mirco in his most recognized win. Carwin by impressive KO in the 1st. Watch out heavyweights. This guy can strike, but looks to have a pretty damn good chin too.

Rampage v. Jardine
In a fight that went all three rounds Rampage pulls out a tough fought unanimous decision over Jardine, knocking Jardine down a few times during the fight. Jardine landed some good shots, at least once hurting the former champ but not bringing him down. As usual Rampage added his colorful commentary after the fight, getting in the face of Rashad and saying "Rampage is getting his belt back." Rashad's response wasn't well received by Rampage or the crowd, as Rashad started the offensive trash talk and Quinton simply said "don't say that Rashad" and walked away.

One thing's for sure, the new main event for UFC 98 will be a must see for the any MMA junkie. While I'm definitely looking forward to Mir v. Lesnar, I'm just as interested in seeing Rampage get his shot at the belt.