UFC 88: "Breakthrough"

Date: September 6, 2008
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Venue: Philips Arena
Broadcast: Pay-Per-View (10pm ET)

Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares, Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill and Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida will all be entering the Octagon at UFC 88 in Atlanta, GA on September 6.

The card is headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans with the winner likely being very close to a title shot.

In his first fight since a stunning victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79, UFC legend Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell is back to face undefeated light heavyweight contender "Sugar" Rashad Evans.

Will Evans plow through Liddell to jump to the top of the 205-lb. rankings? Or will Liddell successfully continue his crusade to regain the UFC Light Heavyweight Title?

Dan Henderson is back, coming off a loss to Anderson Silva in March, will be stepping back into the cage against one of the UFC’s most highly touted international talents, Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares.

Henderson will be looking for his first victory inside the UFC since coming over after the collapse PRIDE. Toquinho recently steamrolled Ivan Salaverry in his UFC debut with a very slick armbar.

Former middleweight champion Rich Franklin will return to the 205-pound weight class for the first time in more than three years when he tackles Matt Hamill in one of the featured bouts at UFC 88: Breakthrough on Sept. 6 at Philips Arena in Atlanta.

Karo Parisyan will be looking to prove to the world that he’s still top shelf in the UFC’s most talented division when he takes on one of the best Japanese stars that the UFC has signed in recent months, Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Parisyan is coming off a knockout loss to Thiago Alves at UFC Fight Night 13, a fight that would have catapulted him into title contention should he have won. Yoshida recently made his UFC debut, throttling Jon Koppenhaver at UFC 84 in the opening moments of round one.

Martin Kampmann will take on Nate Marquardt at UFC 88: Breakthrough on September 6 in a battle for what could be a shot at Anderson Silva for his UFC middleweight title.

Kampmann (16-2) has been victorious in his last nine bouts, with four of them in the UFC, where he has submitted Crafton Wallace, Drew McFederies and Jorge Rivera.

Marquardt (26-82) is coming off a split decision loss to Thales Leites in a bout Marquardt should have won if it weren't for point deductions due to illegal strikes.

This is a fantastic match-up and guaranteed barn burner. It's also about as close to a do or die match for either man as any match can be, but particularly for Tavares. He cannot drop three out of his last four to established UFC veterans if he expects to build any momentum in this organization.

Evans KOs Liddell at UFC 88

Rashad Evans shot himself straight to the top of the long list of challengers in the UFC's light heavyweight division with a devastating knockout win over the sport of MMA's top name and former champion, Chuck Liddell, Saturday night.

After a close opening round of their UFC 88 main event in Atlanta, Georgia Liddell appeared restless and eager to close in on Evans with strikes.

But it was Evans, a former Michigan State wrestler, that made an impact with his fists in the second round as he connected with an overhand right flush to the jaw of Liddell, knocking him unconscious immediately. Evans threw a jab fake at Liddell before unleashing his right hand just as Liddell himself loaded up on an uppercut that landed a millisecond too late to the arm pit of Evans.

Evans' punch landed clean, however, as Liddell kept his left hand characteristically low and let the blow through unfettered. With the win, Evans stays undefeated at 17-0-1, and Liddell loses for the third time in his last four outings, dipping to 21-6 overall.

The win caps a three-year period for Evans since his UFC debut without a single loss and earns him top positioning to challenge 205-pound champion Forrest Griffin. But Evans says that even if he doesn't get his just rewards immediately, he'll remain patient.

"Hopefully (the win) puts me right up there, but I'm a patient man ... whatever it takes and however long it takes," he said.

In other action, Dan Henderson (23-7) won a unanimous decision over Rousimar Palhares (17-2), Nate Marquardt (30-8-2) TKO'd Martin Kampmann (13-2) in the first round, welterweight Dong Hyun Kim (11-0-1) won a split decision over Matt Brown (10-7) and lightweight Kurt Pellegrino (18-4) won a unanimous decision over Thiago Tavares (17-3). Rounding out the card, Tim Boetsch (8-2) won by TKO over Michael Patt (15-3) in the first round, Jason MacDonald (22-10) submitted Jason Lambert (23-9) in the second and Ryo Chonan (15-8) won a split decision over Roan Carneiro (12-8).

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