Saturday, September 6, 2008

Atlanta's first Ultimate Fighting Championship event features a headlining bout between one of the sport's most popular fighters, Chuck Liddell, and an undefeated opponent, Rashad Evans, who is 10 years younger and eyeing a shot at the light heavyweight title.

Liddell, 38, made his professional debut at UFC 17 in 1998 and is a five-time champion in the light heavyweight (205-pound) division. Sixteen months ago, however, he lost the title via a first-round TKO by Quinton Jackson. He followed that with another disappointing loss to Keith Jardine last September.

Jackson, in turn, lost the light heavyweight title two months ago in a shocking unanimous decision to Forrest Griffin. The winner of the bout between Liddell (21-5) and the 28-year-old Evans (16-0-1) likely will get a title shot against Griffin.

Liddell's last fight was a unanimous decision over Wanderlei Silva in December, but a scheduled June bout with Evans had to be shelved when Liddell suffered a hamstring injury. His fight tonight, in UFC 88, will end a layoff of nearly nine months, the second longest of his career.

"I'm just happy to be fighting again," said Liddell, who at 6 feet 2 is three inches taller than Evans. "I'm healthy and ready to fight again. I'm happy to be in Atlanta. The fans always get a little more excited the first time you're fighting somewhere."

Evans, too, has had a long layoff, last fighting in November because of injuries to opponents.

"I really don't think about being undefeated," Evans said. "I'm just going to go out there, let my hands fly and see what happens."

-- Dave Yanovitz