Despite his loss to Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, Rashad “Suga” Evans still had something positive to say about his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 98 fight on Saturday night (Sunday in Manila).

“It was a good fight,” he said of his bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, as posted on Ufc.com.

“He was very difficult to solve, very fast and explosive,” Evans said of his opponent who knocked him out in the second round.

Evans yielded to Machida his undefeated record and UFC light heavyweight title.

Brazil’s Machida is now at 15-0, with his first Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) title under his belt. Evans, meantime, has 18 wins, one loss and one draw in his record.

Hughes over Serra

In the co-main event of UFC 98: Machida vs. Evans, Matt Hughes edged out Matt Serra via unanimous decision. The scores were 29-28 across the board for Hughes, who is now at 44-7.

“I didn’t know exactly what hit me, but he obviously hit me pretty good,” said Hughes.

Serra (16-6), meantime, praised his foe, saying “He’s got a good chin and he hung in there.”

“I really wanted this win though and I trained so hard for it. But I take my hat off to him,” Serra added.

Filipino assassin fails

Meanwhile, in one of the UFC 98 fights, Filipino-American Phillipe Nover suffered a TKO loss in the hands of American Kyle Bradley.

Bradley scored the TKO at 1:03 in the first round.

“The Filipino Assassin” also lost in 2008 by unanimous decision against Efrain Escudero in The Ultimate Fighter Finale: Team Nog vs. Team Mir.    

Nover, born in Brooklyn, New York, told Ufc.com that his favorite grappling technique is arm bar. His strengths are heavy hands, good clinch, and good at submissions.

The 25-year-old also said that the UFC is one of the top goals in his life. “I guess your dreams can come true when you work hard for them. Kung may sipag at tiyaga, may nilaga, (With hard work and patience come great rewards),” he shared with Ufc.com