Serra (9-6) has fought just twice since his shocking upset of welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre in April 2007, dropping back-to-back bouts to St-Pierre in April 2008 and Hughes in May 2009.

Trigg (19-7) returned to the Octagon last month after winning four-straight and 7 of 9 since leaving the UFC in 2005, but suffered a first-round knockout at the hands of Josh Koscheck.

UFC 109 is expected to be headlined by middleweight champ Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort and will also feature Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman.

For the latest UFC 109 news and UFC 109 rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Matt Serra

The pay-per-view event is likely to take place in Las Vegas and is also expected to feature Matt Hughes.

Serra (9-6) has fought just twice since his shocking upset of welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre in April 2007, dropping back-to-back bouts to St-Pierre in April 2008 and Hughes in May.

Trigg (19-7) returned to the Octagon last month after winning four-straight and 7 of 9 since leaving the UFC in 2005, but suffered a first-round knockout at the hands of Josh Koscheck.

For the latest UFC 109 news and UFC 109 rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Matt Serra

Main event loser Rashad Evans, who suffered a second-round knockout to Lyoto Machida, is suspended until July 23rd for precautionary reasons.

The longest suspensions were issued to winners Drew McFedries and Kyle Bradley as well as loser Pat Berry, who must be x-rayed and cleared by doctors or be suspended until December 10.

Receiving medical suspensions were:

• Rashad Evans (defeated by Lyoto Machida via R2 KO) — Suspended until July 23 with no contact until July 8 for precautionary reasons.
• Drew McFedries (defeated Xavier Foupa-Pokam via R1 KO) — Right wrist must be X-rayed and cleared by a doctor or suspended until December 10.
• Xavier Foupa-Pokam (defeated by Drew McFedries via R1 KO)  — Suspended until July 8 with no contact until June 23 for precautionary reasons.
• Sean Sherk (defeated by Frankie Edgar via unanimous decision) — Suspended until July 8 with no contact until June 23 for precautionary reasons.
• Pat Barry (defeated by Tim Hague via R1 guillotine submission) — Right foot must be X-rayed and cleared by a doctor or suspended until December 10. Minimum suspension until June 23 with no contact until June 14.
• Phillipe Nover (defeated by Kyle Bradley via R1 TKO) — Suspended until June 23 with no contact until June 14 for precautionary reasons.
• Kyle Bradley (defeated Phillipe Nover via R1 TKO) — Right hand must be X-rayed and cleared by a doctor or suspended until December 10.
• Andre Gusmao (defeated by Krzysztof Soszynski via R1 TKO) — Suspended until July 23 with no contact until July 8 for precautionary reasons.
• Dave Kaplan (defeated by George Roop via split decision) — Suspended until June 23 with no contact until June 14 for a nose laceration.

[Pictured: Drew McFedries punches Xavier Foupa-Pokam at UFC 98]

Evans, the former UFC light heavyweight champion who was defeated via second-round knockout by Machida, earned $200,000 for the bout. Machida received $140,000 for his main event victory.

Rivals Matt Hughes and Matt Serra took home $200,000 and $75,000 respectively for their matchup, which Hughes won by unanimous decision.

The official salaries for UFC 98, as reported to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, were:

• Lyoto Machida ($140,000 – includes $70,000 win bonus) def. Rashad Evans ($200,000)
• Matt Hughes ($200,000 – $100,000 win bonus) def. Matt Serra ($75,000)
• Drew McFedries ($34,000 – $17,000 win bonus) def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam ($6,000)
• Chael Sonnen ($50,000 – $25,000 win bonus) def. Dan Miller ($15,000)
• Frankie Edgar ($40,000 – $20,000 win bonus) def. Sean Sherk ($40,000)
• Brock Larson ($42,000 – $21,000 win bonus) def. Mike Pyle ($15,000)
• Tim Hague ($10,000 – $5,000 win bonus) def. Pat Barry ($7,000)
• Kyle Bradley ($8,000 – $4,000 win bonus) def. Phillipe Nover ($10,000)
• Krzysztof Soszynski ($16,000 – $8,000 win bonus) def. Andre Gusmao ($5,000)
• Yoshiyuki Yoshida ($16,000 – $8,000 win bonus) def. Brandon Wolff ($3,000)
• George Roop ($16,000 – $8,000 win bonus) def. David Kaplan ($8,000)

In addition to the above salaries, Machida, Hughes, Serra, and Larson each took home $60,000 fight night bonuses.

[Pictured: Rashad Evans knocked out by Lyoto Machida at UFC 98]

Hughes and Serra received “Fight of the Night” honors for their technical matchup that saw Hughes use superior control and position to edge Serra on the scorecards.

Machida earned “Knockout of the Night” for his second-round flurry of punches that collapsed former light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans to the canvas.

“Submission of the Night” went to Larson, who submitted late-replacement Mike Pyle with an arm-triangle choke midway through the opening round of their preliminary contest.

Click here for MMAFrenzy.com’s UFC 98 recap and official UFC 98 results.

[Pictured: Matt Hughes]

Evans offered little offense in the bout, while Machida controlled the fight throughout, using his famous (or perhaps infamous) unorthodox style to score a knockdown late in the first round before eventually connecting with a barrage of punches midway through the second that first staggered Evans before ultimately collapsing him cold to the canvas.

Evans falls to 18-1-1 with the first loss of his career, while Machida remains undefeated, upping his perfect record to 15-0.

In the UFC 98 co-main event Matt Hughes picked up a controversial unanimous decision victory over Matt Serra in the highly-anticipated bout between the welterweight rivals.

Hughes survived an early onslaught by Serra in the opening frame to take both the second and third rounds en route to the decision victory. Despite the judge’s views on the bout, most spectators scored the third frame in favor of Serra following a surprising takedown and outburst of offense in the closing minute. Even Hughes was apparently swayed in favor of Serra, raising his opponent’s arm following the conclusion of the contest. However, when the only scores that matter were handed down the judges awarded the close, albeit controversial decision to Hughes with 29-28 scores across the board.

The future hall of famer Hughes improves to 43-7 on his career after bouncing back from back-to-back defeats, while Serra goes to 9-6 following two-straight losses.

Drew McFedries rebounded from back-to-back losses with a 37-second knockout of Xaview Foupa-Pokam that could send “Professor X” packing from the UFC, while Chael Connen topped Dan Miller and Frankie Edgar scored a unanimous decision over Sean Sherk in other main card bouts.

Brock Larson, Tim Hague, Kyle Bradley, Krzysztof Soszynski, Yoshiyuki Yoshida, and George Roop were victorious on the evening’s preliminary card.

The official results for UFC 98 were:

• Lyoto Machida def. Rashad Evans (c) via KO (punches) — Round 2, 3:57
  UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
• Matt Hughes def. Matt Serra via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Drew McFedries def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 0:37
• Chael Sonnen def. Dan Miller via unanimous decision(30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Frankie Edgar def. Sean Sherk via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Brock Larson def. Mike Pyle via submission (arm-triangle choke) — Round 1, 3:06
• Tim Hague def. Pat Barry via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, 1:43
• Kyle Bradley def. Phillipe Nover via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 1:03
• Krzysztof Soszynski def. Andre Gusmao via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 3:17
• Yoshiyuki Yoshida def. Brandon Wolff via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, 2:24
• George Roop def. Dave Kaplan via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 30-27)

The official weigh-in results were:

• Lyoto Machida (204) vs. Rashad Evans (c) (205)
  UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
• Matt Serra (171) vs. Matt Hughes (170)
• Drew McFedries (185) vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam (186)
• Dan Miller (185) vs. Chael Sonnen (186)
• Frank Edgar (155) vs. Sean Sherk (156)
• Mike Pyle (172*) vs. Brock Larson (171)
• Tim Hague (263) vs. Pat Barry (237)
• Kyle Bradley (156) vs. Phillipe Nover (156)
• Andre Gusmao (206) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (206)
• Brandon Wolff (170) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (171)
• George Roop (154) vs. Dave Kaplan (156)

*Due to the late notice replacement of Chris Wilson by Pyle, Pyle was allowed an extra pound at the weigh-in.

[Pictured: Rashad Evans (left) and Lyoto Machida]

Sean Sherk

Lightweight opponents Sean Sherk and Frank Edgar and welterweight rivals Matt Serra and Matt Hughes have all tested clean in drug tests administered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission ahead of UFC 98, which takes place on May 23rd in Las Vegas.

NSAC executive director Keith Kizer today confirmed the results to MMAFrenzy.com via email.

The tests were part of the NSAC’s in-training drug testing, which tests fighters before an event, instead of only on event night, to reduce the possibility of fighters cycling off performance enhancing drugs and avoiding detection. Though any fighter can be tested under the policy, headliners and past offenders are most commonly required to undergo the tests.

In other UFC 98 news, MMAjunkie is reporting that Mario Yamasaki will referee the event’s headlining bout between light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans and challenger Lyoto Machida.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest UFC 98 news and stop back next weekend for complete UFC 98 coverage.