Machida defeats Evans in championship bout

Lyoto Machida’s fights may lack continual action, but as he proved in a powerful display of punches that made him the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light-heavyweight champion Saturday night, a sudden flurry is his trademark.

Machida (15-0) unleashed a barrage of second-round blows set up by a devastating left-handed punch that backed up Rashad Evans in his first title defense. The Brazilian challenger further hurt Evans with a powerful right, then a crushing left that caused Evans to crash to the mat. Evans’ head circled on the way to mat impact and he was left prone with his head turned to the right side of his body, eyes closed.

Machida, 30, nicknamed “The Dragon,” said he plans “to keep the belt for a long time” after a procession of recent champions, including Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Forrest Griffin and now Evans, have combined for only one successful title defense.

Waiting for “The Dragon” to strike requires patience.

The first round had no punch or kick land for nearly the first two minutes, when Machida delivered a left kick to Evans’ head. Another left kick to the body roused Evans to deliver his own first scoring blow more than three minutes into the round, a right kick.

In the final minute, Machida decked Evans with a left kick-left hand combination. He couldn’t finish the job then.

In the second, however, Machida clearly hurt Evans with the first hard left and unloaded a nonstop round of punches as Evans backed toward the cage and sustained the final shots, his neck craning gruesomely to reveal his temporary loss of motor skills.

Earlier, in a bout both former UFC welterweight champions Matt Hughes and Matt Serra have longed for, Hughes (44-7) ground out a wrestling-dominated unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three scorecards.

And New Jersey’s Frank Edgar outboxed former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk, and nearly applied a deciding guillotine choke at the final bell, winning a unanimous decision and improving to 10-1.

Edgar appears to be next in line for a shot at the lightweight title, which will be contested this summer between champion B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian.

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lance.pugmire@latimes.com