ATLANTA -- An electric crowd at Philips Arena in Atlanta greeted “Sugar” Rashad Evans and Chuck “The Ice Man” Liddell for UFC 88’s main event.

Evans was hoping to remain undefeated and post the biggest win of his career over a UFC legend. On the other hand, Liddell was hoping for a victory to set up a fight against Forrest Griffin for the light-heavyweight title Liddell used to own.

Bruce Buffer sent the crowd into a frenzy with a passionate introduction and moments later, it was on. After both fighters measured each other up for the first 30 seconds, Liddell landed a decent right. At the 3:15 mark, Liddell landed a big right hand, but Evans brushed it off and scored a leg kick moments later.

Liddell barely missed a wild kick aimed at Evans’ head as the bell ending the first round sounded. VegasInsider.com scored the first round 10-9 to Liddell even though a left hand by Evans late in the round caused a small cut under Liddell’s right eye.

The action picked up in the second round with Liddell stalking Evans around the octagon. The two fighters had several brief exchanges with both men landing punches.

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Then at the 1:51 mark of the second round when it seemed Liddell was poised to take control, Evans landed a thunderous overhand right that landed on the button, sending The Ice Man to the canvas.

And just like that, it was over. The Ice Man was knocked out cold. He didn’t move for a good 30-45 seconds. He didn’t get up to sit on a stool for at least 2-3 minutes. Finally, he was able to leave the octagon on his own power.

Gamblers backing Evans cashed generous tickets in the plus 200 range (risk $100 to win $200). After the fight, UFC President Dana White made it clear that Evans would get an immediate shot at the light-heavyweight title currently held by Forrest Griffin.

"I'm very happy right now," Evans said afterwards. "Chuck is a great competitor."

Liddell wouldn't discuss the possibility of retirement afterward. "I'm fine," Liddell said. "A guy caught me. What you want me to say?"

Rich Franklin moved up to 205 pounds to take on Matt Hamill, who is deaf and on the rise. Franklin and Hamill are friends outside of the octagon and used to train together in the Cincinnati area.

There was little action in the early stages of the first round. The feeling-out process brought about several missed kicks by Franklin, while Hamill looked poised and composed for the biggest fight of his career. With 1:34 left in the first round, an intense exchange resulted in Hamill opening a cut above Franklin’s right eye.

In the final minute, both fighters landed big punches that left Hamill bleeding as well. However, Franklin’s cut was clearly worse. In fact, the referee stopped the fight early in the second round for the doctors to examine the cut. They decided Franklin could continue.

With 3:00 left in the second round, there was another stoppage after a Franklin kick landed squarely to Hamill’s groin. After about 30 seconds to recover, they were back in action with Franklin landing a number of leg kicks.

Thirty-nine seconds into the third round, Franklin landed a vicious kick to Hamill’s ribs, sending him to the canvas. As Franklin jumped on Hamill and landed a few shots, the referee quickly stepped in and called the fight to give Franklin a third-round knockout.

When asked about the cut he dealt with the entire fight, Franklin said, “I came out of the round smiling. It doesn’t look too bad. I always have a black eye anyway.

“Hats off to Matt. He stood there and traded strikes with me.”

Dan Henderson dominated the first round of his matchup against Rousimar Palhares, eventually winning a unanimous decision. Henderson caught Palhares with several solid punches that sent the Brazilian to the mat in the first round.

However, the second round was fiercely contested and Palhares seemed to have Henderson in trouble with a leg lock before Henderson craftily escaped.

“I wasn’t nervous about the submission attempt,” said Henderson. “But I knew I didn’t want to be there.”

In the third round, it was all Henderson as he landed a number of powerful shots in the final minute.

“This opponent was as tough as anybody I faced,” Henderson added. “I wanted to try to keep it on my feet. Normally I’m more aggressive, but he’s damn dangerous.”

Brian Edwards can be reached at briane@vegasinsider.com.