FANS UNHAPPY AS MACHIDA HANDED DECISION
The legacy that was supposed to begin on Saturday night for UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida was tarnished somewhat, as the crowd in attendance thought he lost the fight against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, but the judges saw it differently handing him a five-round unanimous decision win.
If anyone questioned whether Shogun actually belonged in the same cage as Machida, the answer came swiftly in the first round as the former Pride Grand Prix champion came after the current 205-pound king early and often in their UFC 104 main event battle.
Shogun used controlled aggression to stalk Machida in both rounds one and two, landing good leg and body kicks and never let the champion get his timing down to a science. Machida’s mid-section showed the ill effects of the body shots with a severe red streak across his ribs.
The third round was running pretty even throughout with Shogun hitting the body kicks repeatedly, and grabbing a Muay Thai clinch at one point, almost planting a knee on Machida’s chin. Towards the tail end of the five-minute session, Machida plowed forward with a flurry of punches and got a great combination off, but Shogun countered beautifully with a big right that slowed the champion down again.
As the fight moved on, Shogun continued to use what could have been the fight defining move as he pounded away at Machida’s legs, and then following up with body shots. Machida tried to counter, but Shogun was elusive and accurate when aiming at his opponent.
The final round saw little desperation out of the champion as Machida continued to struggle and find his range, while Shogun peppered his legs with shot after shot. As the fighters tagged each other moving towards the cage, Shogun again landed the better shot as he popped Machida with a good left hand with the champion backing up.
It seemed clear-cut when the fight ended with Shogun hoisted in the air by his teammates, and Machida looking tired in his corner putting on his t-shirt. But when the judges’ scorecards were read, all three came down with a score of 48-47 and in shocking fashion as Machida was declared the winner.
“It was my most difficult fight I’ve had in the UFC,” Machida said after getting the nod from the judges. “All three (judges) basically gave me a unanimous decision, so that’s how the judges saw it.”
With the crowd in Los Angeles booing in extreme disapproval with the decision, Machida stepped up when asked if he’d be open to a rematch with Shogun down the road.
“Whenever he wants, I’ll try again,” said the champion.
While most would disagree that he lost the fight, Shogun still showed class and sportsmanship when addressing the decision loss.
“I trained hard for this fight for four months, my partner told me I was winning all the rounds, I feel like I won this fight, but a fight is a fight, what can I do,” Shogun commented after the end of the bout.
For Machida, the fight may go down as a victory, but he also knows he was in a battle for maybe the first time in his career, and Shogun likely feels he won the fight. Now the decision for a rematch lies in the hands of UFC president Dana White.
