Shogun, You Are the People's Champ

by MMAEruption on Oct 25, 2009 2:24 AM EDT

(even the Google agrees!)

I normally don't complain much about close decisions. If a fight's close enough to go either way, odds are that I didn't remember every little thing that could have swayed the judges one way or the other. So why go crazy?

But tonight, there was zero doubt in my mind that Mauricio "Shogun" Rua beat Lyoto Machida. Shogun clearly won rounds 1, 4, and 5 by outstriking Machida. Round 2 was close and could have gone either way, and Shogun probably edged out Round 3.

Bottom line, Shogun won at least 3 rounds and the decision was crap. Machida's facial expressions said it all.

Shogun, you may not hold the light heavyweight belt, but tonight you proved that you are a true champion and a legend of the sport. After a loss to Forrest Griffin, two knee surgeries, and an underwhelming performance against Mark Coleman, just about everyone counted you out.

But you did the unthinkable tonight - you made the invincible Machida look not only human, but bad. And with that, you now have a bigger fan base than you ever did before. The judges may have made you a loser on the scorecards, but the fans know who the real champ is.

Dana, thank you for making an immediate rematch. (Dana seemed to make it clear that it will happen during the press conference)

And Shogun, you'll have the people on your side next time.

Poll

In your opinion, who won the Lyoto Machida/Shogun Rua fight?

Machida

42 votes

Too Close to Call

49 votes

Shogun

359 votes

450 votes | Poll has closed

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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Comments

not this people

Machida won IMO and deserves the belt

he was injured. injured bad.

by troy145 on Oct 25, 2009 2:53 AM EDT reply actions

BULLSHIT

I still can’t believe this decision, I don’t blame the UFC but the fucking judges, that fight was EASILY Rua’s, I really don’t wanna start thinking about UFC fights being rigged at all but man, I’m a lyoto fan kinda, but even though my fighter was the defending champ., he rightfully should have lost that belt and a rematch needs to happen ASAP and get something done about those judges.

by Takun on Oct 25, 2009 2:53 AM EDT reply actions

wasnt that bad of a robbery

it just wasnt. at all. :/

he was injured. injured bad.

by troy145 on Oct 25, 2009 2:54 AM EDT up reply actions

Maybe you’ve rewatched it already, but this wasn’t that bad a decision. I gave Lyoto 1 and 3, Shogun 4 and 5, and 2 was a toss-up, though I definitely thought Shogun had edged it out when the fight ended. I can’t wait for a rematch of this one, as Shogun proved himself at least equal to Lyoto, and thinking about the rest of the division, I’d say they have a long way to go to catch up. And all respect in the world to Shogun for fighting through the past couple years to get back to world beating form. Awesome performance. This could turn into an epic trilogy (at least) of fights.

by Kwisatz Haderach on Oct 25, 2009 5:25 AM EDT up reply actions

i think it was a horrible decision by the judges. Maybe the worst i’ve ever seen. SHOGUN won this fight and the world knows it. machida did some damage but SHOGUN did incredible damage to the body and legs of machida.

i gave 4 rounds to shogun and 1 draw and i was rooting for machida.

i pray for a rematch

by Raikoh101 on Oct 25, 2009 3:06 AM EDT reply actions

If that was the worst you’ve ever seen you haven’t watched much MMA.

Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.

by ufc4 on Oct 25, 2009 3:44 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions 2 recs

You mean the INCREDIBLE damage to Machida’s legs that left him able to lightly spar with Anderson Silva backstage afterward, as Anderson showed him some of his mistakes? Oh yeah, devastating, the guy may never walk again…

by Kwisatz Haderach on Oct 25, 2009 5:35 AM EDT up reply actions

EVERYONE at the bar I was at thought Shogun won – even all the Machida fans.

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by MMAEruption on Oct 25, 2009 3:10 AM EDT reply actions

For all you who truly believe Machida won

http://www.fightmetric.com/fights/Machida-Shogun.html

Just figured I’d let you suck on that for a while, but if you’re as stubborn as the judges I doubt that will phase you anyway…

by Hendo_One-Shot on Oct 25, 2009 4:03 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah, check out their stats for the Lyoto/Tito fight and try to count the multitude of punches and kicks they say Tito landed in that fight…

by Kwisatz Haderach on Oct 25, 2009 5:37 AM EDT up reply actions

Horrible decision.

Very disappointed and close to being incredulous.

by ScooterMagruder on Oct 25, 2009 4:36 AM EDT reply actions

close close fight
i’m a true machida fan and i initially thought he lost
but hey a rematch is in the making
so let’s hope it’s gonna be a better match

by CC11 on Oct 25, 2009 4:45 AM EDT reply actions

It doesn’t matter anyway. The Jan 2 show just got its main event

by rocket8188 on Oct 25, 2009 5:42 AM EDT reply actions

Everyone making a big deal about Shogun putting it on “cruise control” is getting a bit carried away. It wasn’t like he won the early rounds and came out and lost the late rounds, rounds 4 and 5 have to go to Shogun. Machida looked drained, didn’t throw much and seemed like he no longer wanted to be there. Even if Shogun came out looking to win on points and not finish the fight, he still won rounds 4 and 5 and I don’t think many people would argue that.

I thought Shogun won the fight if you look at the whole of the 5 rounds, but when you look at it round by round the first 3 rounds are all very close. I think Lyoto might have stole the third round with that “flurry” on the judge’s scorecards, but replay showed that the only punch landed there was Shogun’s counter. Really sucks for Shogun, he fought the perfect fight and lost.

by xDieseLx on Oct 25, 2009 10:06 AM EDT reply actions

machida’s gon be limping for a month like he got the stanky leg

by dagoldenmonkey on Oct 25, 2009 10:17 AM EDT reply actions

I definately thought shogun won, if the rounds were close, and they were call them a draw, but shogun clearly had 2 maybe 3 rounds. Shogun the people’s champ. Having watched it without sound I STILL think shogun had it, fightmetric agrees with me.

by Chrisapalooza on Oct 25, 2009 10:40 AM EDT reply actions

Oh yeah what have those people got to say about machidas “elusivness” after being tagged by a shogun all night? I would also refer the machida fans out there to the bloodynose, raw legs and bruised ribs, as compared to shoguns mildly red rib cage.
Octagon control – Shogun all 5 rounds
Effective Striking – Machida 3 and maybe 2
Takedown attempts – Shogun
attempts, lyoto stuffs, shouldnt the attempt mean more than the defense?
Submission attempts Nothing subststanial

by Chrisapalooza on Oct 25, 2009 11:05 AM EDT reply actions

I would file takedown attempts under octagon control.

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by MMAEruption on Oct 25, 2009 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions

then you would have to include striking as octagon control if you use that same logic.

by JaTinkles on Oct 25, 2009 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions

how about bear hugs?

by Grappo on Oct 25, 2009 7:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Why would the takedown attempt mean more than the defense???

The fighter attempting the takedown is trying to take the fight to the ground. The fighter stuffing is not allowing the fight to go to the ground and dictating where the fight takes place.

"Japan is half-Machida" - iiowyn

by Day Man on Oct 26, 2009 4:12 AM EDT up reply actions

so far 78% think shogun won? so how does that not make this decision a “robbery”?

I'm old school hating Lesnar, I've been hating Lesnar since '08

by MicahW on Oct 25, 2009 12:33 PM EDT reply actions

Truth be told

I think the problem is that the people who thought this was a mismatch are so shocked and mad that Rua punished Machida that all they have left is that we need to get Joe Rogan and Rua’s nuts out of our mouth, and to say that leg kicks aren’t how you beat the champ. I find it funny how the same people who praise Machida’s cautious style are now bashing Rua for having a great gameplan against machida. It’s no easy task to hit Machida in the head and Rua did exactly what he needed to do in order to slow Machida down so he can try to land more shots. However, when Rua does it , it’s terrible and underserving of a win?

the way I see it:

Damage- Goes to shogun, he damaged machida more on a round to round basis, and overall.

Octagon control- Shogun as well. there were several occasions where Shogun backed Machida away with powerful low kicks that threw him off balance, and he did by far the most work in the clinch, which he held for quite a while.

effective aggressiveness- All belongs to Shogun. If you rewatch the Machida flurry towards the end of one of the rounds, he lands maybe one clean punch as opposed to Shogun landing about 3. On top of that Machida didn’t score very well at all being aggressive, and Shogun landed many a low kick while in pursuit of Machida.

Clean strikes- This area I can understand why some people would give this to Machida, as he did land more clean Hand strikes. However, Shogun landed quite a few knees and kicks, and even a few really good punches on Machida.

Grappling- Bleh

by Hendo_One-Shot on Oct 25, 2009 1:53 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

*Sigh

I have to console myself, and compare this to Leonidas at the of 300, where he doesn’t kill Xerxes, but proves he isn’t a god.

We're just a million little gods causin' rain storms, turning every good thing to rust.

by Anthony Pace on Oct 25, 2009 2:16 PM EDT reply actions

Someone twittered Rogan

WELCOME TO THE MACHIDA ERROR. Quite fitting, I believe. Poor decision, but definitely not a robbery.

by slapjaw ackrite on Oct 25, 2009 2:26 PM EDT reply actions

I scored it 48-47 for Shogun. I thought you could give Machida rounds 1 and 3 but the rest were all Shogun. I have to give Shogun the second round because I think he clearly displayed more aggression and better octagon control, two things which seem to get overlooked in scoring a lot.

But if you are stupid, you will be beaten with a stick - Proverbs 10:13

by Ominous on Oct 25, 2009 5:07 PM EDT reply actions

SHOGUN THE TRUE UFC LIGHTHEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

shogun so won that fight i think he won 4 rounds. bullshit decion

by ganstagunner on Oct 25, 2009 9:04 PM EDT reply actions

Personally, I scored it 4 rounds if not 5 for Shogun. I thought one of the judges might screw up, and give Lyoto 3 rounds. When I heard it was a UD I thought, great they didn’t screw up. And then I heard Lyoto’s name.

I was shocked. I honestly don’t think I will watch mma for much longer if they don’t fix the scoring system, and find some competent judges. I don’t want to get excited for a fight when it can be so easily ruined.

I feel sorry for Shogun, and his family.

by MrJobro on Oct 26, 2009 12:05 AM EDT reply actions