UFC 104: Machida Defeated Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua

LOS ANGELES -- Lyoto Machida defeated Mauricio Shogun Rua by unanimous decision after five hard-fought, technical rounds to retain the light heavyweight championship at UFC 104 Machida vs. Shogun on Saturday at the Staples Center.

The decision was widely booed in the arena, with many patrons obviously swayed by Ruas performance in the Octagon.

My corner told me that I was winning all the rounds, Rua said. I feel like I won this fight, but a fight is a fight. What can I do?

He punished the legs and body of Machida -- who, before this fight, had never lost a round in any of his seven UFC appearances -- and closed the distance to negate a majority of his attacks. Shogun seemed to take over in the final two rounds, as Machida visibly slowed. The toll of the unrelenting body attack with which Rua had persisted paid dividends late and had the champion uncharacteristically out of synch.

By focusing on Machidas body, Shogun targeted the biggest area of one of the more elusive fighters the sport has seen. Despite the loss, he easily eclipsed any of Machidas previous opponents performances and may have put a crack in the façade of invincibility that surrounded the titleholder.

The early rounds were all close, and Machida did his share of damage, clipping Rua with slick combinations and kicks while fighting mostly a counter-punching style.

Round four seemed to be the turning point of the bout, however, as Rua steadily found the mark with more and more punches, as well as the thudding body shots with which he had already been scoring. The final round was all Rua. Machida, bleeding from his mouth and struggling to keep his hands up, was forced into a defensive posture while Shogun attacked throughout the frame.

When the final bell sounded, Rua threw his hands into the air and celebrated with his team; Machida half-heartedly answered, raising his hands in victory, as well.

In a telling sign, as he waited for the scorecards to be announced, Machida stood with his head down, looking solemn and preparing for bad news. It never came. All three judges scored the bout 48-47 for Machida, giving him his eighth consecutive victory in the UFC.

The battered champion admitted it was his stiffest test to date inside the hallowed Octagon and welcomed the idea of a rematch.

Whenever he wants, Machida said. No problem.

Category:

Comedy

Tags:

• UFC
• 104
• Machida
• wins
• Defeats
• Mauricio
• Shogun
• Rua
• on
• points

[c5terror]

Lyoto landed 42 strikes out of 116. Shogun had 55% accuracy Lyoto had 36% accuracy Shogun landed 17 shots to the head (12 power shots). Lyoto landed 14 shots to the head (8 power shots). Lyoto landed 24 shots to the body Shogun landed 16 shots to the body Shogun landed 49 leg kicks. Lyoto landed 4 leg kicks. Shogun landed 48 strikes from distance. Lyoto landed 26 strikes from distance. Shogun landed 34 strikes from the clinch. Lyoto landed 16 strikes from the clinch

[matrixlone]

they didnt count shoguns leg kicks thats what one judge said but lyoto was countering good with his knee

[rafaantena]

shogun vendeu de boi pro jon aquele putinho

[confyhx]

@Exgangmember the rematch shogun KNOCKS OUT MACHIDA IN 1ST ROUND machida in 5 round dont even rocked Shogun , Machida = Crap + Shogun Ko him = Double Crap hahahaha

[everio17]

@Exgangmember personally I wouldnt score leg kicks and i wouldnt count it as much as beating a fighter. To me its a pretty cheap way to win a fight. In muay thai,if a kick isnt thrown to put down or finish the fight it counts for nothing.

[Exgangmember]

@confyhx machida will probley beat shogun just like he did the first fight and just like he was in the rematch untill he got caught by making a mistake for the first time.... you live and learn, i still think machidas better then shogun, machidas style just has problems with shoguns agressiveness and muy thai. Wait untill machida fixes his game up since he didnt get time to train in the rematch.

[Exgangmember]

@KidFonz1 ya the crowd always votes and cheers for the more enteraining guy... machida really won and the judges new it thats why they made him the winner.

[Exgangmember]

@matrixlone they did count the leg kicks, but it just wasnt enough to outscore machidas crazy knees to shoguns stomic, all machidas counters to shoguns face, all the takedowns machida defended, the body shots to shoguns stomic, combos machida landed, way more then what shogun did....all shogun did was leg kicks the whole entire fight, and fail all his takedowns giving even more points to machida for defending them. It was still close becuase shoguns leg kicks were nice, but machida won.

[KidFonz1]

@confyhx ok

[confyhx]

@KidFonz1 na he is SH1T ACEPT IT HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA EAT THAT

[KidFonz1]

@confyhx so is everyone in a way. the goal is to hit them without them hitting you. playing it safe isnt a bad thing, its just not entertaining

[confyhx]

@KidFonz1 i think he is afraid to be hurted hehehe