Prior to Saturday’s UFC 104, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida had been on a tear in his last three fights. He easily won by unanimous decision over Tito Ortiz in May last year at UFC 84 and thereafter knocked out then undefeated fighters Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans at UFC 94 and UFC 98 respectively.
In contrast, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s last three fights were far from impressive. In his first fight ever in the UFC he got submitted by Forrest Griffin via rear naked choke, and then he gassed out and barely won against an old and shot Mark Coleman. Sure, he knocked out Chuck Liddell early this year, but we have to be realistic and see that it was not the same Liddell of old. Coming into the fight, Liddell had lost three of his last four fights by knockout.
Having said that, I have to admit that I heavily favored Machida to win against Rua. I expected the cool and calculated Machida to start slow and figure out Rua’s game, and then eventually pick his spots, shift into high gear, and dominate the fight.
It didn’t happen. Rua came into the fight with a game plan, and he followed it to the hilt.
Perhaps taking a page out of Forrest Griffin’s surprise performance against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Rua repeatedly unleashed a steady supply of nasty leg kicks from start to finish, punishing Machida’s thigh all night. He even went one up on Griffin in that he not only dished out leg kicks, but threw in several body kicks as well, hitting Machida’s rib cage again and again.
Suddenly, Machida’s cool and calculated attack seemed to have been stymied. The fighter who had never lost a single round in his UFC career was in danger of losing his first rounds, his first fight, and more importantly, his newly-acquired light heavyweight belt— all in his first title defense. Rua’s game plan seemed to have made Machida tentative, even clumsy at times.
For his part, Machida successfully landed a few punches on Rua’s face, but was not able to hurt or drop Shogun. I gave the opening round to Rua as well as rounds four and five, while the second and third rounds I gave to Machida. When Bruce Buffer announced that the decision was unanimous, and that all the scorecards read 48-47, I thought all three judges were right on target. However, I admit I was a bit surprised when Buffer announced that Machida had retained his belt.
Perhaps the judges thought that Machida landed the cleaner punches—giving more emphasis on quality over quantity? I don’t know. We have to give them the benefit of the doubt, since the fight was not dominated by either man anyway. I just thought Rua did more then enough to grab the crown from Machida. I was wrong. Regardless, kudos to Dana White and Rua: to White for immediately announcing a rematch (albeit at an unannounced date yet) and to Rua for being gracious in defeat.
I remember writing a piece right after Machida’s impressive knockout victory over Rashad Evans, welcoming everyone to the “Dragon Era”. Perhaps it was a bit premature for me to sing Machida’s praises right away? To answer that question, we all have to wait for the rematch— a rematch that Machida has to win and win impressively, or else we might be witness to the dawning of the “Shogun Era” instead.
Velasquez impresses
In the co-main event, Mexican-American heavyweight Cain Velasquez continues to impress as he pummeled and punished the bigger and more experienced Ben Rothwell to grab the seventh straight victory (fifth in the UFC) of his MMA career.
Velasquez took down Rothwell at will and proceeded to dominate him via ground and pound. Rothwell barely survived the first round but was overwhelmed nonetheless in the second round after a series of punches from Velasquez landed squarely on his face as he was pinned to the fence. Rothwell tried to get up but the referee had seen enough and called the end to the bout, 58 seconds left in the second round.
Rothwell tried to plead his case and argued that it was a premature stoppage, and I somewhat agree with him, but, in Rothwell’s case, you just can’t let the smaller man dominate you— it’s inexcusable.
I see the undefeated Velasquez as a potential contender that can be a legitimate threat to UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar. Give him a few more fights and he’ll be ready for a title fight.
Stevenson prevails
I always believed that Joe “Daddy” Stevenson is one of the most solid fighters down at lightweight. He has a very strong ground game, potent wrestling skills, and his striking is very solid. Although he lost three bouts in his last six, just take a look at the caliber and quality of his opponents: BJ Penn, Gleison Tibau, Kenny Florian, Diego Sanchez, Nate Diaz, and most recently, Spencer Fisher.
Stevenson defeated perennial contender Spencer Fisher by way of strikes after securing a crucifix position and elbowed Fisher into defeat.
All in all, UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun was a pretty decent MMA event and provided loads of action. On to UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera, which is guaranteed to be another barnburner, in spite of going head to head on the same night with Top Rank promotions’ Firepower boxing event featuring Manny Pacquiao gunning for Miguel Cotto’s WBO welterweight title.
