i dont know what to think, i think both shogun and machida tee'd off a couple of times. shogun tried to get a take down a couple times didnt do it once. tough call, do you give more points for shogun getting machida near a takedown and against the fence, or do you give machida more points for his takedown defense? could have gone either way imo
Robbery in downtown LA tonight. I love Machida, but I thought Shogun obviously won that fight and so did every analyst and fighter on Twitter. Hoping for an instant re-match.
now i was pulling for Machida but that was basically highway robbery i feel that Shogun took it to him and punished him the whole fight
Why? True champions don't need to be protected by judges. Shogun won 4 rounds and I don't think the fight was that close. He severely outlanded Machida and connected with the most telling blows. He was robbed.
And I was right about Cain blowing through Rothwell. Cain's wrestling is on another level. I would love to see him against Brock after he gets a few more wins under his belt.
Scoring wise, it was close. They both landed a lot. Yeah Shogun landed nice leg kicks, but a lot of those leg kicks were met with straight jabs to the face from Machida... something you never heard Rogan or Goldberg mention. In terms of damage inflicted, Shogun definitely has the advantage. Either way, I underestimated Shogun, and there will definitely be a rematch.
I never really saw machida in trouble. Shogun might have slightly beat him, but no takedowns and no solid combinations. If his legs were so beat down why could shogun never take him down. Shogun might have got screwed, but it ain't as bad some boxing screw jobs.
Who inflicted more damage? Who landed more strikes? And Machida def was in far worse trouble then shogun throughout the fight.
Shogun landed more than just leg kicks. He cut up Machida's face and landed some sick knees to the ribcage. His legs were wobbly and he was being worn down from top to bottom.
Shogun wasn't in trouble and wasn't hit with combos or takedowns either. I didn't say he kicked Machida's ass, he just got screwed. These rounds are scored round-by-round and I don't see how anyone could justify giving Machida more than 2 rounds. The fact that all the judges gave him 3 seems absurd.
Why not announce the judges scores after each round? Shogun was screwed in this one, Machida did nothing all fight..... this is the joke that killed boxing.
I think the flurry of knees on round 1 prolly won it for Machida. I think Machida definitely won round 3 and round 2 was close. I thought Shogun might have came back and won round 1, but it was close. Those early Muay Thai knees to the head early on might have swayed the votes. I think Shogun clearly won 4 and 5. Watched or not, don't get too swayed by Joe Rogan's commentary. For every late kick, Machida threw a stiff punch to the face many of those times as well. I thought Rua did more damage, but I don't think it was completely controversial. So based on what I saw, Shogun-2, Machida-1 with 2 rounds that were too close to call.
Garbage outcome. Shogun was screwed. It really wasn't that close. The only reason it was as close as it was is because how good Lyoto is. Almost anyone else against Shogun tonight would've been destroyed. It was a good fight, but the only round i could maybe give to Machida was the third. I like both fighters, but this was bad. Everyone I watched it with liked Lyoto, but jaws dropped when the result was announced. As far as having to dominate a champ to take a decision, thats BS too. When Rampage lost his belt to Forest, it was much closer than tonight's match. Rampage didn't look great, but should've kept the belt. Anyway, very disappointed in the refs and the UFC. I'm not totally boycotting them, but I won't be getting the next PPV because of the distaste. On a bright note, Cain Velasquez looked good. He should get a shot at douchebag Lesnar. I mean all you need is three fights in the Octagon to get one right?
That was a surprising win, Shogun really did his homework on Lyoto, he counter every single one of his moves
To be the Champ you gotta BEAT the champ (convincingly). I'm a bigger fan of Machida than Rua but I'll admit with no questions that Rua was the better and more dominant fighter tonight. But seriously, if it's going to go the full 5 rounds and a decision is made at the end the Champ should always retain the belt. If this were any ordinary non-title fight then I'm sure Rua would've won and the judges wouldn't have thought twice. But like I said to be the Champ and take the belt you can't leave any questions. You either gotta win via KO, TKO or Submission. Rua did none of the 3. As a challenger you have to take the belt as if it belonged to you. You can't expect the judges to just hand it to you. The decision was controversial no doubt but there would be just as many people peeved if Machida lost the belt for the reasons I listed. This fight reminds me a lot of when Griffin and Rampage Jackson fought. Griffin the challenger won in a decision against Rampage (champ at the time). And it was utter BS. I'm glad the judges got it right this time. With that said we need a Machida vs Rua II STAT!
Let me just throw this out for everyone upset at the judges and refs. The UFC has no say, whatsoever, at all, nothing in who judges and refs fights. It's all the athletic commissions decisions. All the UFC can do is lobby for better judges and refs. So for those saying they're boycotting or not buying more PPVs, don't blame the UFC. And you're telling me you're going to boycott Lesnar/Carwin and Tito/Forrest 2? Please.
