Reader Reax
UFC 104 REAX #1: "I think Shogun won, but it wasn't lopsided. The judges got it wrong, but this is not Bisping-Hamill version 2."
Oct 25, 2009 - 5:23:37 PM UFC 104 REAX #1: "I think Shogun won, but it wasn't lopsided. The judges got it wrong, but this is not Bisping-Hamill version 2."

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At the MMATorch.com reader comment area, there are several discussions going on regarding this fight. For App users who can't see the reader comments, or in case you missed it on the site, here are some key reader comments.

John: This is BULLSH--T! No way it was a close fight. Look at Machida and look at Shogun. And take that "to be the man, you've got to beat the man" bullsh-- and watch WWE. That's what I felt like I watched. I felt like I was watching a pro wrestling match after the decision. Once fighter outcries, and fans souring on the decision accumulate, you'll jump on the bandwagon, too.

Colin: Anyone with eyes who watched the fight knew that Shogun won that fight. I agree with you saying that it was a close fight, but lets face it, he CLEARLY lost.

Joe: Re-watch the fight without sound. Then make a judgment. All Shogun did was land kicks, and anyone who actually fights knows knees are much worse; that's where the points came from for Machida, who landed numerous knees to the abdomen and head throughout. Kicks sting and make your skin whelp - big deal. Knees rupture organs.

Bossman: There's a few things to consider here.. Machida outstriked Shogun with his hands all night. Look for hit percent from any website that tracked them... Once again Machida was in the 60 percent range while Rua was in the 30 percent range.. Shogun outstriked Machida with kicks, absolutely, which gained him points. However, Machida avoided every takedown attempt successfully, which also shows up on the score card. You can't always judge a fight on damage, because sometimes you don't know how much damage was actually done. There are some fighters who will gush blood from a single elbow strike, but still go five rounds. Machida did a lot of damage to Rua as well. Watch after the fight ends and Rua's guys come and pick him up.. There's a clearly pained look on Rua's face from a beat up torso. This was a fight by numbers, Rua may have landed some great kicks, but Machida landed punches and knees four-to-one.

CK: I agree with Joe. Machida sure isn't flashy, but he kept control throughout the match. The fact that he was still somewhat springy in rounds 4 and 5 shows that he effectively absorbed most of the leg kicks thrown at him. They show replay footage of Machida getting kicked in the knee while no weight is on it (he was hopping back to his other leg). Because no weight was on it, the kick didn't do anything more than make Machida's leg suddenly jerk back, but the damage was effectively halved. The announcers made it out to be an effective leg kick. Bullsh--! The redness on his chest does not indicate that the body strikes from Rua did a lot of damage, contrary to the commentary. If you flex your muscles to correctly absorb blows to your torso, you can still end up with cuts/abrasion, especially if your body is turned to redirect the blow. The announcers don't know what the f--- they're talking about. For example, I remember one body kick that Machida blocked with his upper arm and almost caught the leg. The announcers missed the block and gave the exchange to Rua. Don't get me wrong, it was an extremely close match, but it would be a pretty shitty way for Rua to win the belt, in my opinion. Machida certainly got a much-needed wake up call, but he expended way less energy to get in my opinion a draw.

Boles: I had Rua 48-47. Had they used Pride scoring, I had Rua winning. But I really don't have a problem with close decisions going to the champion. If a belt is going to change on a decision, it needs to be Couture-Sylvia.Example: People to this day are still bitching about the Griffin-Jackson decision, and that fight was much more lopsided than Machida-Rua was. Some people actually thought Jackson won that fight, those people are wong. Had this decision gone to Rua, people would be bitching about the belt changing on such a close fight.And some people (like some unnamed contributors to this thread) would have bitched either way because they're internet trolls who do nothing but complain about the topic of the day...

Jared: I agree with Boles. I think Shogun won, but it wasn't lopsided. The judges got it wrong, but this is not Bisping-Hamill version 2. It was a close enough fight that people were going to complain either way, so I say they do an instant rematch. Anderson Silva won't fight Machida and Rampage is in Hollywood. I say let Machida and Shogun go at it again and settle this thing. And they can have the Forrest-Tito winner fight the Rashad-Thiago winner to become the number one contender (If Machida wins) or the number two contender (If Shogun wins, because if Shogun won then you would have to match him up with Silva).

Richie: Judges are required to determine the winner of a bout that goes to its full time limit based upon the following criteria: (1) Clean Strikes; (2) Effective Grappling; (3) Octagon Control; (4) Effective Aggressiveness. Based on these criteria, I can't understand how anyone can see Machida as the victor. At best he only achieved one of the four (and on my first view, I don't even remember him getting very many clean strikes off that weren't answered swiftly and effectively by Rua). Even if those criteria were ignored completely, you could see that Machida lost. The looks of panic in his face every time Rua came forward (at least since the second round), the visible disappointment of a loss in his expressions between the end of the fifth round and the announcement of the result and, if nothing else, the red swelling on his thighs, the massive welt on his torso, and the cuts and bruises on his face, when compared to the relatively untouched Rua, show who won and who lost. At the end of the day, this result needs to be examined. Sure it won't change the decision, but this sort of controversy has happened too much and could end up harming the UFC (I'm sure if this was my first experience of MMA, having been influenced to "buy the pay-per-view, bitches," it would have been my last), and it needs to be explained how those judges managed to be so totally at odds with the commentary team and the majority of the fans watching in L.A. and, it seems, watching on TV.

[Lyoto Machida art credit Cory Gould (c) MMATorch]