If the Lyoto Machida-Shogun Rua fight at UFC 104 had gone the way everyone expected -- Machida handily defeating Shogun to retain his title -- the UFC would have faced a quandary with its light heavyweight division. Machida would be perceived as so dominant that there wouldn't be any particularly interesting fights for him, and the stacked UFC light heavyweight division might have started to feel a little stale.That's why Machida's controversial unanimous decision victory on Saturday night was a great thing for the UFC: It sets up a Rua-Machida rematch that will be a bigger fight than the first one, and it buys time for the UFC to re-establish some of its other light heavyweights as contenders to take on the Rua-Machida 2 winner.
In particular, three upcoming light heavyweight fights just got a lot more relevant:
Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera at UFC 105: From what I've heard, the UFC's tentative plan heading into Saturday night was to give Couture the next shot at Machida if he were to beat Vera. But while a Couture-Machida fight would obviously be a big one, it wouldn't make a lot of sense from a competitive standpoint: Does Couture, who hasn't won a fight in more than two years and hasn't won a light heavyweight fight in more than four years, really deserve a light heavyweight title shot just because he beats Vera?
Now the UFC can give Couture a couple of light heavyweight fights before handing him a title shot. And if Vera beats Couture in three weeks on Spike TV, he might just be another win away from a title shot as well. Perhaps the winner of Vera-Couture will take on the winner of...
Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz at UFC 106: Griffin is the former light heavyweight champion, but after being beaten by Rashad Evans and destroyed by Anderson Silva, he had fallen a long, long way out of title contention. But Shogun changed that on Saturday night: Griffin's dominant win over Shogun from two years ago looks a lot more impressive now that Shogun went toe-to-toe with Machida for five rounds. If Griffin beats Ortiz and Shogun beats Machida in the rematch, I wouldn't be at all surprised if we get Griffin-Shogun 2 for the UFC light heavyweight title in 2010.
Ortiz, meanwhile, can make a major statement that he's back if he beats Griffin. And while Machida dominated Ortiz in their UFC 84 fight last year, it's not unreasonable to think Ortiz could earn another shot at Machida with a couple of high-quality wins. Ortiz won't earn a title shot just by beating Griffin, but if he beats Griffin I think his next fight would probably be a No. 1 contender bout against either the Couture-Vera winner or the winner of ...
Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva at UFC 108: Evans and Silva are two of the best light heavyweights in the world, but both of them were knocked out by Machida this year, meaning they probably weren't going to get another title shot as long as Machida was looking like an invincible champion.
Now, however, the Evans-Silva winner can get right back into title contention, especially if Shogun beats Machida in the rematch. Evans-Silva got a lot more interesting on Saturday night.
And buying time for the light heavyweight title picture to shake out offers new possibilities for a couple of other UFC fighters as well. The light heavyweight who would be the biggest draw against Machida -- Rampage Jackson -- is off playing Mr. T, but most people think Rampage will eventually return to the Octagon. Now that we can count on Machida-Shogun 2 as the next light heavyweight title fight, it's a little easier to wait out the return of Rampage.
And finally, there's Anderson Silva. Whether he wins or loses his upcoming middleweight title defense against Vitor Belfort, Silva should fight for the light heavyweight title before his UFC career is over. Silva says he'll never fight Machida, but if Shogun were to beat Machida, a Shogun-Silva fight would be huge.
As much as everyone is complaining this morning about last night's decision, the controversial ending of UFC 104 made the light heavyweight division more interesting. We'll all have a great time seeing how it plays out.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
10-25-2009 @ 11:38AM
Michael said...
Michael Smith how can you say Machida Handly defeated Rua?It should say Rua was cheated out of Belt after beating Machida clearly i want to know how these judges score these fights and UFC has got to find away to have independent judges score these fights cause as you can see by the Athletic commission records they are horrible with judging fights this is the 2nd fight they screwed up in UFC.
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10-25-2009 @ 11:50AM
grassjocut said...
re read the article he didnt say he handily defeated him. he said IF it had gone as everybody thought. And yes Rua was robbed and I'm a Machida fan.
10-25-2009 @ 12:37PM
adam said...
dont hate me for what i think but ,,i hear rematch ,,,,i watched it 5 or 6 times and all i hear is joe rogen trying to sway the fans to shogun,,,if you rewatch it turn the volume off joe was blowing him the whole time,,shogun did some damage to the body and legs of machida but machida had more knees which is more effective in hurting the mid section and scoring points, he also had more punches that conected and some kicks that were doing some damage not to mention he blocked every take down every time which took away the ground game,,,machida is all about stand up so if you cant take him down your game is shot no ground game no win ,,he was the champion already which always get a little leeway in the judges eyes,,, they say you should never put it in the hands of the judges ,,,and are they ever right,,, with that being said shogun did a great job and it was machidas hardest fight ,, he should have a rematch after they both heal,,,,i saw shoguns brother pick him up at the end of the fight and it looked like he was ready to cry cause his mid section was so broken ,,im sure machida was not used to being hit ,and im sure his mid section was broken up also ,,so next time he will have a differnt aproach to shogun and have differnt answers for the body and leg kick,,,to beat any champion you have to do more than leg and body kick him you ,your going to have to beat him and take him down ,,, ,how about more punching ,or some knees but that didnt happen ,,,,i saw dana white lip sync to shogun that he won the fight ,,,,,but all the judges scored it the same was so thats the end of the story,,,,just my opinion,,,,, i was going for machida and he squeked it out
10-25-2009 @ 1:03PM
johnnynumber5 said...
@Adam
Joe Rogan was calling it straight up for both fighters. The fact of the matter is that Machida didn't do anything in the fight. He danced around and hardly landed a single meaningful strike in the entire fight. I've watched it three times now and I think Machida only won 1 round at best. I think Shogun may have even won the 3rd round because in that exchange he landed the better shots.
Mike Goldberg does the play by play and Joe Rogan does the commentary / punditry.
Say what you want but that wasn't a close fight in the least bit. The worst and most controversial decision I've ever seen in the UFC. Even if you completely disregard everything Shogun did in the fight and just judged the fight based on Machida's performance he still was a complete failure. Shogun Rua was the better man and is the peoples champion.
In the court of public opinion Shogun Rua is the UFC light heavyweight champion.
10-25-2009 @ 1:08PM
johnnynumber5 said...
@Adam
"at the end of the fight and it looked like he was ready to cry cause his mid section was so broken"
He was ready to cry because he was about to have the culmination of his hard work rewarded with being the UFC LHW champion. Look at Machida after the fight ... looked like his cat got ran over in the street. That was the look of a defeated man who was about to taste losing for the first time in his career. No amount of spin changes the truth.
10-25-2009 @ 7:19PM
manuel said...
the judges were actually paying attention to the fight. They don't have a short attention span
10-25-2009 @ 11:47AM
Shoshin913 said...
I re-watced the fight several times and slow motioned parts. I think the fight was close and should not have been a unanimous decision but I thought Machida won 1 and 3 and 2 was the controversal round. Shogan won 4 and 5 hands down. I thought Shogan won hands down when I watched it the first time but after reveiewing the fight I think it was closer than everyone is saying. Joe swayed the audience with his commentary and I think it could have gone either way making it a draw. Try watching it with the mute on several times and you may see a closer fight.
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10-25-2009 @ 12:19PM
machappina said...
you aint kidding bro my sediments exactly.Rogan's a dick man.He needs to back out or purchase a pair of contacts. His play-by-play sucks.Besides a very disappointing card I am more upset with rogan.Unfortunetly They [UFC] has lost me and my crew as fans,unless someone comes up with an apology for what has got to be called the worse fight card in the history of the UFC.And I don't know about you but,I'm on unemployement and things are tight around here moneterialy that to pay that kind of money to see that kind of crap is a kick in my groin and I'm very mad about it. What do you think?
10-25-2009 @ 4:17PM
adam said...
and another thing whats with shogun getting greased up in between rounds like gsp did ,the cut guy was putting vasaline all over him ,that is cheating my freind so maybe they were looking at that also but either way shogun lost ,,i give him credit though and he is a great fighter in the ufc ,
10-25-2009 @ 11:48AM
easy7179 said...
i agree that the decision did help buy time to sort out the div. and i think that even if shogun would have won we'd be saying the same thing. however i don't agree that this fight made forrests win over shogun look more impressive. i think it exposes it as a fluke a little bit. i like forrest and was glad he won and got the shot and came through but we all knew shogun wasn't 100%.
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10-25-2009 @ 11:51AM
eddie niles said...
Michael do you know how to read? He wrote that if Machida handily defeated Shogun, not that he did handily defeat Shogun. Did you also miss both times he wrote the words 'controversal' when describing the judge's decision??? Retard.
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10-25-2009 @ 12:06PM
jlit said...
I was really excited for this fight and I was not dissapointed. We got to see two of the fastest most skilled strikers in the world stand toe to toe in what appeared almost a chess match at times. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and hats off to both athletes.
I can also say though that (despite wanting Machida to win) I was extremely dissapointed with the decision. In my opinion along with everone else I talked to Shogun won all but one round. I feel this poor decision tarnishes the UFC's integrity and puts them in the ranks with boxing and figure skating.
No observer (educated or not) could realistically say that Machida won that fight. Even Machida carried himself after like someone that lost.
I think it is becoming very obvious that Dana White is going to tamper more and more with this sport to get the outcomes and matchups he wants.
Re-match....of course! Can you imagine the profits from that?
Dana White has never had my respect,but now the organization as a whole is losing mine.
I really feel for Shogun who has gone through so much and put on what I would call a performance of a life time. He should be holding the title right now (not to take anything away from Machida who handled himself with as much class as ever)
Great fight tarnished by corupt judging....
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10-25-2009 @ 12:30PM
Shoshin913 said...
Machappina- Yeah I thought Shogun won hands down at the end of the fight the first time I watched and that is why I watched it several times and payed no attention to the commentary. It was closer than the average viewer watching (who know nothing about MMA) who think Shogun blew through Machida. This is the first fight I bought in a long time (like 8 years) and yes I wish I didn't pay so much for it but then I would not have been able to watch it several times MUTED and see the real fight. I liked Pride better but what else can we watch? All the best fighters are in the UFC (minus Fedor). I will go to Champs next time and pay $10 and spend the rest on beer and diner.
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10-25-2009 @ 12:49PM
johnnynumber5 said...
Nothing like capitalizing and monetizing from an injustice!
Shogun basically just wrote the book on how to beat Machida. If you take away his legs and body then you take away his elusiveness and explosion. In all honesty Shogun exposed Machida.
I've watched the fight three times now and I could make a case that Shogun won all 5 rounds. The only round Machida could have won in my opinion was round 3 and even then Shogun really did more over the entirety of the round.
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10-25-2009 @ 1:47PM
Ted said...
"Rogan was calling it straight for both fighters?" What a joke! After the first round Jackass Rogan was talking about A. Siva vs. Rua; real objective! By the third round he was using words like desperate in regard to Machida. Rogan is as biased as you.
10-25-2009 @ 2:43PM
johnnynumber5 said...
So says the biased Macheetah fanboy.
He was calling the fight straight up it's just that you are a butt hurt sensitive fanboy who doesn't want to hear the truth. The almighty God of opinion Ted says it's true so it must be so!
You think Joe Rogan has something against Macheetah? When Goldberg was saying that Macheetah needed to go into desperation mode it was Rogan that was saying the fight could go either way.
Pick your battles man. They called it how they saw it ... like the rest of the world did for Rua. Only some complete fanboy (like yourself) could convince themselves that Macheetah won that fight. You are attacking everyone with a different opinion including the commentators during the event. That just shows complete insecurity on your part.
The fact of the matter is you are in the extreme minority and you want to make excuses and blame everyone except Macheetah.
Go read Bloody Elbow, Cage Potato, MMA Junkie or any other prominent message board and you'll see 95% of the comments agreeing with me and not you. Keep fighting the good fight!
LOL@ The butt hurt Macheetah fanboy.
10-25-2009 @ 10:26PM
Ted said...
Johnny B.J. - My Man You still sitting under Joe Ro-groins desk ? LOL... Come up for air amd get a taste of reality. Keep playing your video games; I am sure you are getting an education on "Objectivity" LOL...
10-25-2009 @ 11:34PM
johnnynumber5 said...
So says the admitted Macheetah fantard. Whoo wee ... someone thinks macheetah lost and all of a sudden everyones biased and isn't objective. Keep drinking that dragon pee curled up in the fetal position.
If thats all you have for a come back you might as well not even reply. I guess since you have been completely PWNED (again) that all you can do is make jokes about blow jobs. You've devolved back into your old self. You were so classy for a while but now you've reverted back to the same crass and crude Ted who couldn't handle a differing opinion.
:yawns:
Even Dana White ... the president of the UFC came out and said Shogun won the fight. EVERYONE saw it that way because thats what happened. Get over it already.
boo hoo macheetah isn't invincible ... boo hoo wah wah
He still has the belt even if he doesn't deserve it ... big deal. You ever stop to think why literally 95% of respondents feel that Shogun was robbed? You'd have to pull that tin foil cap off long enough to get a signal so I'm guessing thats a no. Man you are such a tard it's not even funny.
10-25-2009 @ 1:07PM
Spud said...
***Rashad vs Machida
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10-25-2009 @ 2:23PM
Ted said...
Adam - You are dead on! Rogan is a biased commentator who dances with Dana. Did you here him talking about Rua vs. A. Silva during the early stages of last night's Machida vs. Rua fight? That was the words of Dana White coming out of Rogan's mouth. Rogan has become a stooge for Dana.
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