Mauricio "Shogun" Rua won over the fans, but it was Lyoto Machida who walked away with the UFC light heavyweight championship at UFC 104 Saturday in Los Angeles.In a very close fight, Machida won on the scorecards 48-47 through five rounds. According to the judges, two gave Machida the first three rounds and one gave the retaining champ rounds two, three and four.
Machida, though, was the recipient of boos during the announcement of the scores, as it appeared many felt Rua should have been given the nod for effectively wearing Machida down with kicks to the legs and body. But one thing's for sure, Rua was far and beyond Machida's toughest challenge thus far. Machida entered the fight with an incredible feat of seven UFC victories without losing a single round, and Rua put an end to that.
As close as the main event was, the supporting fight was completely lopsided. Cain Velasquez improved to 7-0 by taking UFC newcomer Ben Rothwell down with ease and pounding him out. The end of the fight came by referee stoppage at 58 seconds into the second round.
In lightweight action, Gleison Tibau bested Josh Neer with a relentless assault of takedowns to win the unanimous decision.
Former lightweight title challenger Joe Stevenson won in impressive fashion, trapping Spencer Fisher and dropping brutal elbows for the TKO at 4:03 of round two.
In the pay-per-view opener, Anthony Johnson knocked out Yoshiyuki Yoshida with a right hand in 41 seconds.
Full Results:
Lyoto Machida def. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua via unanimous decision
Cain Velasquez def. Ben Rothwell via TKO (punches) - R2, 0:58
Gleison Tibau def. Josh Neer via unanimous decision
Joe Stevenson def. Spencer Fisher via TKO - R2, 4:03
Anthony Johnson def. Yoshiyuki Yoshida via TKO - R1, 0:41
Ryan Bader def. Eric "Red" Schafer via unanimous decision
Pat Barry def. Antoni Hardonk via TKO - Round 2, 2:30
Chael Sonnen def. Yushin Okami via unanimous decision
Jorge Rivera def. Rob Kimmons via TKO - R3, 1:53
Kyle Kingsbury def. Razak Al-Hassan via split decision
Stefan Struve def. Chase Gormley via submission (triangle choke) - R1, 4:04
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-25-2009 @ 3:09PM
malosi001 said...
lyoto didnt need to come out and kill Rua he already has the belt. If Rua wanted that belt he should of came out and beat it out of him, a few to the face and leg kicks is not going to take lyotos belt. lyoto still number 1. next fight between lyoto and Rua will be different. but lyoto will still come out on Top.
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