Rematch set as Machida vs Shogun proves to be the OJ Simpson trial of MMA

Last night’s UFC 104 light heavyweight title bout resulted in one of the biggest judging blunders in the history of the sport. A complete miscarriage of justice. It’s the OJ Simpson trial of MMA.

How could defending champion (and widely believed invincible) Lyoto Machida possibly have been awarded a unanimous decision over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in a fight that saw the challenger press the action more, dominate more exchanges, fire more strikes, land more blows and do more damage? It was highway robbery, plain and simple. Make no mistake, the “Machida era” is over.

I’ve watched the fight a couple of times now, the second time with the volume off to mute Joe Rogan’s persuasive pro-Shogun hard sell. I wanted to see the fight as the judges saw it. Here’s how the three blind mice scored it: judges Cecil Peoples and Marcos Rosales both awarded Machida the first three rounds and gave Rua the final two; judge Nelson “Doc” Hamilton scored rounds one and five for Rua, but gave Machida the middle rounds; scores were united at 48-47 in Machida’s favour.

Until he faced Rua, Machida had never lost a single round in seven fights in the UFC. By my count he has now lost four rounds. The only round I saw going to Machida was the third, when Rua seemed to ease off the gas pedal a bit allowing Machida to press the attack with a couple of flurries that had Rua backing away. There’s no way it was a unanimous decision – even as razor-thin as it was – in Machida’s favour.

Even if I watched the fight a hundred times I would never see the same fight they did. No one I was watching the fight with saw it in Machida’s favour. No one in the Staples Center in Los Angeles saw it in Machida’s favour if the chorus of boos when the verdict was delivered was any indication. The look of shock and disappointment on Rua’s face as they wrapped the belt around his opponent’s waste told you he didn’t see the fight in Machida’s favour. UFC president Dana White didn’t see it in Machida’s favour and has already promised an immediate rematch.

Even Machida looked surprised to have won and if all his traditional Mr. Miyagi samurai honour was worth anything he would’ve handed the belt to Shogun on the spot.

Of course, there’s the old adage that you have to beat the champion to become the champion, which is like a tie in blackjack – the house wins. I think that’s bullshit. Rua did beat the champion, and rather convincingly, at least on everybody’s scorecards but the judges’.

No, he didn’t land a knockout blow or take Machida down, but he clearly dominated the standup exchanges. He hunted Machida down and landed ferocious leg and body kicks that upset Machida’s rhythm and tempo and prevented him from launching an effective counter-striking campaign, and he followed up with knees, uppercuts and elbows from the nastiest Muay Thai clinch in MMA. When Machida attacked, Rua weathered the storm rather comfortably and immediately fired back, putting Machida back on his heels, backpedaling away and slipping along the edge of the cage to escape. Of course, Machida on the defensive is exactly how Machida always looks, so maybe the judges didn’t notice that the least-hit fighter in the sport was getting hit. Repeatedly.

More impressive, Rua, the Chute Boxe wildman, reigned in the aggressive impulses that made him one of the most-feared fighters in PRIDE; he was patient and relaxed and executed a textbook game plan. He never allowed himself to be lured into one of Machida’s traps. MMA fights are often compared to chess matches and this was as close to that analogy as possible.

So here are the four things that can be learned from the fight: 1) Rua, the 2005 PRIDE Grand Prix champ whom everybody had pretty much written off after a sluggish 2-1 start in the UFC, proved that he is once again one of the most-feared light heavyweights in the world; 2) Machida, the most-elusive and puzzling fighter in MMA, is hardly impossible to solve, his mystique has evaporated, his reputation not merely tarnished but bloodied and bruised, and everybody in the 205-pound division will be analyzing the fight to see how Shogun did it; 3) Bookies are breathing a sigh of relief; 4) The rematch will not go to the judges as both fighters will do everything they can to finish the fight.

And until the rematch, Machida can wear the belt, although everybody knows who really owns it.

Main card 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

Preliminary Bouts:

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