UFC 104 results recap from last night recap and post-fight discussion for ‘Machida vs Shogun’
UFC 104: “Machida vs. Shogun” went off tonight (Sat., Oct. 24) from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif., featuring a main event between undefeated light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and former Pride FC 205-pound wrecking machine, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
Machida somehow remained undefeated with a unanimous decision, but it is certainly a controversial outcome. Perhaps the most controversial since Michael Bisping magically squeaked by Matt Hamill.
Shogun punished Machida for five straight rounds with blistering low kicks. Machida’s legs and torso looked like raw sides of beef when all was said and done — he could barely move in the final two rounds. Meanwhile, Shogun looked untouched when all was said and done.
Neither fighter was ever in any real trouble throughout the 25-minute contest; however, it appeared that Shogun was definitely the busier fighter who inflicted way more damage.
Perhaps because there were no knockdowns the judges erred on the side of caution and gave it to the champion. But it’s hard to see how all three judges unanimously agreed that Machida won that fight … because he didn’t.
Only time will tell how this all shakes out, but for now, it appears that Shogun got utterly robbed tonight. Even Machida looked surprised when the announcement was made by Bruce Buffer.
Ho-hum.
Heavyweight up-and-comer, Cain Velasquez, who was originally booked to take on Shane Carwin to determine the number one contender in the heavyweight division, needed to prove himself once again against grizzled veteran, “Big” Ben Rothwell, in the co-featured fight of the night.
Did he ever.
Velasquez put a licking on Rothwell from bell-to-bell, completely dominating every facet of the fight until the referee stopped the action early in the second round.
It was more than likely not the best time to stop the contest because Rothwell was actually standing; however, Velasquez was just beating him up so terribly prior to the stoppage that it’s hard to say it was premature.
In fact, Rothwell is lucky the fight wasn’t stopped sooner.
Velasquez put on an absolute clinic. The pace he sets and his ground and pound is perhaps unmatched in the heavyweight division sans the current champion, Brock Lesnar.
He more than likely showed enough tonight to warrant a future title shot. Velasquez is the real deal.
Rothwell, on the other hand, showed his grit and toughness. He’s a fine addition to the heavyweight class and will likely have success down the road.
Velasquez is just a ferocious beast.
Joe Stevenson looked to string together consecutive wins for the first time in more than two years against the very game Spencer Fisher.
He seemed relaxed and confident heading into the 155-pound showdown and he remained that way for the entire fight. It was vintage “Daddy” as he avoided brawling with the super aggressive Fisher and stuck to his gameplan of takedowns and ground and pound.
It was the perfect mix, which was just too much for Fisher to handle in the second round. Stevenson pinned Fisher to the canvas and rained down relentless elbows that he simply could not avoid.
Fisher had no answer. And he appeared to tapout just as the referee stepped in to save him from the onslaught.
Nice win for Stevenson, which more than likely gets his name back in the mix of top 155-pound fighters once again. His training with Team Jackson in New Mexico is clearly paying huge dividends.
He looks reborn.
Anthony Johnson and Yoshiyuki “Zenko” Yoshida kicked off the PPV action in a welterweight attraction.
And any skeptics who thought “Rumble” would be sucked out and sluggish after faltering on the scale at the official weigh in were wrong.
Dead wrong.
Johnson attacked Yoshida from the opening bell and stopped 41 seconds later when the Japanese import was on his back staring at the ceiling.
It was an all-out beatdown.
Despite coming in five pounds heavy, which he apologized for in his post-fight remarks, Johnson looked sharp, crisp and powerful. He’s an absolute monster who has no immediate plans to move up to 185 pounds.
That’s bad news for the rest of the welterweight division. He made a very talented fighter look very bad tonight.
Look out.
That’s enough from us — now it’s your turn to discuss “Machida vs. Shogun” in the comments section below.
Sound off, Maniacs. Let’s hear what you have to say.
To check out complete UFC 104 results, coverage and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here.
MMA Mania, UFC 104, UFC Results, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)
Yes. Machida looked surprised.. Dana and the Furtitas didn’t tell him that they had his back. Someone should beat their ass in the street and then tell them they won the fight. I think this would be justice for allowing yet another title fight to be fixed by these low life fight promoters. If they allow judges to do injustice to a person who literally puts their life on the line…then they are just as guilty of crimal activity as the judges.