Justin M. Bowen, Las Vegas Sun
Who’s to blame for Shogun Rua’s loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 104? Shogun Rua for not finishing the fight or the judges for scoring the fight for Machida?
Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole says Shogun Rua and his corner men:
The men who should be facing the wrath of those who felt Rua had won should not be Hamilton, Peoples and Rosales, who rendered their opinions in a very technical, taut affair. Rather, Rua supporters should be angry at his corner men, who continually told him he was well ahead.
Rua said he didn’t press the action in the final two rounds because his corner had told him he was in control. If that’s true, it’s that advice that cost him the fight. And it’s always the worst kind of advice to give a fighter in any match, but particularly a technical fight like Machida-Rua.
He could have won the fight. And he probably should have won the fight.
But he only has himself and his own people to blame. Had they sent him out with a sense of urgency for the fourth and fifth rounds, history might have been different on Saturday. Rua managed to shatter some of the Machida Myth with his performance, but he didn’t leave with the belt around his waist.
As outraged as many are at the call, the culprits aren’t Messrs. Hamilton, Peoples and Rosales.
Rather, the bad guys in this scenario are Rua’s friends, partners and coaches who were all too willing to pat him on the back and cheerlead rather than to encourage him and go and finish a fight he had within his grasp.
It’s a nice thought in hindsight. Sure, knowing what we know now, Shogun should have tried to knock Machida out in the championship rounds. Based on how the judges scored the fight, it was his only way to officially win it. But that wasn’t Shogun’s game plan nor should it have been. If you’re fighting Brock Lesnar, is it smart to try and out wrestle him? No. Should you attempt to out strike Anderson Silva? No. Should you try to submit Demian Maia? No. It’s a horrible strategy to play into your opponent’s strengths, especially when they’re the best in the game at it, so why would you play into Machida’s superior counter-striking game by trying to knock him out when you believe your strategy is working and you’re winning the fight? Entering the final rounds, if you’re Shogun, is it not the wiser move to trust/hope the judges are scoring the fight correctly when you know your other option is the perceivable higher-risk proposition of falling into the same trap so many others have with Machida?
In retrospect it wasn’t, but it’s also not fair to blame Shogun for the judges’ incompetence. In most cases, I’d agree with the notion to never leave it to the judges, but fighting Lyoto Machida isn’t most cases. Shogun’s team crafted a brilliant game plan and Shogun executed it to near perfection. They felt they were winning the fight and acted accordingly. They may be guilty of assumption, but they’re not at fault for his loss. The judges scored it wrong and the numbers prove it, plain and simple. Shogun shouldn’t be blamed nor punished for losing a fight he actually won.
If anything, Shogun and his team should be commended for solving the mystery no one else could. It’s a shame that’s not the focal point today because three judges failed at their jobs.
Image via the Las Vegas Sun
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I agree Shogun would have made it clearer should he have pushed more but he won the fight anyway. Some think that a title fight deserves a clear dominance, not just an ordinary victory. This is just wrong.
Furthermore, how could judges score UNANIMOUS decision for Machida when he spent most of the fight moving backwards and evading Rua’s charges? Rua was clearly the most dominant fighter for at least 3 to 4 rounds.
This decision is bullshit and is tarnishing a lot the credibility of the UFC. Guys like Cecile People score fights like Steevy Wonder (assuming they are not corrupt). How could they still be allowed to do this job for decades now? One thing is sure, eventhough I’m a fan of Machida, I guarantee I’m not going to pay for a UFC PPV for freakin years (and I’m not the only one).
Screw the UFC. Long live Strikeforce, long live DREAM, long live Bellator.
Rua won the fight, it was obvious. Machida’s belt has been tarnished.
I have to say someone must have given the YAHOO MMA WRITER KEVIN LOLE a lot of MONEY to write and say something so stupid and incompetent like that. First, I have read his yahoo mma articles and they are a joke. He shouldn’t even be speaking on MMA. You know what’s so said about yahoo sports is that they have the section call UFC and not MMA….and they event stick Strikeforce and other companies under the UFC section. MSN doesn’t do that they actually have a section called MMA!
Anyways, Shogun had a great plan and perfected it. The judges cost him a life turning career and money. So the true people to blame are the 3 WISE MEN…I mean the 3 blind men.
Even if there is a rematch, I think it will be a total different fight. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but just as long as Shogun wins and becomes champion like he deserves.
The UFC gets to make a lot of money again of the same fight, HAPPY B-DAY DANA WHITE or should I say the GODFATHER. lol!
I’m a little worried about the rematch too. Before Lesnar-Mir 2, Randy Couture was talking about how the guy who loses the first fight has the advantage in the rematch because he knows what he needs to fix to win. That’s not always the case, sometimes fighters have other fighters numbers, but I have a feeling that may apply here, at least based off what both fighters said at the press conference.
the ufc should make shogun the interim champion
I like that idea efrain! Nice!
i know right it would solve everything ’til the rematch!
you guys have to be joking about the interim champ thing, i hope so – again i thought shogun won but get over it, this happens in boxing and in mma – and did you watch the countdown show – shoguns trainer was so intimated by machida it was sick to watch he said ” I THINK we can beat him” shoguns corner let him down big time !
What’s the reason for this? Maybe Machida’s karate mystique (which I enjoy as well I admitt) brings millions of fresh young karate fans to the UFC, much more than Muay Thai has done. This might continue as long as this mystique shines so why would they break this superb cash machine?
I agree that the rematch WILL be different and may be to Shogun’s disadvantage. Machida’s strategy did not change for ages and he was surprised by Shogun’s plan. He won’t be surprised twice.
So I say don’t give money to organizations fixing fights and watch this free on the internet. This rematch will just drag even more money to the wrong persons.
Long live MMA
For those not happy with JOE ROGAN hyping Shogun’s attacks over Machida’s in the fight, he had a reason. Let it first be said that Rogan was one of many to believe Machida would rule for a long time, as proven by his anouncement that the Machida era had begun. Upon first viewing of the fight it seemed closer then it was, but upon slow motion tivo viewing, it is very clear that Machida missed a lot of his quick punches, which were either blocked, hit air, or did no damage, resulting in Rogan complimenting Shogun’s more precise and powerful attacks which landed. The second round is the best example. Shogun lands a knee or powerful kick, and blocks punches from Machida, since Shogun is on one leg inflicting damage, the force of Machida’s punch will push him backwards, that does not mean it did any damage or even counts as a landed strike. To Machida’s credit, he is so quick that it’s hard to see he missed, and I can see why judges would be confused, but if you look carefully, based off more strikes landed, agression, octagon control and damage, there is no way this fight can go to Machida. #rd round is the only debateable one, rounds 1,2,4 and 5 are shogun. When you have a stand up war, and one fighter, outsrikes the other, and that fighter is also the one pushing the action and dictating the pace, thats the winner, not the guy who is backpedaling and landing less strikes, and is getting controlled in the clinch. Machida does not suck, he is highly skilled, and was not thrashed, but he clearly lost, Shogun beat him in a tough battle, but he did more, landed more, and looked better at the end of the fight. You can even see between rounds who is more damaged, with lyoto bent in fetal mode while his legs are iced down.
Rua did not have a “brilliant” game plan. He had a one part plan.
1. Leg kicks
2. ???
3. Profit
Step 3 was missing. I thought Rua won, but I gave 2 rounds at least to Machida and it’s easy to see why the judges give it to him. Rua may have been winning, but he didn’t do enough to WIN.
Was Rua’s plan to eke out a 1 point decision victory? That’s retarded. The margin for error is huge – 1 round mistake and he lose/lost.
I HATE it when a corner is telling their fighter “you’re good you’re good” when they have no proof of the actual situation, just their best guess. Fight as if the other guy could take it away from you!
I think the uproar over this is a little pathetic. Sure Machida looked terrible, but if that somehow makes Rua’s legkicksthenwhat strategy look gold-plated, then we just forgot the last 10 years of MMA happened.
Okay, “brilliant” might have been a little strong, but when Machida makes everyone else look like a fool and someone comes in with a strategy that actually works, I think they deserve a ton of credit for figuring how to beat someone no one else could even touch.
majority was leg and body kicks, however fight meteric will show you that shogun landed very slightly more shots to the face of machida. This is huge because it shows machida could only match shogun on head shots, but was clearly beaten to strikes every where else. I repeat, when you are the agressor, control the cage, and land more strikes, with more power and better accuracy in a stand up war, then thats the winner, not the guy who back pedaled and landed less strikes. There is just no argument that can be made for machida having won
further more, as skilled as Machida is, his honorable karate spirit is in question, he knows in his heart he lost, where is his honor, to admit this and relinquish the belt. i respect Machida a lot, but he needs to look in the mirror and do some soul searching, if he truly believes in his art and his philosophies, he must admit he lost. I’m waiting for a statement on his father’s opinion of the fight.
disgusted fan, the ufc does not control the judges, it’s not their fault, and dana white even said shogun won the fight. if you wanna watch online go ahead, but if you really love this sport you’ll pay to see live..or wait for spike free rebroadcast.
rematch is the least that could be done here, decision should be overturned. Honestly Machida does not deserve a rematch without earning it back through other fights. Shogun proved Machida has a lot to work on still, and Machida didn’t expose any weakness in Shogun. I hope all rankings protest this by placing Shogun as the number 1 light heavy in the world, which he is.
Pred 7, I agree with your analysis but look. One judge might have shit in the eyes and propose weird scores. But how do you explain a unanimous decision for Machida where everybody, I mean 90% of the viewers including fighters, journalists, bloggers, officials and even D. White himself publicly admitt that clearly Shogun won it (not a KO but still a CLEAR win)?
Don’t you believe all 3 judges were biaised from the beginning? Don’t you think that guys like Cecil Peoples never produced outrageous judgments? don’t you think they produce such kind of judgments without little “presents”? Fixed fights are not new to fight sports, starting with boxing, and I don’t see why MMA would not suffer from this plague.
And who’s benefitting from this situation exept UFC itself? Machida is undefeated and still attracts karate kids to UFC; the rematch is awaited by everybody and will make tons of cash;
I agree with Big D when he says that the real losers are the fighters who invest their money, efforts, health, reputation and pride in these fights. Take a few decision-wins from Fedor (and just imagine how a close 5 rounds fight with Lesnar would turn under these circumstances) and you turn a mutli million dollars undefeated semi-god into an ordinary very talented fighter.
The other losers in this bullshit are the viewers that are fooled, people who bet on fights that are spoiled and the sport of MMA itself which loses a lot of credibility.
I still don’t see how it was a “CLEAR win” for shogun, i think he won but “CLEAR win” it was not !