One Fan's Perspective: UFC 104 The Shogun & Machida fight

First of all, Shogun won that fight.

Lyoto, as "elusive" and "technical" he is, and he IS an incredible fighter, has one weakness - he doesn't attack. He's a counter-puncher that Shogun had the kryptonite for. He picked him apart from the outside with kicks, covered up when Lyoto punched, and was kept off balance by Shogun's takedown attempts and strikes from all angels. Lyoto lost every round in that fight, something that's never happened to him in the UFC before. He was gassed, he was cut, and probably has broken ribs and bruised leg bones. in short: he was shown to be mortal.

I was not impressed with the UFC-Shogun; he was not the same fighter he was in Pride, probably because of the different rules in America, and the cage vs. the ring (which, incidentally, plays to the strengths of the big, strong, drag-you-to-the-cage-and-lay-on-you-occasionally-using-an-elbow-to-open-a-cut wrestlers and not the entertaining strikers). But this was the Pride Shogun. He was strong, he was fit, and he had the game plan. We were told before the fight that he practiced 1000 kicks a day in preparation for this bout, and his resting heart rate was the lowest of any fighter cleared by the CSAC: 42 BPM.

And yet somehow, even with the announcers, the Sherdog columnists, and the fightcount strike tabulator all having Shogun as the winner, the judges gave the victory to Lyoto Machida. How? Why?

It's easy to lay the blame on Shogun for not clearly finishing the fight. You leave it to the judges and you take what they give you, but the man clearly outpointed the champ, even ray charles could see that. He certainly could have heard the cracking sounds Shogun's shins made when they slashed across Lyoto's surely-splintered ribs. His corner told him he was way ahead going into the fourth and fifth rounds, so he kept his game plan up and didn't go in for the kill; the very thing Lyoto was waiting for, and a move that could have gotten him caught and knocked out. In short, he fought a smart, technical fight against his own frothing maniac nature.

So, why would the judges clearly give the fight to the loser? Corruption? It wouldn't be the first time the CSAC has been accused of corruption in MMA or boxing. Cecil Peoples in particular has been on the wrong end of many controversial decisions. An antiquated judging system? Very likely. A Ten-Point Must System is barely suited to boxing, and is outright NOT
suitable for MMA.

What concerns me the most, though, is that for all Lyoto's Way of the Samurai training, and talk of honor and respect, and his father's posturing of discipline, he accepted a belt he knew he hadn't won. At the press conference he was asked repeatedly if he thought he won, and he avoided the question. Lyoto, you were in the cage, you knew the score, you felt the hits: you know Shogun beat you fairly, squarely, and soundly that day. An honorable man, a gentleman would give the belt to the true champion: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.