You are Right "Mr. T" there is a Conspiracy in the Match my friend

yes, this article is a diversion from the very topic it covers. good call. your comment seems to divert quite a bit more than the article, but thanks. and yes, all the things you said about rampage seem to be true given this new light provided for us, but that has nothing to do with whether or not people still want to see him fight....they just might want to see him lose now. everybody knows he's still a great LHW, maybe not a champion but who knows...there's always a rematch with rua that would definitely sell. as well as plenty of others. so to answer your rhetorical, there's quite a few people who care.

allen! rampage is a fighter not a coach! a diversion? wtf are u talking about

and while we're staying on topic...rampage does kind of have a point, but you still just can't compare. totally different fight, different judges (i think!), different performances by both fighters and the question of whether or not forrest had a 10-8 round against rampage. BUT, if i was in rampage's shoes i'd probably be tired of hearing that crap too.

The comment from Rampage was about what Goldberg said at UFC 104 that to be the champ you have to beat the champ. Meaning: you have to beat the champ definitively. Rampage's arguement is that his loss to Griffin wasn't definitive, so Goldberg's arguement isn't true. That said, I have to agree with lole's article that the judges aren't to blame, but Rua's corner who advized him not to press the fight in rounds 4 & 5. Rua could have clinched it if he had really taken it to Machida in the final rounds. While Machida appeared more damaged at the end of the fight, neither fighter clearly overwhelmed the other. Neither was in danger of a knockout. I thought Rua had won three of the rounds, so I was surprised he didn't win. But, I'm not a judge and, like Rua said, "A fight is a fight. What are you going to do?"

Why is Rampage even talking about fighting?? How can he be bitter?? He backed out of his latest fight to "act". He has lost his heart and I guarantee that you will hear him talk more about fighting yet never fight again. Rampage is a joker...............I bet Dana is VERY glad that he bailed out/backed up and defended this idiot.........Way to go Page, back out of the UFC "who gave you all you have" and then "talk" about poor decisions. Good luck with your acting, I bet you are the next Will Smith....

Look, the scoring system is flawed, given the current system, that fight legitimately could have gone either way. I also felt like Rampage shouldn't have lost his title with that fight, and if I were him, I'd be pissed too if the old adage worked in favor of one champ, and I was the one left in the cold when people forgot all about it. Although it's hard for me to back a guy who quit on his team and skipped out on his obligation as a coach to fight the other coach, I'd feel further slighted........................... The 10 point must system is difficult to implement in a 3 and 5 round fight, it makes much more sense in using it for 12 3 round fights. With the current system one fighter could edge out the other guy in 3 rounds and get dominated in the 2 others and win a title. That seems to happen more in 3 round fights. It's my belief that the 10-10 round should be used more often, or even start using a half point system and go with a 10-9.5 round for really close rounds that have a more clear winner. Of course that still leaves the scoring of effective leg kicks off the table, in hindsight effective leg kicks can do more damage than they're given credit for (or vise versa). That makes me think there should be the possibility for "attrition" points at the end of a fight that can be tacked on for things seen in a different light at the end of a fight. Of course then that could be misused as well. There are pros and cons to any system, but a new one should be considered.

In defense of Rampage talking about fighting after quitting, if you've ever been a part of a combat sport, like being on a wrestling team, golden gloves, anything like that, you get worn down. The fight/match is the easy part, the hard part is the preparation and focus day after day, that along with cutting weight. People talk all the time about the "coulda woulda shoulda"s. In their pickup games, following their NFL team, at work. People have regrets in life for things they've done, and things they didn't do. Rampage isn't too far removed from fighting, he already had a breakdown, the man needs some peace. I'm sick and tired of people treating fighters like they're pieces on a chessboard. They are real people, living real lives, and I can almost guarantee their real life is much harder than yours. It's really easy to forget that these fighters have their own families, and own lives to look after. Do you think he cares that you or I won't get to see him fight on an upcoming PPV right now? Maybe he'll change his mind, maybe he'll come back and fight Rashad, even if the luster of the fight is lost by then. I'm selfish too, I really wanted to see that fight, I have a hard time backing him up after him quitting on his guys, and quitting on the sport, but he's a man, a human, and his life comes before our entertainment.

WRONG!!!! Example: Round 2, Griffing takes Rampage down and is ground and pounding his ass, tries several submission attempts(e.g. americana) and even gets him into FULL mount!!!!
All Rua did was leg kicks; that does NOT win you the title!!!! Machida STUFFED all of Rua's takedown attempts which also COUNT on the cards(good defense counts ppl!!!!)

It's a stupid saying, but it changes nothing. Machida won a very close fight. Jackson on the other hand lost and lost clearly. Jackson and Rua are not in similar situations.

I get sick of hearing that also. It is like some people feel the champ deserves extra points, just because he is the champ. Some say that close rounds should always go to the champ...and some go as far as to say that a champ should never lose a decision. I say B.S. on all accounts. The belt should not factor in one bit when it comes to judging a fight. Of course, we will never know how the judges really think....with the Machida decision, it seems they followed all these BS thoughts.
The judges should be able to score a round 10 10 or 9 9 or even 8 8..... If a round is too close to call a winner, then make it a draw. I think it would be rarely used as there is usually a clear winner of a round. It would have been used the other night though....and Rua would have won the fight. (maybe)

The Machida/Rua fight was like watching a sparring session. Rua looked very good and proved that he was very deserving of the title shot. Either way it was a good display for both fighters and the UFC.

Honestly I've been reading most of the comments on these blogs, I really don't see why people are so upset! First off, after watching the fight, I have to agree Shogun probably won a close fight based on the leg kicks. But C'mon, this was NOT a regular MMA bout. This was a championship fight!
The difference is that in a Championship fight, if you're the challenger.. You have to prove that you are the BETTER fighter. You have to DESERVE to take the belt from the Champion. I don't think Shogun did anything to DESERVE that belt! yeah the leg kicks were great, but non of them knocked Machida down or did serious damage!
In a regular fight, Shogun probably would've won that fight, because nothing would be at stake! But in a Championship fight, the Champion always has the advantage in a close fight and it should always remain the way.
If you EARN a Belt like Machida, Silva or GSP did, you deserve to be treated better than other fighters who don't have one!

I just think it's hilarious that a phrase coined by Ric Flair is all Machida fans can come up with to defend him.
The quote is bull [profane] of the best kind. It implies that a champ gets special scoring privileges, and anyone that believes that, is not a true fan of the sport.
Go back to Pro Wrestling.....

jayyolf you lousy moron why don't you change your tiring leg kick comments and think of something smart for a change!

Anderson Leites, you are just mad 'cause you know I'm right, AND I am not the only one saying that comment you retarded jackass

Rampage is WRONG!!!!! His fight with Griffin was totally different; Griffin did more to TAKE the belt!
Example: Round 2, last couple of minutes: Griffing takes Rampage down and is ground and pounding his ass, tries several submission attempts(e.g. americana) and even gets him into FULL mount!!!!
I didn't see Rua do anything close to that, so STFU you bunch of fkkkking CRYBABIES!!!!
REMATCH will tell all, so until then, STFU and STOP CRYING!!!!!!

just for the record - the quote is "to be the man you have to beat the man." this quote means that if u wanna be the best you have to beat the best. it doesnt say u have to knock him out or sumbit him or completely dominate him. all it means is you have to beat him. it doesnt matter if its by a large margin or a small margin. in order to gain a victory, a person only needs to be just a little bit better than the loser.

Steven W, you came out of hiding. Still no comment on the Machida vs Shogun fight? Was it embarrasing that with your encyclopedic knowledge of MMA you were calling total domination by Machida, pre-fight? What are your thoughts now that you've seen the fight? Being a Machida loyalist, are you sticking by the judges decision?

Hey nice to hear from the big time action star himself! His fight with Forrest was so different that he should really stick to acting and funny one liners like "GOT-Gum ?" Forrest was on top of him for a whole round and knocked him down and had him limping all over the place. Rua never came close to anything like that. "GOT-Brain?"

I think the scoring should be posted after each round so that a fighter can know where they stand. That way the fighter knows definitely what they have to do so secure a victory. UFC should abandon its scoring system similarity with boxing. For the record I can understand Rampage's perspective as it appeared that Forrest was the Golden Boy to be (until Run Forrest Run) & Machida has an Era before he defends the belt.

smokin joe.....wasn't hiding, just had better things to do over the weekend....imagine that. but here i am, so i'll bite.....i think the decision was crappy, but not surprising, we've seen worse. i called rua to win, but i had it 3-2. and yes, i do think that i know a lot about mma and its history when compared to 99% of mma fans, however i never claimed the ability to predict the outcome of a fight accurately. yes i called for machida to win, and said i thought he'd beat rua handily. however, if you recall i also knocked the seriously one-sided odds against rua as there is no way in hell machida should have been favored as much as he was...i then proceeded to mention rua's accolades as if to remind people of what he's done. by the end of round 2 i was convinced that rua was going to take it. his approach seemed to be much better than any before, staying tight and moving forward with hands up while keeping his lateral exits open. rua saw that machida only had about 3 different responses to his offenses: rush-in thai clinch/flying knee to body/head, counter rua's right low kick with either a left jab/straight or right kick/sweep followed by left straight. rua slowly began to anticipate those movements and before too long had machida running even more than he normally does. and dude, since when does predicing a win for any particular fighter make you a "loyalist?" i'm an mma loyalist man, that's about it....good fights are what keeps me watching these things, not individual fighters, fighting styles or organizations.

to clarify....above i said i called rua to win....i meant after the fight i had rua winning. before the fight i predicted machida would win.

Steven W "and while we're staying on topic...rampage does kind of have a point, but you still just can't compare. totally different fight, different judges (i think!), different performances by both fighters and the question of whether or not forrest had a 10-8 round against rampage. BUT, if i was in rampage's shoes i'd probably be tired of hearing that crap too."
Rampage "Kind of has a point"? So you're also suggesting that the challenger has to "beat the champ to become the champ"? You seem like a person of logic and reason though that comment falls shamefully flat. The very basis that "you have to beat the champ to become the champ" suggests that before the bell even sounds and a strike is even thrown the challenger is losing the fight because the Champion has already been spotted a point for being the champion. What's the point of even having judges if that's the case? Wouldn't that be considered "fixing a fight" since the challenger is already behind on the scorecards before a strike has ever even been thrown? Rethink your logic on that one, it's fundamentally flawed. And Nelson Hamilton, the judge who scored round 4 for MACHIDA was one of the judges in the Rampage vs Forrest fight so to correct your assumption, no, they were not all different judges.