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Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:15 pm EDT

After dubious decision, peeved fighters back 'Shogun' on Twitter

By Steve Cofield

The firestorm has just begun. If you missed it last night. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua gave UFC light heavyweight Lyoto Machida a great fight but dropped a unanimous decision (48-47 on all cards). It's been difficult to find anyone who gave Machida the decision. In fact, the word "robbed" is being used a lot. Fighters like Shane Carwin and Joe Lauzon pointed out that Rua made a mistake by not attacking more and leaving in the hands of the judges. 

The only fighter I could find on Twitter who agreed with the decision was Josh Thomson, who argued with followers for a few hours after the fight was in the books.

On the flip side, the most angry guy was Jamie Varner. The 25-year-old is a bit of a powderkeg. He called the decision the worst in UFC history.  


Worst decision in fight history? I beg to differ with "The Worm." 

I was cageside and had the fight 48-47 for Rua but didn't feel one ounce of outrage when the decision was announced. It was a tight fight throughout with four rounds that were difficult to score.Believe anyone who attended the Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield fight at Madison Square Garden in 1999 knows that fights blow away this one. Most observers had Lewis winning by three or rounds. It was called a draw when one judge scored it 115-115 and Eugenia Williams gave it to Holyfield 115-113. 

Fighters aren't showing very much perspective on this one. It's the nature of the game. When fights go to a decision there's going to be arguments on both sides. Don't we all win in the end? We'll get another war between these guys some time in 2010. Seems to me the level outrage here is similar to the amount of overhype than ensued when Machida crushed Evans and became the "unbeatable" force. 

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229 Comments

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  1. GCT
    1. Posted by GCT Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:44 pm EDT

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    MACHIDA WON THE FIGHT POINTIWSE , THERE IS NO DISPUTING THIS ...
    pointwise people , the emphasis here is pointwise ... all of the explanations that I've encountered so far for Shogun winning the fight are infantile
    c'mon just exactly how did Shogun win the fight pointwise ? I've went through the fight round by round and
    - Machida had cleaner and more significant strikes , most of them were simultaneously countered with Shogun's kicks and most of them were body strikes .
    - People give round 2 to Machida by a narrow margin ... clearly biased , Machida had WAY more cleaner strikes .... if you want to dispute this BE SPECIFIC .
    - Machida made the most significant rally of the fight at the end of the third round .
    Shogun did well in the fifth round where he scored significant strikes to the head .
    Again POINTWISE how is it that anyone ... ANYONE .... gives Shogun more points , the outline of points that I've made cannot be disputed . Machida simply scored more points with cleaner and significant strikes - unless we're counting leg kicks .
  2. adolfo d
    2. Posted by adolfo d Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:50 pm EDT

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    No. 2 is an idiot. UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Maurico "Shogun" Rua won that fight by a wide margin.
  3. mariannab
    3. Posted by mariannab Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:51 pm EDT

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    Difficult to score. Wow
  4. event horizon
    4. Posted by event horizon Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:54 pm EDT

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    And Jamie Varner said what???? Oh that's right I'm scared of cerrone..Now shut the hell up Varner...
  5. Luis C
    5. Posted by Luis C Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:06 pm EDT

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    GcT, You are a moron. The numbers are in, Rua landed more strikes. Did you even see the fight? or you just like looking like an idiot?
    Shogun landed 82 strikes out of 149.
    Lyoto landed 42 strikes out of 116.
    Shogun had 55% accuracy
    Lyoto had 36% accuracy
    Shogun landed 17 shots to the head (12 power shots).
    Lyoto landed 14 shots to the head (8 power shots).
    Lyoto landed 24 shots to the body
    Shogun landed 16 shots to the body
    Shogun landed 49 leg kicks.
    Lyoto landed 4 leg kicks.
    Shogun landed 48 strikes from distance.
    Lyoto landed 26 strikes from distance.
    Shogun landed 34 strikes from the clinch.
    Lyoto landed 16 strikes from the clinch.
  6. event horizon
    6. Posted by event horizon Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:11 pm EDT

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    Honestly it's a sad day for shogun and mma fans that was the worst judging EVER....and Machida should hang his head in disgrace........If Machida has any hopes of beating Shogun he better quit drinking his own pee and start training NOW....Oh wait??? As soon as his legs deflate..
  7. tired of the whiners
    7. Posted by tired of the whiners Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:12 pm EDT

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    I agree with #2 and with the some of the stuff the Yahoo guys said in their articles also. If you look at the fight with an unbiased eye you could see rounds 1 and 2 going either way with points. Nothing really significant on either side. Razor close and I could see Machida winning those with some of his crisp strikes. Round 3 was more in Machidas favor just on the rally he had with the rest of the round the same as the first two. Four and five were all Rua for sure. Bottom line though is that Rua played it careful and pissed that fight away. You can't blame Machida or the judges, only Shogun. He could have turned up the heat and won that. He didn't want to be knocked out though so he stuck to a gameplan that put it in the judges hands. Thats the way it goes. It was obvious that Machida was hurting from those kicks and was not as elusive in the 4th and 5th. Shogun shoulda capitalized but instead he will face a more determined Lyoto with a better gameplan in their rematch and sadly will probably blow his second chance as well. The Shogun I saw that night was not the guy from the Pride days. They would have eaten him alive in Pride had he fought like that. Too bad.
  8. Sandman
    8. Posted by Sandman Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:16 pm EDT

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    I was so wrong in my pre-fight analysis. I admit it. Rua won the fight handily. Good thing I did not bet.
    I believe that the mob (who owns the UFC) did not want to pay out on a Rua win. I'm not much for conspiracy theories. But in this case it just boils down to $$$$ and cents. The line on the fight was crazy in favor of Machida, making a Rua victory worth lots of money to the one betting and disastrous for the bookie.
    Many placed bets on Rua in the event that he might win (which was perceived to be near impossible). The Books freaked out when Rua won and did not want to pay. Since it was a decision, the judges could go as instructed, with Machida.
  9. tired of the whiners
    9. Posted by tired of the whiners Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:18 pm EDT

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    The stats are fine if you judged it by those but before you go calling people idiots and morons think about it. thats not how it works. Now break the totals down into the individual rounds and we can discuss that. If Shogun landed more significant strikes, kicks etc in bigger numbers in three seperate rounds then you are right, Shogun won. But just because a strike is landed doesn't make it the more significant event in a round. When the rounds are that close like 1 and 2 it gets real technical as far as judging. You can't just look at the totals and percentages for a fight and judge it.
  10. christian s
    10. Posted by christian s Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:32 pm EDT

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    colfield youre an idiot. varner said worst decision in UFC history and you go diving into boxing matches. great journalism.
  11. tired of the whiners
    11. Posted by tired of the whiners Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:38 pm EDT

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    I cant believe Varner has made any comments when he falls into the worst in mma category as well. "The Worm" sure does fit him as a nick.
  12. wave f
    12. Posted by wave f Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:40 pm EDT

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    i just finished watching the fight and there is no way possible that Machida won that fight in any round. He lost every round. Shogun was robbed and im pretty sure the judges were Machidas family members. I guess the dragon can be beat--lmao
  13. Robert C
    13. Posted by Robert C Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:42 pm EDT

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    When a lot of people have it 4 round to 1 and even more have it 3-2 all in favor of Shogun...and not ONE judge gave Rua the nod. Well, that just doesn't feel right. If at least one judge would have sided with Rua, I am not sure there would be this much uproar. Yes, still uproar, but it is just a big slap in the face for it to have been unanimous for Machida.
    Some people act like the champ is always spotted points because he is champ. And you have to take it away etc.... All BS in my mind. A title fight should be scored without biased to who has the belt.
    Rua should be upset, but so should RAMPAGE. How does he lose to Forrest when Forrest did not do as well as Rua did in this fight?
    But also think about this....who would have been next in line for a title shot? Can you think of anyone? Probably not....so now we will have Rua/Machida II. Funny how nicely that worked out, huh?
  14. jojohn1958
    14. Posted by jojohn1958 Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:56 pm EDT

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    At the end of the day the fix is in, Machida keeps his title, Rua gets a quick rematch, The UFC makes more money. So win, win, win!? Not really. This decision hurt the sport of MMA and its developemant. The UFC being the premiere MMA organization has a duty to have the best refs and that money can buy and the best MMA officiating judges (yes MMA officials not boxing officials) the ahthletic commision can provide. Right now the UFC by default, is MMA. What the UFC does directly effects the evolution of MMA. I for one stop buying the PPV cards after #100. I had seen all 100 cards as well as all the WEC/ Strikeforce/Elite-XC/ Pride. The economy is tuff right now and I fine it hard shelling out $50 bucks for fixed sprts. The way the UFC is going, they will have to do what the WWE did and call themselves "Sport Entertainment"! All the MMA fighters on twitter and more then 90% of the fans posted comments agree Rua won and was robbed. I hope Dana is reading this! Thanks
  15. jayyolf1
    15. Posted by jayyolf1 Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:14 pm EDT

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    GREAT DECISION!!!! Send the message that you can't win the TITLE on LEG KICKS!!!!! Rua left it too close and did NOT do enough to TAKE the belt......the end
  16. Beaver Fever
    16. Posted by Beaver Fever Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:23 pm EDT

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    Strikefarce, Dana? How about Ultimate Farce Championship. Kevin Iole? What a fat-faced tool. Dana must be feeding you donuts with special icing on them. Word to fighters, especially Rua: finish the dam fight the way Bellicheck finishes a football game (eh, without the cheating part...). Run up the score, and leave no possibility of doubt, just in case.
  17. James
    17. Posted by James Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:25 pm EDT

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    Sandman just might be my favorite poster of all time. In one sentence he claims the UFC is owned by the mob and in the very next sentence he says he doesn't believe in conspiracy theories. Hey moron, pick a side. Either you believe in BS or you don't believe in BS. Shogun clearly won the fight, but the judges somehow didn't see it that way. I don't know why, but to claim the mob was involved shows that some people watch WAY to many movies. One thing I've noticed about MMA events is that some moron is always going to claim a fight is fixed. It could be a KO, submission, decision, whatever....some idiot is going to claim some inside knowledge of how things "really" work. Just watch the fights and stop all the damn conspiracy theories. You sound like NBA fans now.
  18. Doc Martin
    18. Posted by Doc Martin Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:30 pm EDT

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    Fights can't be decided on a big picture basis. At least not with the current scoring system. You have to take it round by round. I believe there needs to be more 10-10 rounds if there isn't a decisive winner. Also there should be 1 or 2 "attrition" points available after fights to add to a final score ONLY to assess the grinding damage done for stuff like leg kicks. It still wouldn't be perfect, but there has GOT to be a way to better score MMA fights, the boxing 10 point must system doesn't work in 3 and 5 round fights. There is too much room for close's rounds to go the wrong way and more dominant rounds being worth exactly the same on the score cards.
  19. boxy55
    19. Posted by boxy55 Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:54 pm EDT

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    Number 12 says it all!! If Rua lands 1000 strikes in a five round fight and Machida only lands 100 strikes in five rounds he can still win if Rua landed all of his strikes in just two rounds. Number 7; since you have all the knowledge and an honorary judgeship break the striking down round by round for us "we of little knowledge"!!
  20. Sandman
    20. Posted by Sandman Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:56 pm EDT

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    @ James
    First, the mob does own the UFC, retard. This is a fact. Are you really that stupid?
    Second, I said "I'm not much for conspiracy theories..." YOU CAN NOT READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The key words were "I'm not much for" which means that I would not normally invoke such a theory. However this is an unusual case that warrants the exception. It is warranted because of the money involved!!!!!!
    Third, you are a tyro fool. If you think the bookies would happily pay off on a Rua upset you are the clown, the "idiot."
    Learn to read and think. Get a sense of what happens in the real world, outside of your trailer park.
  21. Sandman
    21. Posted by Sandman Sun Oct 25, 2009 4:00 pm EDT

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    Jackoff1
    You are still pushing the leg kick theory? You need to re-watch the fight. Machida was torn up by a fusillade of strikes, many of which were leg kicks. But many of them were NOT mere leg kicks. For example, Machida’s welted abdominal section was due to leg kicks to the mid section. Machida’s jacked up face was due to strikes, such as elbows, punches, knees, etc. Watch the fight again and get a realistic sense of what went down.
  22. adolfo d
    22. Posted by adolfo d Sun Oct 25, 2009 4:18 pm EDT

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    The UFC is BS it has been like that for years with Dana White a the helm. Lesnar a title shot after two fights?(one a loss). Bisping and Leben headlining a major card! WTF? TUF 1 Fight night being called the fight that changed the Sport??(for who??) I was seeing great fights in Pride years before that ever happened. Rampage kicks liddells azz in Pride then liddell returns to UFC and gets HYped Up . Liddell being called the baddest guy in the planet??? Jackson comes to the UFC and whoops his azz again.
    Keep drinkin the kool aid
  23. go00boozy
    23. Posted by go00boozy Sun Oct 25, 2009 4:22 pm EDT

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    People can [profane] about this all they want, but at the end of the day, it will not change a thing. There has never been a decision reversed cause the fans thought the other guy should have won. This isn't the 1st time this has happened, and it won't be the last. Rua will get a rematch... and he better learn how to end the fight and not leave it up to the judges until then.

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