My thoughts

ohiovol62 wrote:

captain organic wrote:

Im very surprised how many people see this as a robbery. 1st 2 rounds were very close and traditionally the champ gets those rounds. Rua's biggest weapons was kicks to the legs and kicks to the body, but it seemed that with each of those kicks Lyoto was landing counter punches over the top. That seemed to be the whole fight. Most people liked Rua's kicks, but I thought the counter punches over the top were the more productive strikes.

But very close fight fought at a very high level. I def have to rewatch. perhaps my view will change.

The first two rounds were close that is agreed but they weren't so close that they are given to the champ by default. Shogun was the aggressor and landed more strikes it seemed to me. We'll have to looks at the stats to make sure.

I agree with you, I would have given both rounds to Rua. All I'm saying is that they were close enough for me to not come down too hard on this decision. I've heard people talk about it as if it's the worst decision in the history of the sport, which is absurd IMO.

snd_dsgnr wrote:

ohiovol62 wrote:

snd_dsgnr wrote:

ohiovol62 wrote:

Somebody in vegas was about to lose a lot of money so he made a phone call. And if you think that statement is crazy then come up with a better explanation. Tell me.

Better explanation: It was a close fight in the early rounds, the judges gave those rounds to Machida, questionable decisions are nothing new to any sport that employs judges.

There, no ridiculous conspiracy theories needed.

That's also not how Vegas works. They set lines to try to split the money coming in on any event to as close to 50/50 as possible. Vegas makes money no matter who wins fights, football games, basketball games, etc.

I don't think it ridiculous which were Machida's three rounds? All these analysts, MMA commentators and bloggers are saying the same thing. Nobody scored that fight for Machida. Meanwhile all three judges scored that fight for Machida? I would have been ok with a draw, but when I heard the announcer say unanimous decision, I thought well they gave it to Shogun. But when they said unanimous decision in favor of Machida my jaw dropped. Like I said I haven't read anyone's article saying Machida won. Dana even said Shogun won. Machida didn't even think he won, he had is head down. And the only time he was the aggressor was toward the end of R5 because he thought he had lost it. Like I said I know it's a CRAZY idea and I'm usually not one for conspiracy theories but I just can't add this up. JMO

Conspiracy theories are pretty much always ridiculous. How exactly would a phone call have been made that would sway all three judges? How is such a scenario more likely than the judges having a different opinion, or the judges simply being incompetent?

Like I said, the first three rounds were much closer than people are acknowledging. I would have only scored round 3 in Machida's favor, but I can see how someone would go his way on 1 and 2.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Machida maybe won two rounds at best and thats a big stretch. There's no way three judges could have found 3 rounds in favor of Machida. My statement of a "phone call" was just a figure of speech. Jmo

snd_dsgnr wrote:

ohiovol62 wrote:

captain organic wrote:

Im very surprised how many people see this as a robbery. 1st 2 rounds were very close and traditionally the champ gets those rounds. Rua's biggest weapons was kicks to the legs and kicks to the body, but it seemed that with each of those kicks Lyoto was landing counter punches over the top. That seemed to be the whole fight. Most people liked Rua's kicks, but I thought the counter punches over the top were the more productive strikes.

But very close fight fought at a very high level. I def have to rewatch. perhaps my view will change.

The first two rounds were close that is agreed but they weren't so close that they are given to the champ by default. Shogun was the aggressor and landed more strikes it seemed to me. We'll have to looks at the stats to make sure.

I agree with you, I would have given both rounds to Rua. All I'm saying is that they were close enough for me to not come down too hard on this decision. I've heard people talk about it as if it's the worst decision in the history of the sport, which is absurd IMO.

I would agree that its not the worst in history. However, It was a very bad decision in a very important title match which gives it more exposure than other bad calls. The UFC LHW division is the most important and most prestigious title IMO. It def sets up a nice rematch. lol

Worst in history probably not but terrible? Hell yes!!! Shogun won the fight and I hate the concept that every close round goes to the champ. WHY?? These judges are paid to judge the fight and it the round is that close call the round even. There doesnt have to be a winner every round but just cause some1 is the champ shouldnt mean he gets all ties in the judgeing.

timthebim wrote:

Worst in history probably not but terrible? Hell yes!!! Shogun won the fight and I hate the concept that every close round goes to the champ. WHY?? These judges are paid to judge the fight and it the round is that close call the round even. There doesnt have to be a winner every round but just cause some1 is the champ shouldnt mean he gets all ties in the judgeing.

Bingo. The Champ has a lot of advantages as it is, and rightfully so. But inside the cage the fighters are equal and all bias should end there. We're opening a can of worms here when we say the close rounds go to the champ. I appreciate Machida's as a fighter but Shogun was the more aggressive fighter throughout the fight. Machida was backing up the entire fight and that has to count for something in a close fight. Shogun has more strikes, more attempts and had the most successful strikes that inflicted more damage than was done to him. Combine that with the fact that the tempo of fight was pretty much controlled by Shogun I cannot understand the decision.

snd_dsgnr wrote:

Personally I thought Shogun won 49-46 with Machida winning only the 3rd round, but I didn't see it as anything close to the robbery that people seem to see it as.

Rounds 4 and 5 were decisively won by Rua, round 3 I thought Machida won with that flurry at the 1:00 mark or so. Rounds 1 and 2 though, I rewatched them and they were extremely close. I would have scored both for Shogun, but I wouldn't exactly call it a robbery that the judges gave them to Machida.

Seriously, if you recorded it go back and watch the early rounds again. I think people are more outraged than they maybe ought to be because the final images of that fight were of Shogun dominating 4 and 5. Rounds 1-3 really were much closer.

In any case, Shogun looked fantastic last night. His performance definitely warranted a rematch, and I'm pretty confident he'll get it. Judging by Dana White's facial reaction to the decision I don't think we'll have to wait very long to see it either.

Did you watch the flurry in slo mo after? Shogun landed the most effective blows during that flurry but since Machida was the one moving forward and attacking it looked like he landed more at regular speed.

All in all this was one of the most horrific decisions I've ever seen. The Rampage v Griffin decision was bad but it wasn't even close to as bad as this one. Shogun picked Machida apart from start to finish with devastating kicks and when he would land a punch it was heavy.

Machida, Dana, Lorenzo, and anyone else with half a brain knows who won that fight. Oh, and Machida's family will know today when he can walk or laugh from the bruising on his legs and ribs.

Fucking judging is garbage in this sport...it makes me sick.

And Kingsown, you've got Machida's balls on your tonsils if you can honestly say you thought he won that fight.

We have to see a rematch, but it is BS, now Machida who is an elite fighter knows what he needs to work on, now Shogun has to come with a whole different game plan. Instead of like always the beaten champ having to work his way back up to get another shot. Can Shogun be that perfect again, will Machida lay back like he did. Shogun pressed the action the whole fight, Machida layed back and tried to counter, complete bullshit.

First stop calling the Forrest-Rampage fight a bad decision because it was close, but not bad.

Second I think Shogun will be 10x more confident the 2nd time around. He knows he can take it Machida. There is not more aura about how untouchable Machida is. Maybe instead of kicking & getting out of range Shogun can kick then transition into more punches like he did once, maybe twice last night.

i thought Shogun won but im really interested in seeing a rematch and seeing if Machida can adjust to that type of style cause if he cant Shogun probably will get the decision next time.

I was out doing other things for my birthday so I missed the fights.. but I am getting a kick at reading all of the comments..

From what I have gathered is Machida won the 3rd round and shogun won the 4th and 5th .. and that the first 2 rounds were close, but it seems a lot of you were "leaning" towards shogun for those rounds with the leg kicks (although countered some are saying) and failed take down attempts ... So whatever .. im not the kind of person who thinks you have to knock out the champ or that the champ gets any advantages but to start hearing people say "RIGGED" (shogun vs spider would be a big sell) or "THE SPORT IS GOING TO SHIT!" .. is just making me laugh.. he will get his rematch and if he really was 50,000 times better than Machida (as a lot of you are saying) he should have no problems putting it to him again

P.S. I will watch the fight so dont go swine flu on me.. I just havnt been home much.. which has slowed my Pick'em production down a bit.. always tomorrow.

Yeah, I can't think any rigging went on here. Shogun vs. Anderson Silva would have been HUGE! Bigger than any rematch.

I find it funny how everyone who thought that Shogun didn't deserve this fight are now his biggest fans.

boomer sooner wrote:

Yeah, I can't think any rigging went on here. Shogun vs. Anderson Silva would have been HUGE! Bigger than any rematch.

I find it funny how everyone who thought that Shogun didn't deserve this fight are now his biggest fans.

Just because people didn't think he deserved a title shot doesn't mean they weren't fans of his to begin with. Personally, I didn't think Shogun earned a title shot yet but I fully know what a great fighter he is and I've been a fan of his for a long time. Most people knew Shogun was capable of beating anyone in the division if his cardio is where it needs to be and he was 100 percent healthy.

Funny to see the 1% of Machida fans running to their guys defense... The other 99% of his fans are admitting the truth since it was THAT obvious, but for some reason that 1% and the 3 idiot judges are sticking to their unloaded guns... Fight the good fight Kings et al...

boomer sooner wrote:

Yeah, I can't think any rigging went on here. Shogun vs. Anderson Silva would have been HUGE! Bigger than any rematch.

I find it funny how everyone who thought that Shogun didn't deserve this fight are now his biggest fans.

I thought he deserved the fight as much as anyone else in the division. So it wasn't everyone.