Isn't this why we watch?

I think Shogun won the fight. Maybe some of you don't (it's ok, there are a few of you out there.) But, isn't this why MMA is so intriguing? The upper echelon fighters are clearly distinguishable when they fight, but even at that level, anyone can fucking win! Too many times we here or argue that a fighter is unbeatable or too good to lose to another fighter. Machida, Fedor, Spider, Gsp (demonstrably): they can all be beaten. That sometimes provable or not-yet-proven fact is ultimately what makes their respective dominance more impressive. I never really bought into Machida (check out any of my posts in the run-up to 104), but he's "undefeated" in 15 fights. Fedor hasn't lost in a bajillion years. Silva hasn't lost in a long time, and hasn't appeared vulnerable (even in a lackluster performance in the Leites fight). GSP's ludicrous loss to Serra, and subsequent domination of everyone. But the fact remains, it only takes one punch, or one lapse in judgement to lose. They've all been exposed to a certain degree-- whether it was Shogun outclassing Machida, Silva getting caught in an absolutely ridiculous scissor kick take down and heel hook, fujita clipping Fedor, or Serra and GSP. But, their respective runs are really, really impressive.

Not just anyone can fight at the highest levels like these guys, but sometimes crazy things happen. That's why Fedor followers (like myself, perhaps nuthugger would be better for some) are nervous about the Brett Rogers fight. Without question Fedor is a more talented/refined fighter in almost every area that matters. But Rogers might punch Fedor's head into the 3rd row! Anything can happen! And unfortunately tonight, IMO, Rua was robbed of a hard-fought victory.

Yeah i watch cause any1 can win but I also became a huge fan cause I got tired of all the bullshit decsions in boxing and I think this 1 in the Shogun fight was as bad as some of the boxing endings. Every1 there knew Shogun won that fight yet Machida keeps his belt?? Frastrating for the fans and Shogun looked devastated himself. He trains for 2 months has a great gameplan and is screwed over by the judges.

I don't watch because I wanna see fighters get screwed out of fight they have clearly won.

At the very least, this garbage of putting Machida #4 on the P4P list without any title defenses is gonna stop. I like what Machida has brought to the table as far as his skill set but I think it makes for a boring fight sometimes. When your game plan is to sit around and wait for your opponent to make a mistake thats fine but when at the end of five rounds and your opponent hasn't made any mistakes and as been the aggressor you need to take the loss. Not Machida's fault, he knew he lost, but the judges dropped the ball on this one.

ohiovol62 wrote:

At the very least, this garbage of putting Machida #4 on the P4P list without any title defenses is gonna stop. I like what Machida has brought to the table as far as his skill set but I think it makes for a boring fight sometimes. When your game plan is to sit around and wait for your opponent to make a mistake thats fine but when at the end of five rounds and your opponent hasn't made any mistakes and as been the aggressor you need to take the loss. Not Machida's fault, he knew he lost, but the judges dropped the ball on this one.

Agreed

I watch the fight to see the guy who deserves to win, get the fight, there is nothing else Shogun could've done to win that fight, he slowed him down the brutal kicks, he punched him, he attacked him, he went for takedowns, if that is the kind of bullshit judging that is coming into this sport, than it will lose me as a fan, if it is all rigged for the rematch, then we can now call this sport boxing part 2, and a little WWE as well with the jackass of a Heavyweight champion.