I dont hate Machida but he should have been honest when asked about if he thought he won, you could tell he knew he lost judging by his looks before the decision & his suprise when they called his name. Shogun answered the debate as to who was the top LHWT in MMA.
He must have been very unsure. He may have felt he lost, but he had his corner telling he had won, and if all 3 judges gave it to him, that would re-affirm that. It's not like he was totally dominated either, so coupled with his corner and the judges, i can see why he might have thought he did win As for the best LHW, you think Shogun could beat Anderson?
I don't have a problem with Machida (and I still really like him) my problem is the scoring, I now consider and will call Shogun the UFC LT Hvy Champ. I do, Anderson isn't very aggressive verses dangerous opponents, plus I think Anderson won't take the fight anyway.
Because DURING the fight, when Machida would land upstairs while shogun would land a kick to the thigh or body you'd only here Rogan comment on the kick -- this happened SO many times it's not even funny. It's like Rogan was only watching Shogun out there. Oh and by the way guys, Shoguns midsection was red the whole fight too.
Yes, Id pick Shogun over Anderson but Id pick Anderson or Shogun (as I did) over Machida, those 3 are the cream of the crop tho, I just feel a 100% fit Rua is the best p4p fighter in MMA bar Fedor.
yea but it was only alittle pink, Machida had blood blistering going on. Shoguns kick where by far more effective then Machidas punches.
So, when Machida hit Shogun's fist with his face 20 seconds into the round & when he landed a vicious head butt to Shogun's elbow with a few seconds left, did you count those as body shots for Machida or were they counter rights? The fact that you only had Shogun landing 3 leg kicks and nothing else (0 knees? seriously?) says everything about your scoring.
To be honest coming out of Pride i thought for sure he was gona be the guy argued for p4p #1 along Fedor instead A.Silva or GSP.
Odd way to justify the win. This is like saying Lennox Lewis shouldn't have won his fight agains Tua, because Tua wasn't given much opportunity to fight inside. You think it was in Rua's interest to just try and trade with Machida, to get countered? Isn't part of the fault Machida's for not being able to addapt to Rua's strategy? As for Rogan, I feel he did a decent job, probably giving Machida more credit than he deserved for the few shots he did land in rounds that seemed to be pretty clearly for Rua.. I went in expecting a Machida domination based on style matchup myself.. I was extremely surprised and even a bit disappointed in Machida. Only a blind fanboi would say Machida won that. Anyhow.. This was Machida's fight to lose.. He's the big counter striker, Rua was expected to go in, go wild and come out in a body bag via counters.. You cant hate on the guy for using his brain and using a style that would force Machida to fight differently. What we saw that fight was a response to Machida's countering style, a response which Machida has no answer for. Stood there waiting for countering opportunities and took brutal leg shots all night. If there was a lack of action, it's the fault of both fighters defenses, and respect for one anothers striking ability. Every time Rua had an opening to throw something heavy without totally exposing himself, he did, and he landed some.. Machida did a little countering himself as well.
Machida's never impressed me. He has a style that is very unorthodox but i cant understand all the bandwagoners that jumped on this train like Machida was the second coming. He's extremely defensive and very cautious for me his style isnt impressive at all. But iv never seen anything in his striking thats made me think this guy is the goods. Against Shogun he looked distinctly average and frankly amatuerish.
