In my opinion i dont think that Shogun did enough to take the belt. He didnt fight in a glorious fashion or display. He hit the legs and torso but couldnt really land any head shots and couldnt take down the dragon even once. Machida did land some head shots and torso shots and stuffed any attempt of being taken down. Machida did enough to keep his title. Shogun didnt do enough to take it.

I agree with you that some people are trying to argue that shogun did not "take" the belt from the champion. I personally felt very sad for shogun considering that he fought a good fight with an excellent game plan. He trained hard only to have some judges say he didn't win. Where do we get the UFC judges from? Did they think that shogun wasn't as technical as machida? If they watched shogun in pride they would see he is very technical his style is just very different from machida and to an outsider it has the potential to look similar to brawling. He still chooses his punches and kicks very carefully. I hope this lights a match under shogun. I want to see him shut everyone up who ever doubted him. I remember the shogun of old when I was watching his highlight videos some 4 years ago. I hope he returns.

YOU MUST BEAT THE CHAMP TO BE THE CHAMP.... Shogun beat the champ his hands were down and he was defeated watch the final minute of the fight. machita knew he lost. another BS decision by UFC referees

Machida in almost his entire career won fights by decision- based on points. It doesn't matter if Shogun didn't knock him out or submit him...Shogun dominated the fight and he CLEARLY won by points.
he was robbed and even Machida fans knew that. Dana White wouldn't make a rematch if it was crystal clear that Machida won. He knew whats up. Machida is a great fighter but all these Machida band wagons never done their research with Shogun. Shogun in my book is the true champ and just like Mark Chalifoux said, "any rational fan" assumed Shogun was going to win.

Shogun: Those of us who watched the fight all know you won mate! That decision was some bullshit!

UFC is just as corrupt as boxing. There can be no question that Shogun landed far more power strikes, controlled the octagon, and go the better of the exchanges. The Fertitas are Billionaire casino owners with a vegas empire.... the odds were hugely in favor of the "unbeatable" Machida.... it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the connection.
That is the last UFC I ever order.....

You must beat the champ to be the champ. And thats exactly what Shogun Rua did all five rounds. He clearly won them all and he should have taken the belt last night. Seriously, how can you lose a fight after winning every single round? You don't need a KO or submission to win, the the whole point of having judges is in case the fight goes to a decision. Rua won them all.

This whole you have to beat the champ is so silly and outdated. All fights should be scored round by round regardless. I had Rua 4-1, but some were close enough that I don't consider it an outrage.

There was little doubt left in anyone's mind that Shogun won hands down. I had already gotten off the couch "knowing" the decision when I heard the SHOCKING announcement. I am an MMA junkie and have seen more fights then I care to admit to - this was the worst injustice that I have ever witnessed.

As we know, judging criteria is based on Striking, Grappling, Effective Aggression, and Octagon Control. Shogun DOMINATED control and stalked Lyoto for 90% of the fight. Grappling was virtually non-existant. Striking was clearly won by Rua. The only advantage I see Machida having was re: effective aggression. His few leg kicks and punches were concentrated and with less waste (although they were fewer).

Cecil Peoples, Nelson Hamilton, Marcos Rosales are all crappy boxing refs. The criteria for judging a boxing match doesn't include Leg Kicks or Grappling so why would someone who judges boxing, a contest limited purely to striking above the waist with ones fists only, be considered qualifed to judge a sport that also includes grappling and submissions, and attacks below the waist, and attacks involving feet, shins, knees, and elbows. The refs clearly only saw what they wanted to see - the few head punches doled out my Machida and ignored the enormous damage done to his torso and legs by Rua. The fight should have been judged by the amount of ice that was needed to be applied in between rounds!

Let's get one thing clear. They are not UFC judges and referees... The JUDGES work for the Athletic Commissions and the referees are selected by the Athletic commissions. The UFC has nothing to do with the selection of either. Now that we cleared that up...SHOGUN WAS ROBBED.

Amusing.

Interesting that not a single solitary credible MMA journalist had it scored for Machida.

FightMetric: 49-47 Rua
Yahoo Sports / Cagewriter: 48-47 Rua
BloodyElbow : 48-47 Rua
USAToday: 48-47 Rua, 49-46 Rua
MMA Fanhouse / Michael David Smith: 48-47 Rua
MMATorch : 48-47 Rua
MMAJunkie : 49-46 or 48-47 Rua
MMAMania : 50-45 Rua
5 Ounces of Pain : Rua (no score given)
Fightlinker -- Rua (no score given)
ProMMA.Info: 50-45 Rua
Sherdog:
Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Rua (48-47 Rua)
Brian Knapp scores the round 10-9 Rua (48-47 Rua)
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Rua (50-45 Rua)

Oh yeah and Dana White thought Rua won.

Then Anthony Johnson, Joe Stevenson, Cain Velazquez all mentioned they thought Shogun had won during their post fight conference. Carwin, Kang, Escudero, and FLorian all sounding off in disbelief over the outcome on twitter...

Heres the round by round strike totals not including leg kicks:

1 - Machida 10 Shogun 4

2 - Shogun 7 Machida 5

3 - Machida 15 Shogun 10

4 - Shogun 5 Machida 3

5 - Shogun 7 Machida 5

Shogun wins three of the rounds when you EXCLUDE leg kicks. Now lets add those 49 leg kicks back into the equation and tell me what fight you were watching.

cecil peoples is the reason why affirmative action doesn't work.

Btw, why is anthony johnson getting a free pass for fighting 2 weight classes below his true weight? this piece of shat walks around at 220-plus lbs and stands 6'2" - but he's fighting men who, on average, are at least 3-4 inches shorter and outweighed by at least 30 lbs (I'm talking about walk around weight). This guy is as gutless and cowardly as cecil peoples is stupid.

I thought that the fight was very close. I am a Machida fan however, I really think he lost 4 of the rounds. He landed some knees and some head shots that really hurt previous opponents but Showgun did not even flinch. When I fighter is Champion I feel he needs to look like the champ and in this fight he did not.

Dana White himself favored Shogun. In the end the blame isn't on Machida, White, or The UFC, but the judges(especially Cecil Peoples, I hope he gets Cancer and AIDS)whom are controlled by the State Athletic Commission. When asked about the fight Dana didn't miss a beat when he said the Shogun won that fight. So no it wasn't rigged, fixed, Mob involvement, Don King, or any of those crappy conspiracies that usually follows incidents like this, just really crappy judging. On a related note here are some links to the post fight press conference.

http://www.fightline.com/news/mma/2009/1024/455305/dana-white/index.shtml

http://www.mmanews.com/ufc/UFC-104:-Shogun-Vs.-Machida-Post-Fight-Press-Conference.html

To the people saying Shogun didn't do enough to take the belt you are terribly mistaken. Shogun did what he had to do, won by points with a great strategy. Its unfortunate that i agree with you in that the judges used the same idea you people have. Unfortunately it is not the way a fight should be scored and will draw alot of negative attention to the UFC. It is also unfortunate for Machida, he lost alot of fans because of a terrible UFC judging mistake. I myself have no interest in watching Machida fight anymore. Been a long time fan, but that was to much for me to handle. Reminds me of the boxing days.

Although not the aggressor Machida was clearly the technical winner of every encounter in that very boring fight.

are you a moron shogun back peddled the whole fight. kick and run kick and run.
shogun won the last 2 rounds and not by much. back peddling loser.!

Cecil Peoples, Nelson Hamilton, Marcos Rosales, and Don King. Please welcome the new WWE. Last time I pay for UFC was October 24th 2009.

People who claim that Rua won the fight must have been just listening, and not watching the fight. Because is you just listen and not carefully watch the exchange, then all you will see is what the commentators want you to see, the kicks from Rua. This is what he did in much of the entire fight. Now watch the fight again without the audio on, but watch it on slowmo so you can see that every kick came with a price… either a stunning straight to the face or to the upper torso. Then pay attention also to the fighter that was closest to getting in serious trouble, then you will see why Rua raises both hands to his sides whenever he gets seriously stunned. The blows that almost lead to a knockout, blows that puts the fighter in serious trouble are the ones that should count. Unless Rua kicks Machida hard enough to the head, his kicks never got Machida in trouble, In fact, it was Machida’s head kicks and charging knees that took the air off Rua. I agree it was a close fight as far as the number of exchanges are concerned. But try judging it based on which fighter really got into serious trouble and you will see why the judges scored it the way they did.

The UFC has nothing to do with the refs or the judges. Dana pretty much blasts both of them every time he's near a microphone. Bad decision? yes, Outrage, nah.

Even if i have the fight on mute i still believe shogun won. It is a clear victory by the heir apparent infact it was Machida who looked confused with the technique of shogun. He looked shocked everytime he gets hit as if he had never been hit before in his life. You can just see it especially when Rua counters with a right kick to the body when ever he sees machida twists his torso throwing his famous karate punch. And the lets not forget the facial damage Rua hits Machida with elbows in the clinch, all machida had was those rare knees to the body even in the 3rd round with the exchanges when he backed rua in slow mo you will see that he never really hit shogun with something significant infact shogun finished that exchange with a right hand. Pure robbery of a well deserved victory.

its the damn judges, ufc dosent control refs & judges, but anyways..agreed..ridiculous decision, shogun clearly won.

Interesting looking at the total strikes not including the leg kicks...

I still think Machida won. I watched the fight a second time with the sound down... a much different story.

You have to give Machida points for takedown defence... Rua was 0 for 5 on takedown attempts. One could argue that Machida controled where the fight was fought giving him more points in a close fight.

When both landed hard kicks to each other Rogan said:

"WOW! Machida just got hit again with another hard kick. Rua is doing great!!"

I watched a bunch of those in slow mo and each time Rua would land a kick, but get hit with a punch AND a kick. Rogan hardly mentioned either.

Rogan is a HUGE reason people feel so strongly for Rua.

I completely agree with adam... I am a Machida fan and I was surprised when he won, but I have to say, Rogan influences fans more than we like to believe. If the commentary was favoring Machida, people wouldn't be this surprised and outraged.

Machida went in with such high expectations that any shot Rua had was exaggerated and blown out of proportion.

I think the judging was questionable, but I am satisfied with the decision, not because I am a Machida fan, but because Shogun didn't take it from Machida.