Mixed Martial Arts - MMA

Lyoto Machida was declared the unanimous decision winner in his first UFC LHW title defense against Shogun Rua Saturday night. Whether people liked it or not, all 3 judges scored it the same, 48-47 for Machida, which meant that they all saw Machida winning 3 of the 5 rounds. Like almost everyone watching UFC 104, I was in disbelief, but after a good night's sleep, I wanted to dig deeper in order to better understand how it was possible that all three judges could have come to such a conclusion without being coerced in some form or manner.

There was an argument, from the very few Machida supporters, that fight fans were being too heavily influenced by the commentary of the UFC play by play team of Goldberg and Rogan, but to me, that doesn't hold much weight considering that the majority of fans in attendance (who do not hear the on air audio), were also very loud in their disapproval of the decision. For myself, who was surrounded by Machida supporters during the PPV, and who, for the most part, were paying very little attention to the commentary, also agreed that there would be a new champion crowned last night.

I decided to re-watch the fight, with the volume off, with a fresh pair of eyes and with the idea that I would try to understand how it was possible for the judges to award Machida the victory. The detailed notes are found below. Not captured in those notes was my own surprise about how easily an argument could be made on how Machida, in the eyes of the judges, won both Round 2 and Round 3. Shogun may have been the aggressor throughout the fight, but Machida seemed to be able to pick his spots at the right time. He is also known as a counter-striker, so you would have to think that the judges may have given him some additional leeway because of that as well.

Machida VS Rua, From A (unofficial) Judges Point of View (POV)

Round by Round, Minute by Minute

Round 1

Min 1

Tags: Lyoto Machida \ MMA \ Shogun Rua \ UFC 104