UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun

[Snail Shell]

42/57 (73.7%) on the year. Let's do it!

Stevenson def. Fisher via Decision
Johnson def. Yoshida via KO/TKO
Neer def. Tibau via Decision
Rothwell def. Velasquez via KO/TKO <----Edited

Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

I'll say it flat out: It's too soon for Shogun. He looked terrible against Forrest Griffin (lost) and terrible against Coleman (won). He claimed he fixed his conditioning in his fight against Liddell, but we don't have confirmation of that, since the fight ended in round one. Is his conditioning truly fixed? Nobody knows for sure.

As for styles, let's face it, Shogun has the tools to put away anyone. It is possible that his power and submission skills could stop Machida. However, with Machida's speed, it seems unlikely. Granted, it's not impossible to see Shogun put Machida away, but that's not where I'm calling the fight. MACHIDA by KO/TKO.

See you Saturday!

Snail Shell

 

[Bizkit]

UFC 104 is going to be my official underdog pic fight card.I like a lot of long shots,at least by betting lines,to be victorious on Saturady.

Stevenson/Fisher ~ Fisher by Sub.
This was the hardest fight for me to narrow down a pic.I've been a fan of Spencer for a while and I was going back and forth on this one but I got him subbing Joe.

Johnson/Yoshida ~ Yoshida by Sub.
As much mma as I watch,I've only seen one of Johnson's fights and he lost to Clementi.That was a while ago at UFC 76 and he has probably improved but I didn't see what all the hype was about.To me he just looked a big guy for the weight class with a long reach.With that said,I think Yoshida has the advantage in the clinch and on the ground.As long as Yoshida doesn't get Koscheck'd, I like him to take Johnson down and sub him.

Neer/Tibau ~ Neer by Dec.

Velasquez/Rothwell ~ Rothwell by Dec.
I think this will be a close fight but I like Big Ben to edge out Cain in his UFC debut.

Machida/Shogun ~ Shogun by Sub.
I'm vastly in the minority when it comes to my pick for this fight.It's partially biased because I have been a fan of Shogun for while and I would like to see him pull the upset.This is one of those fights that on paper could potentially be amazing.I'm psyched to see how this chess match plays out regardless of who is the victor.

I would like to make the arguement that Shogun has never been ko'd but at the same time neither did Rashad or Thiago before they fought The Dragon.Lyoto is not the type of fighter to really pressure a guy and wear him down and that's going to benefit Shogun's cardio.The Griffin fight was a fast paced fight and Coleman was able to wrestle what little cardio Shogun had at the time out of him.Against a fighter like Machida, I wouldn't expect to see a gassed Shogun til the later rounds.If it goes that far.

I'm picking Shogun to sub Machida by way of kneebar or achilles lock.This is one of those bouts that I really hope lives up to it's potential and delivers a memorable title fight.

 

[Snail Shell]

Ryan 23 - Ouch. Sorry man. 🙁

3/5 for the night. 45/62 overall. I'm getting worse....

Anyways, nothing hugely surprising. I will say though, Lyoto Machida is NOT MY CHAMPION. He did nothing to Shogun the whole fight, retreated like he used to in his old fights the entire time, and was limping the entire second half of the fight. Shogun won 4 rounds to 1 on my card and should be the 205 champion. Lyoto Machida is a coward and does not come close to deserving that belt.

The end.

Snail Shell

 

[Bizkit]

Ryan 23 - Ouch. Sorry man. 🙁

Don't get me goin'. 🙂

Okay,I had some pretty horrible picks.I'm not gonna try to play that off.That main event decision was something for which I don't have a word.Keep in mind I've had some beers tonight.

Going into the 5th round,I said to my buddies,there is NO WAY Machida could win without a stoppage.He then,IMO,loses that round as well, AND pulls off a unanimous(spelling) decision victory.WTF?

Snail,I agree completely on the 4-1 round scoring,giving the 3rd round to Machida.That's only because I was smashed and don't clearly remember it but at the time I did give it to Machida.After I watch Dream 12 tonight(this morning),I'm gonna rewatch that fight to get a second view on it.I legimately feel bad for Shogun.To have a great performance like that against this ''unstoppable force'' and then be denied what you arguably should have won ,is just hard to fathom.

Those are my thoughts for now at least until I rewatch the fight.At the least,Machida has been exposed as human.Aside from the outcome,I thought it was a fantastic,memorable bout and it's a shame that it will forever be tainted by a bad decision.

Yoshida got Koscheck'd.Gosh.Stevenson looked the best I've seen him in a while.He looked great.Cain also looked really good.Great takedowns,he dominated Big Ben even though I disagreed with the stoppage.Tibau put on a double leg clinic.I guess 0-5 isn't that bad for picks. 😛

That's all I got for now.Let me continue to watch Dream 12,''It's goodnight Irene'',LOL.Alvarez/Kikuno is next and should be great and then we got Overeem/Thompson which should be a barn burner. 🙄 Peace out.


Edit: Fuckin' Sakuraba!

 

[Snail Shell]

Word man. The important thing is this; we got to see the Shogun Rua that terrorized PRIDE for years. He IS back, and that's bad, bad news for everyone at 205. I can't see them putting a rematch immediately, but whoever Rua gets next is in trouble.

As for Machida, last night, he didn't fight like a dragon. He fought like a worm, and worms shouldn't hold gold.

Snail Shell

 

[Bizkit]

Word man. The important thing is this; we got to see the Shogun Rua that terrorized PRIDE for years. He IS back, and that's bad, bad news for everyone at 205. I can't see them putting a rematch immediately, but whoever Rua gets next is in trouble.

As for Machida, last night, he didn't fight like a dragon. He fought like a worm, and worms shouldn't hold gold.

Snail Shell

I was pretty smashed when watching the fight,as I usually am 🙂,so I rewatched the bout several times in the days to follow.The fight was very competitve for sure but in a nutshell,Shogun was the aggressor and landed the more damaging blows throughout the fight.Shogun took a guy who ''gets hit once every two rounds'' and battered his ass.

Aside from the poor decision it was an incredible,technical bout and one of the better title fights in UFC history.The word is an immediate rematch and I don't see any reason why that fight wouldn't be just as exciting if not more so.

I was impressed with Cain and I wonder how the UFC is going to handle the HW division.Minotauro was promised next shot for the belt but Cain has made a case for him as well.I would prefer to see Minotauro/106 winner but I wouldn't complain about a Nog/Cain eliminator bout either.How would you like to see the HW division play out?

On another note,it seems the mma fanbase on the TMF is slowly dwindling down.

 

[The Fallen Angel]

shogun got robbed there is no way he lost that the fight machida really did nothing im not sure i would even give him one round.

 

[Snail Shell]

How would you like to see the HW division play out?

As long as Tim Sylvia doesn't come back, I'm happy. 😀

If Big Nog gets the 106 winner, so be it. The next one at that tier of the division is Mir/Kongo in December. Any pair of those six (Lesnar, Carwin, Velaquez, Kongo, Mir, Nogueira) is going to be good. Throw in Todd Duffee and Paul Buentello, 265 isn't the lean division anymore. 🙂

Snail Shell

 

[Bizkit]

As long as Tim Sylvia doesn't come back, I'm happy. 😀

You mean you wouldn't like to see Big Tim back in the octagon thowing 1-2 combinations?Joking of course.Last I heard he's fighting Choi in Japan on NYE.

Apparently Lesnar's out and that fight is delayed so I wouldn't be surprised to see a Nog/Velasquez eliminator.I like that fight and would most certainly like to see Nog win by submission.I don't know if the UFC would make that fight because I feel Nog is a bad match up for Cain.

I know Strikeforce is still a few weeks away and most of the focus is on Fedor,and rightfully so,but do you have any thoughts on Werdum/Silva,or the rest of the card for that matter?Overall this card easily rivals if not beats most UFC cards IMO,but aside from the main event I find the Werdum fight most interesting.Antonio Silva has been under the radar for a while but that dude is a serious talent and I feel Werdum is also undervalued in the eyes of most.