Highway RobberyThe Shogun Assassin tonight was not the almighty Dragon but it was the three blind mice judging the fight. Not since the Bisping/Hamill fight have I seen such blatantly bad judging. Just ridiculous.
The reactions to this fight tells the whole story. During the introductions, Machida was greeted with a loud ovation while the only noise Shogun received were a couple of boos. As the fight shifted, the crowd seemed to back Shogun. When the final bell rung, Shogun and his camp raised their arm victoriously while Machida rose his to save face. The facial expression on both men said it all. As they both awaited the judges' decision, Machida hung his head low while Shogun had his up high. When Bruce Buffer made the announcement, I couldn't have been more shocked. The fans were just as equally as displeased considering the same fans who stood and cheered for Machida's entrance is now booing the result.
Shogun pressed the attack, landed way more blows and out-countered Machida. I have yet to see a media outlet score the fight in Machida's favour. Yahoo gave it to Rua, ESPN gave it to Rua, Sherdog gave it to Rua, their forums gave it to Rua, Dana White gave it to Rua, Joe "Daddy" Stevenson gave it to Rua and Anthony Johnson gave it to Rua. Instead of seeing articles on Machida "winning" the fight, it seems like writers are trying to justify the judges' decision instead.
Now some will state the whole "You have to beat the champ" bull shit. 1) If that's the case then Forrest should have never won it from Rampage. 2) Shogun did beat the champ! Sure, Machida wasn't a bloody pulp nor did he look like John Fitch after the fight with GSP but The Dragon still got controlled in every which way.
Fight Metric has their full analysis up and has Rua winning the fight 49-47. The strikes were 82-42 in Shogun's favour. EIGHTY-TWO TO FORTY-TWO! How does somebody land twice the amount of blows their opponent did and still lose by decision? Were the judges watching the same fight? Did they mix up the fighter? I had Machida winning the second round and MAYBE the third only. No matter how you slice it, there is no way you can say Machida won this fight with the straight face. But unfortunately, it looks like there are only three people who can and they were the ones judging the fight at ring side...
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