Machida retains UFC light-heavy belt against Rua by decision in UFC 104

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua lands a a leg kick on Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida in their UFC 104 light-heavyweight title fight. Machida kept his belt via a disputed unanimous decision.

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida successfully defended his UFC light-heavyweight title against fellow Brazilian Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, but not without some lumps and abrasions and a lot of controversy.

Showing signs of being battered for most of the fight, Machida had a cut on his lip, on the bridge of his nose, and blood flowing down his mouth. Rua, on the other hand, looked relatively unscathed in comparison. Machida also seemed to be favoring one foot as he walked, proof of the effectiveness of Rua’s leg attacks.

But all three judges didn’t agree with the physical proof of damage and the crowd which shifted most of its allegiance to Rua in the course of the fight. Machida won by unanimous decision, 48-47, on the cage-side judges’ scorecards.  The decision was met with booing from the Staples Center arena in Los Angeles, California.

The main supporting bout of heavyweights Cain Velasquez versus Ben Rothwell, on the other hand, ended rather quickly.  Velasquez won it by referee stoppage just 58 seconds at the start of the second round.

Other results:  Gleison Tibau over Josh Neer, UD; Joe Stevenson over Spencer Fisher, Referee Stoppage R2 4:03; Anthony Johnson over Yoshiyuki Yoshida, KO R1 00:41; Stefan Struve vs. Chase Gormley; Stefan Struve over Chase Gormley, Tapout R1 4:04; Kyle Kingsbury over Razak Al-Hassan, Split Decision; Jorge Rivera over Rob Kimmons. TKO R3 1:53; Chael Sonnen over Yushin Okami, UD; Patrick Barry over Antoni Hardonk, TKO R2 2:30; Ryan Bader over Eric Schafer, UD.

[via sherdog.com, paultaneo.blogspot.com; image: sherdog.com]