MMA Worldwide

UFC 104 Recap

Posted by Marcos Villegas on the 26 October 2009 | No Comments

Los Angeles, CA- Lyoto Machida was coming into this Saturday’s bout at UFC 104 as the heavy favorite. In his 15 career fights, Machida had been un-scathed and never lost a round to any competitor. His five round fight against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua shed light on Rua’s current form, Machida’s once invulnerability and the rules governing scoring in MMA. The championship five rounder went the full distance between the two Brazilians. Many observers can argue that it was a boring fight, I for one found it highly interesting as it was style vs. style, Karate vs. Muay Thai. When the dust cleared and settled it was Lyoto Machida that was awarded the five round decision. He won on all three judges scorecards to the shock of Rua and the overwhelmingly amount of people and press in attendance. It’s as if the judges were watching a different fight. The once untouchable Machida, seemed flustered and unable to mount any significant offense against a determined Rua, who stuck to his game plan of not being over aggressive and using his kicks to off balance the champion while causing heavy damage to Machida’s ribs and legs. The first round was a glimpse of how the fight would progress, as each fighter was tentative waiting for the other to strike first. Shogun uncharacteristically did not overly press forward and started landing hard kicks to the ribs and legs of Machida that would reward him in the later rounds as his opponent visibly tired. Rua stuck to this game plan as rounds two and three were very competitive and technical. Machida started to finally counter with straight ones and twos but everything thrown at Shogun was blocked or never had the former Pride Grand Prix winner in danger. It was more or less Shogun picking Machida apart from the ribs down, attempting multiple takedown attempts in round two and landing a huge kick to the stomach of Machida that turned his belly red. Machida was able to effectively rally late in round three as he pressed forward with a huge flurry that backed Shogun to defend. Replays would later show that Machida only landed two punches as the two threw haymakers at each other to end that round. Rounds four and five saw Machida muster very little offense as the prior attacks to his legs and ribs were now taking its toll. With Shogun thinking he was ahead in the fight, he did not take any unneeded risks and finished the fight in the way he started it.

 

When it came down to reading the verdict, Machida looked as he had been defeated, with his head down while the two awaited the announcement. When he was announced the winner he was greeted with boos. All three judges scored the bout 48-47. When asked if he felt he had won the fight, Machida answered that “three judges had given him the fight,” so there was no doubts as to who won. When asked about a rematch with Rua, the champion answered, “Whenever he wants, no problem.” A win for Shogun would have silenced all critics that have battered him over his past performances that he had lost his Pride form but with his defeat it seems he gained more fans as he was cheered when exiting the cage.

 

Cain Velasquez is on his way to becoming a UFC heavyweight contender. The proud Mexican-American fighter easily disposed of the biggest test of his young career by notching a technical knockout victory over IFL veteran Ben Rothwell in round two of their bout. Velasquez was able to take Rothwell down at will, showcasing the stuff that made him a two-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State. Rothwell was holding his own in the stand up game, landing some good shots on Velasquez early in round one. It seemed though that every time Rothwell was trying to gain momentum in the striking department, Velasquez took him down and made him pay landing huge elbows and working ground and pound. It appeared as if Rothwell would not make it out of the first round as he conceded the mount position and was getting damaged heavily on the ground by his younger and hungrier opponent. Rothwell should be commended on his ability to take punishment as Round two saw Velasquez dish out more pain on his opponent. With Rothwell being already taken down in the opening moment of the second round, he was able to negate a takedown attempt that had both fighters backed into the cage. Velasquez had the better position trapping one of Rothwell’s arms and landed six unanswered shots to the face of Rothwell. This promoted referee Steve Mazzagatti to jump in and halt the bout, though it may have been premature as Rothwell was able to standup right before the fight was halted. Mazzagatti probably did Rothwell a huge favor, stopping any further damage that Velasquez probably would have done as he was clearly outclassing his opponent. Velasquez now improves to a perfect 7-0 record and might be given the winner of the Carwin/Lesnar match.

 

Joe Stevenson worked his way back up the UFC lightweight contender ladder in an uneventful bout that lasted two rounds against game opponent Spencer Fisher. Stevenson stuck to what he knows best, working takedowns to gain control of his fight with the dangerous Fisher. After a tentative first minute that had both fighters circling each other, Fisher came out with a big hook that made Stevenson wake up. Stevenson immediately went for the takedown as both fighters eventually made their way into a body clinch. Much of the round was fought with the two men in the clinch until Stevenson was able to finally get his opponent on the mat. Fisher tried all he could to get to a standing position but the experienced Stevenson would have none of it, as he landed some hard leather while in side control. The start of round two mimicked a kickboxing match as Fisher worked his leg kicks but was put on the mat once more by the takedown crazy Stevenson. Failing to apply a heel hook that was given to him by Fisher, Stevenson was now in his opponent’s guard and gained side control. This would soon spell the end for Fisher as Stevenson trapped his opponents arm and landed a barrage of punches that ended the bout at 4:01 of the second round.

 

Though he missed his weight and was fined 20% of his purse, Anthony Johnson needed all but 41 seconds to dispose of Yoshiyuki Yoshida in a catch weight bout that started off the pay-per-view telecast. Staying true to his nickname “Rumble,” Johnson started the bout swinging and doing critical damage with dirty boxing punches. The inside flurry wobbled Yoshida but composed himself as he landed a counter hook, but was also left open by a straight rumble right that knocked the Japanese fighter down and out.  Johnson apologized to everyone in attendance for missing weight, as the fighter continue to rack up impressive knockout wins.

 

In the undercard:

Ryan Bader defs Eric Schafer by UD (30-27,29-26,30-27)

Pat Barry defs Antoni Hardonk by TKO in R2 (2:30)

Chael Sonnen defs Yushin Okami by UD (30-27,30-27,30-27)

Jorge Rivera defs Rob Kimmons via TKO in R3 (1:53)

Kyle Kingsbury def Razak Al-Hassan via split decision (29-28,28-29,29-28)

Stefan Struve defs Chase Gormley via triangle choke in R1 (4:04)