UFC screw job

UFC 104 was a night of surprises for me.

For one, I actually did well with my picks going 4-for-5 after feeling like a Madden curse for MMA fighters the last couple events.

Second, Maurico Rua surprised me with the way he controlled the pace of the bout and had Lyoto Machida on the defense all night.

But the biggest surprise came when ring announcer Bruce Buffer announced Machida was the winner by unanimous decision after taking a beating for five rounds. Sure, I'm happy I cashed my ticket and that my column on Machida winning the light heavyweight title fight wasn't thrown in my face.

But Shogun Rua was screwed.

I know it. You know it. Rua knows it. Even Machida knows it.

Joe Rogan nearly bit through his tongue he was holding it so hard in the post-fight interviews. The judges did such a bad job of scoring the fight – if they really did score it – they make Golden Boy Promotions panel look good. Fight fans haven't seen a screw job this raw since Vince McMahon pulled the plug on Brett Hart back in '97. The fight was fake but the outcome was very, very real.

Whether Saturday night's decision was an honest mistake or call made from up on top, this controversial finish would hopefully spawn a rematch. However, with the UFC's recent push for superbouts and a guy like Anderson Silva calling the shots, MMA fans are more likely to see Silva-Rua than Machida-Rua 2. Rua may never get another shot at the 205-pound title - which should be his after handling one of the sports' top fighters.

Sorry, Shogun. In a sport as primitive and natural as MMA, politics have reared their ugly head. Mixed martial arts has battled hard to become a “real” sport in the eyes of doubters. And just like other “real” sports, sometimes the outcome of the game doesn't always happen on the field – or this case the cage. Sometimes the final decision comes from a front office desk or a ring-side seat.

Somewhere in the distance...Brett Hart is laughing his ass off...

Well, I called Shogun in your article.  Everyone was writing him off.  This guy is for real, and should be LHW champ.  This is the worst decision I've seen by far.

In all honesty, I thought both guys looked scared to engage.

J_Logan, I haven't seen you post in.. well... forever. And you are a Covers Ref?

I agree that to be the champ you have to beat the champ.  And no round was completely dominated by either of them.  But I still only give 1 round (maybe 2, but that is a BIG maybe) to Machida.  So winning 4 rounds is pretty dominate to me.  Not to mention, when they announced that it was a unanimous decision I thought that it was obviously going to be in favor of Shogun.  There is no way that all three of them really thought that Machida won that fight, that is just ridiculous.  I really just think this shows how bad some of these judges are to be honest.  And yes, I was on Shogun, and Michigan St to add to the pain.  Felt like I got robbed out of $ on both.

I grew up watching King Rex.

What is your association with Chapman and the Cats?

I see Canadian under your tag.

I guess that will remain a mystery.

Go Cats.

Let John Wall play NCAA bitches.

Why are you blaming the UFC? They had nothing to do with how the match was scored, blame the Commission and go watch the UFC 104 post conference!