toxo
shogun won every round, when theres no takedowns or grappling the judges are meant to score the fight on effective striking, octagon control and agression.
shogun landed more clean shots in every round and as he was throwing thai kicks rather then karate kicks he also hit harder.
shogun controlled the octagon and was more agressive in every round a apart for about 20 second in the 3rd, he was more agressive in every round including the majority of the 3rd.
those are the facts, the only thing machida did effectively was stuff shoguns shots and that only landed him in the 50/50 clinch were he got knee'ed and elbowed.
Im Sorry, but ive got to take issue with this.
First, there is not a chance Shogun won every round, you have to remember this is Machida's belt to lose, simply going out there and throw 1-2 combinations is not going to win you the belt, especially when more often than not in rounds 1 & 2 Machida's counters were much crisper and on the money.
Only when Machida lost mobility in his spring did Shogun start landing anything of significance and even then i saw only one clean shot connect with Machida's face (bloodied him up) and another hit him in the neck. The rest of the damage was to the torso and legs, to try and win a belt from a champion with body/leg kicks especially when he had Machida hurt many times and did not pursue is not going to cut a clear decision in any judges mind, it could have gone either way.
Rogans commentary is this match was disgusting and has turned me from a moderate fan into a "hater".
I had to rewatch several clips multiple times to actually comprehend that Joe was not recognising any of machida's landed shots (especially a few brutal knee's) but seemingly making love to every glancing blow Rua threw, it was simply unreal.
Its a paradox imo, did Rua win? Yes. Did he do enough to take the belt? No.
There is a difference in all combat sports, those who have ever competed for a belt will have been told this or know it from teachings.
Secondly, this is not fact as you say, its a subjective opinion based on the visual, audio and kinaesthetic information your brain took from the fight; in short your brain is bias lol.
I really wanted Rua to win as i am Muay Thai at my roots even though i transitioned into MMA, but when the final bell rang, i can say who i thought deserved to win, but i didnt have a clue who's hand would be raised.
Something interesting i picked up from Machida's corner was in the 4-5th round break his coach said "you have to find his timing!!!!", meaning even at that late stage he hadn't managed to get Rua's timings down which interests me as to the naked eye his movement was traditional Muay Thai, linear with a light front leg which i thought would have been the perfect meal for the dragon, obviously not lol.
Rothwell was terrible, tough as hell but completely under skilled to be fighting that calibre of fighter in his first fight, reminded me of a bigger Cabbage. Brock will cripple Cain. The only guy left with a shout is Nog with his diamond chin and submission skills.
I see an Anderson Silva Vs Rua fight sometime next year.
Suddenly the UFC divisions are looking extremely weak bar a few elite fighters in each division.