Redemption, thy name is Shogun
The main event at UFC 113 featured a highly anticipated rematch between light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
While many believed that Shogun won the first meeting, Machida was still the odds-on favorite as most observers thought the Karateka's style was still too difficult to solve for Rua a second time.
But on Saturday night, Shogun proved that he had not only learned how to solve the “Machida Rubik’s Cube” but how to do it like a whiz kid. Rua pressured and assaulted Lyoto building on his previous use of leg kicks with an an overhand attack where Rua commented that he noticed a weak spot in Machida’s armor. After three minutes, Shogun landed the right hand dropping Machida and Rua finished “The Dragon” off on the ground.
Thus the much heralded “Machida Era” (this writer was definitely a member of that course) ends, barely a year old.
For Mauricio, the fight represents redemption. Not just from his first “loss” to Lyoto but from his first days in the UFC and the negative reaction that followed him after his loss to Forrest Griffin.
Koscheck the heel vs. Daley the hooligan
Not a lot of people like Josh Koscheck. He is widely considered to be the most despised fighter in MMA. It’s not just the faking of injuries or illegal blows, the guy simply rubs people the wrong way (plus he got Logan and Natasha fired!).
That’s why it wasn’t a shock when fans gravitated towards British striker, Paul “Semtex” Daley in the hopes he would shut up and, preferably knockout Koscheck. Like the Liberal Democrats in England, Daley seized on the populist anger and mocked Koscheck at every turn, even asking fans to photoshop his “fraggle haired” rival so Daley could present his enemy with the photo at the pre-fight press conference (the Bob Ross design won). Josh was clearly upset with Daley and traded his own barbs but Paul always seemed to one up his American rival.
Sadly, “Semtex” doesn’t have much of a ground game and Koscheck, a former All-Ameican NCAA wrestler, exploited it, securing a unanimous victory. While Koscheck earned a title shot and spot as coach on TUF 12, the big news surrounds the fight's extra curricular activities.
First, there was a phantom illegal blow from Daley in the first round. Paul threw a knee while Koscheck was still downed, however the knee completely missed Josh though he feigned an injury, which was oddly familiar to what happned in the Anthony Johnson fight. The referee deducted a point, then took back that deduction as he saw the replay on the big screen. Hooray for common sense!
Speaking of common sense, none was on display as Paul Daley sucker punched Koscheck after the fight. Paul was almost clotheslined by the referee and Dana White entered the cage to berate him and later told the media that Paul was ostracized from the UFC.
Finally, Koscheck went scorched earth on the Montreal crowd, trumpeting an eventual series victory for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won game 5 on Saturday night. The fans repaid Josh’s hockey prediction by throwing debris at him as he left the floor.
So much for Kimbo Slice
The UFC’s Kimbo Slice experiment has officially ended.
After building an entire season of The Ultimate Fighter around the former EliteXC fighter and hand picking opponents, Slice failed to materialize as anything other than a YouTube viral video.
Slice was embarrassed (again) by Matt Mitrione, who chopped the “street certified” porn bouncer’s legs out from under him before mercifully TKO'ing Kimbo in the second round.
The UFC promptly cut ties with the ratings draw (why is this guy a draw again? Damn you, YouTube! *shakes fist*).
Put it this way, when the most interesting point of the fight is the post-fight interview where Kimbo--pardon me, that’s Kevin Ferguson now, interrupts Matt Mitrione to wish all the mothers of the world a happy Mother’s Day, you know the fight was bad.
Full Results
- Mauricio "Shogun" Rua def. Lyoto Machida via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 3:35. Shogun wins light heavyweight title.
- Josh Koscheck def. Paul Daley via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
- Jeremy Stephens def. Sam Stout via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29).
- Matt Mitrione def. Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson via TKO (referee stoppage) - Round 2, 4:24.
- Alan Belcher def. Patrick Cote via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 3:25.
- Joe Doerksen def. Tom Lawlor via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 2:10.
- Marcus Davis def. Jonathan Goulet via TKO (punches) - Round 2, 1:23.
- Johny Hendricks def. T.J. Grant via majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28)
- Joey Beltran def. Tim Hague via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 29-28).
- Mike Guymon def. Yoshiyuki Yoshida via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
- John Salter def. Jason MacDonald via TKO (injury) - Round 1, 2:42.
