Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua and UFC 104 Hangover

Some thoughts while I recover from by UFC 104 hangover...

- Lyoto Machida is mortal.

- Shogun is back! Well, not the soccer-kicking, crazy Shogun from Pride but Rua definitely vindicated himself for being given a title shot, right Cagepotato?

-There is now a game plan for how to defeat Machida. It involves slowing the fight down, throwing off Machida's timing especially for his counterstrikes while attacking Machida's legs to wear him down. It might not be a highlight reel worthy but it is the equivalent of a football team holding on to the ball for forty-plus minutes to keep the opponents high-octane offense off the field.

- Was Shogun robbed? Those first two rounds were really, really, really close. Though it appears that the consensus opinion is that Shogun won. Hopefully we get a rematch.

- That was the fight I expected Rashad Evans to fight back at UFC 98.

- Cain Velasquez decimated Ben Rothwell with an onslaught of takedowns, which he followed with punches. Rothwell didn't have a chance from the first bell. For Velasquez this further cements his position at the top of the heavyweight division. The UFC has a real tough choice for the next heavyweight contender. Do they go with experience, in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, or do they go with youth, in Cain Velasquez?

- I didn't have a problem with the Rothwell stoppage. Steve Mazzagatti went to Ben before the second round and told him he couldn't keep taking undefended punches to the face. Mazzagatti followed through with his statement and it was deserved.

- Someone at the bar was trying to convince Ben Rothwell would defeat Cain Velasquez. Easiest five dollars I ever made...

- Turtle and Arie were both at UFC 104 but where was Johny "Drama"?! I was really hoping to see him fight Chuck Liddell again...

- Speaking of celebrities (even the ones who are texting during a fight Mrs. Demi Moore!). The UFC was willing to show any celebrity they could except for Janet Jackson, who was in attendance. I guess they didn't want a Super Bowl moment. Too soon?

- Once again we witnessed Josh Neer's inability to stop a takedown lose him a fight. Gleison Tibau is simply the latest example of a fighter exploiting Neer's weakness.

- I was worried when Joe Stevenson said he would stand with Spencer Fisher but I thought maybe Joe is trying to deceive his opponent. Stevenson wasn't throwing out misinformation as he got the better of Fisher on his feet, even cutting Fisher with a left hook in the first round. Joe did take the fight to the ground late in the first round and again in the second round, where he proceeded to pound out a victory.

- Sorry Spencer but its back to square one in the lightweight division.

- Greg Jackson's camp must have some magical elixir for kicking ass. Since Joe Stevenson switch to Team Jackson he is 2-0 and appears to have undergone a reawakening.

- Anthony Johnson had a wonderful swan song in the welterweight division. Johnson knocked Yoshida right back to UFC: Fight For the Troops. Too bad Anthony came in six pounds overweight and probably should fight at middleweight.

- Ryan "Darth" Bader has one of the best nicknames in MMA (sorry, I am a Star Wars dork). I really wish he could live up to that nickname. I want to see a force choke god damn it! At least he walked in to the "Imperial March."

- I wrote the above line before the first round where Ryan Bader absolutely DOMINATED Schafer in the first round.

- Ryan Bader may be labeled as a guy who can give you a fantastic first round followed by two stinkers. Then again, this was his return from a knee injury that he suffered in his last fight just eight months ago.

- A great example of the UFC's pension for over-hyping fighters/fights was the Antoni Hardonk Patrick Barry fight. If you only listened to Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan description of the fighters you would have thought that they were both K-1 kickboxing champions. Seriously guys, calm down. 

- Patrick Barry lost his grandmother in Hurricane Katrina, yikes.

- I don't want to complain about free fights on Spike, but did they seriously need to have a horribly forced promo for TUF 10 in the middle of the fight?

- Chael Sonnen loves Dana White so much he out-decision'd the decision master, Yushin Okami. That loss effectively ends any talk of Okami as a middleweight title contender.

- Jorge Rivera won! Great news for him and all the tribulation he has dealt with recently.