Machida vs. Shogun and UFC 113 Hangover

(Oh, Canada...)

Some thoughts while I recover from my UFC 113 Hangover...

- Mauricio "Shogun" Rua found sweet, sweet, redemption as he blew through Lyoto Machida to win the light heavyweight title. Rua didn't use a slow patient attack of kicks, instead, he went straight to the Chute box blitz attack, overwhelming Machida and knocking him out at the 3:35 of the first round. That was the second first loss of Machida's career and the first time he was ever knocked out.

- Lyoto Machida looked really off. Granted the fight was short so we don't have that much information to really pour over but it looked like he was sluggish during each exchange. Was that poor adaptation by Machida or a great attack from Shogun?

- Remember when we all thought Lyoto Machida was an unbeatable karate god? Oh, 2009. Those were the good ole days when we thought Taylor Swift could sing, Lady Gaga was a man and that nothing ever goes wrong with oil rigs!  

- 350 days. The Length of Pax Machida

- Does this revitalize the old UFC-PRIDE debate? For the record, most of the fighters from either promotion at the height of the debate have faded, so the whole thing is irrelevant but a lot of fun for the Internet. 

- Also, the Rua-Machida fight answered a very important dork question: who would win in a fight between a dragon and a shogun (aka samurai). The answer? The Muay Thai fighter -- zing! 

- For a night that was filled with some suspect judging (who the hell scored that fight for Stout? And who the hell scored that first round for Kimbo Slice) it was such a relief that the title fight didn't go to the judges card. 

- Apparently Mauricio "Shogun" Rua had an appendicitis at the beginning of his fight camp. 

- Josh Koscheck proved that he is not an idiot as he easily out wrestled Paul Daley for three rounds. Koscheck's victory earns him a title shot against Georges St. Pierre and the role of coach on TUF 12.

- Paul Daley threw a sucker punch at the end of the fight, which, surprisingly, Josh defended really well. Daley's actions may have blown up his UFC career but Koscheck is the best heel in MMA. Josh faked being hurt from a low blow (again), called out the entire Montreal crowd saying, "The Pittsburgh Penguins are gonna kick your [expletive]!" As Koscheck left the cage he blew kisses to the crowd who responded by throwing items at the Western Pennsylvania native.

- Can we change "boom goes the dynamite" to "boom goes the semtex"?

- Rough night for Canada though. The Canadiens lose to Penguins, and the Canadian fighters went 1-6 on the evening. But our maple leaf northern neighbors shouldn't fret, they still have Georges St. Pierre and the fine ladies pictured above. They are a national treasure. 

- Oh, Kimbo Slice. You really are the Leeroy Jenkins of MMA. 

- Kimbo Slice wants everyone to respect and appreciate their mothers on Mother's Day. Kimbo has a great perspective on motherhood, after all, his other job is protecting someone's daughter at the bar from creepy guys who might interfere with the--uh, "video". Wait, I actually think there are some moms at those shoots as well...

- If Gilbert Melendez was in Matt Mitrione's corner then we probably would've had a brawl when Slice interrupted. 

- Is there anyway we can retroactively add KImbo Slice to that South Park episode about stupid youtube videos? No? Well, I guess he did make money, unlike "sneezing panda"...

- Alan Belcher spiked face slammed Patrick Cote on route to a victory. 

- Is Tom Lawlor a character actor or what, because it seemed that he took that Dan Severn impersonation way too seriously as he gassed out after three and half minutes. From that point, Doerksen was able to rebound and win the fight. Lawlor is a lot of fun but the guy isn't that good. 

- The best way to describe Jonathan Goulet is to quote A Christmas Story, "It's not fragile it's Fra-gilé"

- I must admit, I really like Yoshiyuki Yoshida but he's got to get back to the grappling game if he is going to build on the promise of the guy who sent "War Machine" packing. Actually, the UFC and Dana White should probably give Yoshida a lifetime contract for helping get War Machine out of the Octagon. 

- Apparently, Jason MacDonald's leg gave Joe Theisman's knee a run for it's money...

SBN coverage of UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun II