Psh, stupid meaningless leg kicks. That's what cowards do!

View full size photo »

One of the judges from the Shogun-Machida title fight has recanted his decision from the controversial fight, telling Yahoo Sports that he should have scored it for Shogun-- well duh!

"There was a round in that fight [Round 4] where my line of sight while they were standing was blocked," said Hamilton, who feels TV monitors for judges would solve the problem. "Because of the angle where most of the round was fought, I couldn't see the punches and whether they were landing. If the fight had been on the ground, I could look at the big screens, but this was a fight where the blows were coming one at a time and you don't want to look away and miss an important blow."

Nice job Doc in realizing your mistake, unfortunately it won't change anything as the other two judges scored it for Machida as well. Besides, everyone knows leg kicks are meaningless, right Cecil?

Having the judges watch the fights on television monitors would go a long way in fixing the problem. Look, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta are cage side and all they do is stare at the monitors. So if the owner and president, who are in th exact same positions as the judges, would rather watch the fight on a television screen right in front of them then they are probably on to something. Just saying...

"Ben Rothwell Angry! Ben Rothwell Smash!!!!"

View full size photo »

Ben Rothwell talked to CageReport.net to voice his displeasure over the stoppage during his fight with Cain Velasquez at UFC 104.

"So what, (Velasquez) was punching me, big deal, isn't that what happens in a fight? The reality of the situation is that I was using the cage to get to my feet and which I basically did and then for some reason Steve [Mazzagatti] decides to step in. Honestly, I couldn't believe it. I mean if the punches had some force behind them I could understand it but those were like soft jabs that didn't hurt at all, it was like he was just hitting me to stay busy rather than damage me.

That's is why I wasn't covering up - the punches didn't hurt and definitely weren't doing any damage, at least not enough to slow me down, but then he [Steve Mazzagatti] calls the fight? Please, my grandmother hits harder that that. Maybe it looked bad to those at home and to those who have never trained but I had worked back into standing position and was ready to fire back some of my own, so how bad could the punches have really been?

Come on, if you would have seen me the next day you'd have hardly thought I was in a fight - I woke up the next day with barely a scratch on my face. Look at some fights I have had in my career, I've been in plenty of worse positions and managed to turn the fight around and win.

You know Shogun wasn't the only one robbed that night. So what If I lost the first round by a small margin, all that meant is there were still two rounds up for grabs, my shoulders were just loosening up at the beginning of the second round - the real fight was just getting started.

It is understandable that Rothwell is upset over the stoppage. It was a premature referee stoppage but Ben Rothwell is skipping over one critical fact. In between rounds one and two Steve Mazzagatti told Rothwell that he would stop the fight if Ben continued to take undefended punches to the head.

Also, forgive WKR for pointing out that Rothwell's version of the fight doesn't quite back up the visual evidence. Allow the prosecution to present the following pieces of evidence: Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C and Exhibit D.

SBN coverage of UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun

"You can't cut me! I am brawler!"

View full size photo »

Josh Neer has been cut by the UFC.

Neer's third tour with the UFC ended with a 1-3 skid where Neer was plagued by his inability to defend a takedown. Josh Neer (25-9-1) last fight inside the Octagon was at UFC 104 where he dropped an unanimous decision to Gleison Tibau, who continued the trend of abusing Neer's lack of a takedown defense.

One of the more frustrating aspects of Josh's attitude was the perception that Josh blamed his opponents for taking the fight to the ground. It never appeared that Neer held himself accountable for a weak takedown defense, it was always his opponents fault for making the fight "boring."

The highlight of Josh Neer's latest UFC stint was his submission victory over TUF 6 winner Mac Danzig. Unfortunately Neer was never able to find the Jiu-Jitsu magic.

UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun coverage

View full size photo »

UFC 104 salaries are now public:

• Lyoto Machida $200,000 (no win bonus) def. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua $155,000.
• Cain Velasquez $70,000 ($35,000 to show, $35,000 to win) def. Ben Rothwell $50,000.
• Gleison Tibau $38,000 ($19,000 to show, $19,000 to win) def. Josh Neer $14,000.
• Joe Stevenson $94,000 ($47,000 to show, $47,000 to win) def. Spencer Fisher $26,000.
• Anthony Johnson $30,0000 ($15,000 to show, $15,000 to win)* def. Yoshiyuki Yoshida $12,000.
• Ryan Bader $30,000 ($15,000 to show, $15,000 to win) def. Eric Schafer $13,000.
• Pat Barry $14,000 ($7,000 to show, $7,000 to win)** def. Antoni Hardonk $16,000**.
• Chael Sonnen $54,000 ($27,000 to show, $27,000 to win) def. Yushin Okami $18,000.
• Jorge Rivera $36,000 ($18,000 to show, $18,000 win) def. Rob Kimmons $9,000.
• Kyle Kingsbury $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win) def. Razak Al-Hassan $3,000.
• Stefan Struve $14,000 ($7,000 to show, $7,000 to win)*** def. Chase Gormley $10,000.

* - Anthony Johnson was fined 20% of his purse for missing weight by six pounds. Half of that went to Yoshida the other half went to the CSAC.
** - Patrick Barry was awarded a $120,000 bonus for "Knockout of the Night" and "Fight of the Night." Antoni Hardonk was awarded a $60,000 bonus for "Fight of the Night."
*** - Sefan Struve was awarded a $60,000 bonus for "Submission of the Night."

UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun coverage

I am not sure who is more freaked out Pat Barry or the referee.

View full size photo »

The UFC 104 preliminary card on Spike drew 1.4 million viewers.

While this is certainly a strong rating --and matches the Spike prelims from UFC 103-- it is still way below the average for the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter by about 1 million viewers.

As a fan, I find it extremely frustrating that free live fights can't out draw TUF but I guess that is the power of Kimbo Slice, who has helped deliver the best ratings for TUF in a long time.

UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun coverage

View full size photo »

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson took to the internet to voice his opinion on the Machida-Shogun decision and let me warn you to brace yourself for a rant.

The main event was boring. I anticipated that because let's be real.. Machida is a boring fighter. But Shogun getting robbed like that was pretty cut throat. Then you hear Joe Rogan say you "you have to beat the champ to be a champ." & that made me think the UFC are full of (it)!

Not to be whiny here but I still don't feel like I've been beat in the UFC.. but I'm not champ anymore. If the UFC gives Shogun an immediate rematch because of the controversial loss then that would validate everything I have said about the UFC in my recent posts & why I'm (annoyed) at the UFC. But yet he deserves one & so have I deserved one against Forrest.

One good thing came out of the fight last night. Rashad looked more like a (female dog). If he would have just tried to fight Machida instead of just nutting up he probably could have done better. I saw every last one of Machida's weaknesses this last weekend. No wonder TUF is editing Rahsad to try to make him look good cause they need all their fighters to sell tickets. They never should have tried to make me look bad cause I'm the wrong person to pull that type of crap with. Cause I don't give a (darn) about the TUF show or about the UFC. ...

The UFC needs to get some new judges before I even think about coming back. I want the hardcore fans to go back & watch all the fights that you thought was kinda shady with the judges in the UFC & TUF & write down the names of the judges so you guys can complain & have a voice. ... Its hard for me to believe that the UFC is so successful & has over 100 shows & can't tell who wins a fight. How is it that they can't tell who wins a fight on an important title fight? Me doing TUF 10 & seeing how they edited it now & seeing how Wes Shivers lost his fight is making me very skeptical about the UFC. Note to TUF: Anybody involved in making the TUF show do me a big favor... Don't look at me cause you're fake. Don't talk to me cause you're fake. Don't even think about me cause you're fake. & if you do you might just get cussed the (heck) out.

To recap Jackson's thesis, Machida = boring, Shogun was robbed, Rasahd should have "nutted up", TUF sucks, I want new judges and a fired peanut butter sandwich.

UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun coverage

WKR's podcast series, Cage Cast, recaps UFC 104.

You can download the episode here, subscribe to our RSS feed here and check us out on iTunes. If you want to send any feedback or question shoot us an email at watchkalibrun@gmail.com.

First we talk about Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Did you expect anything else?

The discussion begins with talk of the judges controversial decision. Then we talk about Rua's game plan, which made Machida look mortal.

Next we talk about the co-main event between Cain Velasquez and Ben Rothwell. Velasquez dominated Rothwell and appears to be on the short list for the next heavyweight number one contender. We also talk about the controversial decision.

Finally we recap the rest of the card.

UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun coverage

picture via Sherdog

View full size photo »

Lost in the Machida-Shogun discussion was Joe Stevenson's accusation against Spencer Fisher,

"Um, I executed a lot of things right but I felt like I couldn't get the takedown, I was making the excuses like I was like man he feels slippery, he feels oiled up, and I felt like he was but why even say anything like that? It's my fault for even taking it there."

"Oh yeah, definitely he put some like lotion on this morning or last night took a bath, something was different about him, maybe he had a lot of garlic though, that can make you slippery as well."

"Never, never complained about it either, he was just, he felt a little slippery to me, it could just be in my head and that's why I need to improve myself."

On television it appeared that Stevenson didn't have any difficulty with Fisher on the ground so this comment feels a little weird and maybe even forced.

Had the Fisher-Stevenson fight been closer we could have seen had "Grease Gate" the third.

UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun coverage

View full size photo »

It wasn't too long ago that Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida was labeled as "boring" and only the most die hard MMA fans appreciated his unique style. Joe Rogan's constant use of the adjective "elusive" became something of a running joke for fans who saw it as a code word for Machida's running (often times away) fighting style.

That began to change when Machida knocked out Thiago Silva at UFC 94. It got even better for "The Dragon" when he destroyed the perpetually unpopular Rashad Evans to win the light heavyweight title.

In the run-up to UFC 104 it finally appeared that Machida was going to develop a strong fan following thanks to the back-to-back knockout victories plus the expected dominance of what Joe Rogan called the "Machida Era." But that all changed on Saturday night with his controversial decision victory over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. 

If anyone has checked out a MMA forum recently the headlines involving Machida aren't pretty. MMA Fanhouse and Cagewriter both attempt to encapsulate the tremendous blow back that Lyoto Machida is now facing.

Hell hath no fury as an MMA fan's scorn and right now MMA fans are infuriated with Machida for the perceived undeserved victory. 

In reality it isn't Lyoto's fault that the judges awarded him the decision. Yet that fact won't disinfect the bile being thrown Machida's way.

So what can Machida do to temper the outrage?

The tonic to cure the venom that now infects the MMA fan-base is simple, win and win big. A few dominating victories later and this episode will be forgotten.

After all, winning cures all.

UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun coverage

I am pretty sure that both Anthony Johnson and Logan knew he was screwed

View full size photo »

When the bonus list became public for UFC 104 there was one name that was noticeably absent from the list, Anthony Johnson.

At UFC 104 Anthony "Rumble" Johnson added another knockout to his impressive highlight reel collection. Yet Johnson wasn't rewarded with a "knockout" bonus for providing a spectacular finish over Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Instead Patrick Barry, who defeated Antoni Hardonk on the Spike preliminary card, received a $60,000 bonus for "Knockout of the Night."

Comparing Johnson's knockout over Yoshida to Barry'y TKO victory over Hardonk is something of a joke. Any casual observer would select Johnson's victory over Barry's in a heart beat.

So what happened?

The reason why Johnson was blackballed from the bonus payroll had to do with the events of the previous day. At the UFC 104 weigh-ins on Saturday, Johnson weighed-in at 176 lbs., making him a whopping six pounds overweight for the welterweight fight. An inexcusable crime for any fighter. Luckily for Anthony, and the UFC, Yoshiyuki Yoshida agreed to fight Johnson despite the weight difference.

It was reported that Anthony Johnson was so weak from attempting to cut the extra weight that his team had to carry him to and from the weigh-in. There is also a rumor that UFC matchmaker, Joe Silva, was absolutely livid with Johnson and told him, in a fit of rage, that he would have to move up to middleweight.

The fact that Anthony Johnson didn't receive the "Knockout of the Night" bonus was a clear signal from the UFC, "miss weight and you will take a hit in your wallet." The loss of a $60,000 bonus doesn't take into account the possibility of loss in purse salary. Normally when a fighter misses weight they have to sacrifice a portion of their purse to their opponent since the fight will not be taking at the agreed upon weight. Currently there is no indication that this arrangement occurred between Johnson and Yoshida. Johnson had to give up 20% of his purse, 10% to Yoshida and 10% to the CSAC.

As stated above, missing weight for a fighter is a cardinal sin. For Johnson to lose out on a significant chunk of change, while unfortunate, is completely appropriate punishment for the crime.

Update: WKR reader pancakehead points out that Thiago Alves received the "Knockout of the Night" bonus at UFC 85, when he defeated Matt Hughes despite coming in over weight.

UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun coverage