Machida Vs. Shogun II Slated For May

The much anticipated rematch between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and current Light-Heavyweight kingpin Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida is set to take place on May 1st 2010 in Montreal, Canada. Word of the confirmation was first reported by Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports and later confirmed by the UFC President, Dana White.

Shogun and Machida first met this past October at UFC 104 where Machida was awarded a Unanimous Decision victory; each judge scoring the bout 48-47. Thus the Mixed Martial Arts community was left in an uproar over the decision, with the majority claiming that Shogun did enough to deserve the decision victory and be proclaimed the new UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion.

Before both men had left Staples Centre at the UFC 104 they had both verbally agreed to a rematch in the near future. However, this process has been delayed after it was reported that Machida had injured his hand. The bout will now be stretched out all the way until next year.

Lyoto Machida has been well known for implementing a sound and effective game plan to stop opponents (securing a 16-0 unbeaten record); and this is yet to fail him. However his win over Mauricio Rua is still causing an uproar because in the eyes of myself, the public and Dana White himself, Machida’s game plan was not effective against Rua. Machida will need to return with a fresh game plan, ready to stop Shogun. On the other hand Rua will most likely not change his ideas for the rematch because he will likely be feeling he has cracked the code of The Dragon.

All in all these are two Top Ranked Light-Heavyweights of the world competing to be crowned as the Undisputed King of the 205-pound Division. Whichever way you look at it, this bout is not going to disappoint!