The People to Blame For Rua's Loss Are…Rua's Cornermen?

(Neckpunch! Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

In the scramble to figure out what went wrong and exactly how wrong it went in the decision that allowed Lyoto Machida to keep his title at UFC 104, opinion seems to be mostly split between the people who feel it was a terrible decision, and the people who simply feel that it was the wrong one in a very close bout, so it’s not worth getting upset over.  The group you don’t hear much from this morning is the one that thought Machida won.  Probably the closest you’ll get is someone who thinks it could have gone either way, like Yahoo’s Kevin Iole.  He says that the title was "Shogun" Rua’s for the taking on Saturday night, but he didn’t finish the job because he has a bunch of sycophants for cornermen:

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The men who should be facing the wrath of those who felt Rua had won should not be Hamilton, Peoples and Rosales, who rendered their opinions in a very technical, taut affair. Rather, Rua supporters should be angry at his corner men, who continually told him he was well ahead.

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Rua said he didn’t press the action in the final two rounds because his corner had told him he was in control. If that’s true, it’s that advice that cost him the fight. And it’s always the worst kind of advice to give a fighter in any match, but particularly a technical fight like Machida-Rua.

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