"Shogun" Rua Gets His Crown Back at UFC 113

Saturday’s main event at UFC 113 put all doubts to rest about the outcome of the first LHW championship bout between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, more than six months ago. Five rounds that, if scored diligently, had Rua taking the title from the defending champ, Machida.

For their Montreal rematch, Rua pushed Machida out of his comfort zone early, rushing forward to put his rival on the defensive.

Machida, a state-of-the-art counter puncher, couldn’t adjust his timing to match Shogun’s pace. Though Machida took Shogun down twice in the short amount of time the fight lasted, he looked awkward doing it.

Meanwhile, Rua hammered at Machida’s legs whenever he could, aping his game plan from their first bout. That punishment also contributed to the defending champ’s uneasy stance in the octagon.

Notwithstanding a very early combination, Machida didn’t strike much, preferring knees to Rua’s ribcage while in the clinch. Machida attempted just that when Rua landed a right overhand blow to his left temple that sent Machida down like a tree.

Rua followed him and, in full mount, landed a couple of strikes squarely on Machida’s jaw, KOing him with 1:32 remaining in the opening stanza. Proving UFC 104 to be something similar to the cunning of history. Machida retained his title then, but Rua would inevitably get the belt. Rua’s KO made him $65k richer as he was awarded the card’s KO of the night purse.

As a memento of his devastating KO loss, the Quebec Athletic Commission parted with Machida by giving him a 60-day suspension.

The lead up bout between WW Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley offered the winner the opportunity to face current WW champ Georges St-Pierre. That type of coin being on the line probably had an impact on Koscheck’s decision to make this fight a wrestling competition.

In a postfight interview with MMA Fanhouse, Kos gave the traditional line about not wishing to make excuses for his UD win, but mentioned personal issues had made this training camp his toughest to date. Judging by the way he backed away from Daley while standing up, it’s hard to imagine Koscheck could have beaten fearing Daley’s left hand by training harder.

It’s most logical he didn’t want to jeopardize his second chance at GSP and a crack at the WW title. He was fully aware of his enormous wrestling advantage and used it. It didn’t make for the most exciting, but it got Koscheck what he knew was within his grasp.

The blow thrown by Daley after the fight had ended marked Daley’s exit from the promotion. Dana White confirmed the immediate dismissal in the post-event presser. It is likely that Daley ends up signing with Strikeforce and competes in its WW division. A fight against Nick Diaz could draw crowds. 

As expected, the LW bout opposing Canuck fighter Sam Stout to US’s Jeremy Stephens provided fireworks and netted both fighters a fight of the night purse worth 65k, in addition to their respective salaries.

It was a rare occasion to witness Stout failing to win the UD and manage to snag a FOTN award. Spencer Fisher is the other fighter who bested him that way at UFC Fight Night 10. Saturday’s bout ended with Jeremy Stephens falling on the winning side of a split decision.  

The HW bout between Kimbo Slice and Matt Mitrione turned out be Slice’s last fight under that promotional banner. At least that’s what UFC president hinted at following the event. Mitrione molested Slice for the vast majority of their short-lived tussle. Then Slice ran out of gas and turned in a stellar performance as a sandbag.

Mitrione not being able to submit that sandbag demonstrated that he has a lot of room to improve. He is still nowhere near contender status, but has gained a bit of credibility with that TKO win at 4:24 of round two.

The first bout airing on the PPV marked the return of Patrick Côté to the Octagon. His first bout in 18 months, he faced a tough opponent in Alan Belcher who didn’t seem phased by the loud reception his opponent received from the Montreal crowd.

The latter might have landed a few punches, but Belcher overwhelmed his opponent standing up and finished the fight with a rear naked choke mid-round two. That earned him the Submission of the night award and $65k to boot.      

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