Shogun Knocks Out Machida for UFC Light Heavyweight Belt

The Main Event at UFC 113 in Montreal  saw the Light Heavyweight Championship Belt move from Lyoto Machida to fellow Brazilian Mauricio “Shogun” Rua by way of knock out in the first round.

The battle of Brazilians was a rematch from earlier this year when the two went all five rounds where Machida won in a very close but unanimous decision. The decision victory for Machida was widely criticized with many viewers scoring things differently than the judges and believing that Shogun did enough to deserve the belt.

Despite the fact that it was generally considered that Shogun looked the better of the two in the first fight, online sportsbooks, like Sports Interaction, still had Machida as the favorite, likely due to the incredible dominance he’s shown in the UFC since he first entered the octagon. With impressive stats like never having ever lost a round and boasting the least strikes landed against him, Machida, until facing Rua, seemed almost unbeatable.

Rua, who had committed to a disciplined attack on Machida’s legs in the first fight, opted for a more aggressive style this time. Machida, like-wise, bravely abandoned his usual counter striking tactics in favor of aggression. With both fighters stating they would refuse to see the second fight go to a decision the packed audience in Montreal saw the fireworks that everyone was expecting.

The fight was over at 3:35 in the first round after Rua managed to sneak in with an explosive right hand, knocking Machida to the ground. From there it was just a matter of several more barely defended bombs from the heavy-handed Rua before Machida was out cold.

Interestingly, Rua saw Machida was out and stopped hitting before the ref even jumped in to end the fight. An honorable touch to a masterful win by the new Light Heavyweight Champion.

“When I connected with the overhand right punch (while) standing up I already noticed that he was going out,” Rua said through an interpreter after the fight. “When we see that opportunity, we go in there for the kill.”

Machida was slow to get up and leave the ring. He left the octagon with a bag of ice pressed against his eye.

“For this fight, I knew him better so I tried to exploit him and to take more risks,” Rua said.

“All the controversy that was in the first fight just served as motivation for me to train hard, believe in it, come here and get this win.”

UFC president Dana White was understandably thrilled with Shogun’s performance saying in a post fight interview that, “Shogun Rua proved tonight that the first time maybe everybody was right with the scoring. To go out and knock out Lyoto Machida in the first round the way that he did, I mean to say it’s impressive is stupid. It’s unbelievable.”

Adding to his list of accomplishments for the evening, Shogun won knockout of the night, to take home a bonus check for $65,000. Want to make your own MMA scratch? For the best MMA odds check out Sports Interaction’s online sportsbook today.