UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun

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1 Background
2 Fight Card
3 Pre-Event Notes
4 Results
5 Bonus Awards
6 UFC Event Chronology
7 External Links

Background

UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun is an 11-bout fight card that is set to take place on October 24, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA.

The card will air live on Pay-Per-View and will feature a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between undefeated champion, Lyoto Machida and 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Tournament Champion, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

A heavyweight bout between undefeated prospect Cain Velasquez and Ben Rothwell will serve as the co-main event.

Fight Card

Preliminary Card

Heavyweight Bout: Chase Gormley vs. Stefan Struve
Middleweight Bout: Jorge Rivera vs. Rob Kimmons
Light Heavyweight Bout: Razak Al-Hassan vs. Kyle Kingsbury
Middleweight Bout: Chael Sonnen vs. Yushin Okami

Spike TV Card

Heavyweight Bout: Antoni Hardonk vs. Pat Barry
Light Heavyweight Bout: Ryan Bader vs. Eric Schafer

Main Card

Welterweight Bout: Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Lightweight Bout: Josh Neer vs. Gleison Tibau
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson vs. Spencer Fisher
Heavyweight Bout: Cain Velasquez vs. Ben Rothwell
Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Rua

Pre-Event Notes

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was offered the first shot at Lyoto Machida's title but turned it down in favor of a coaching stint opposite Rashad Evans on The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights.

Cain Velasquez was originally to face Shane Carwin in the co-main event but after reconsideration by ZUFFA, Carwin was given an immediate shot against champion Brock Lesnar. Ben Rothwell was promoted from the undercard, while his original opponent, Chase Gormley was matched up against Stefan Struve.

The UFC will again broadcast (the first time being at UFC 103) two bouts from the original undercard, live on Spike TV.

Sean Sherk had to pull out of his bout with Gleison Tibau due to a shoulder injury and was replaced by Josh Neer. Specualation circled around Sherk's injury as this would be his first fight in California since his championship bout against Hermes Franca at UFC 73 where he tested positive for steroids. Sherk would go on to provide medical evidence of his injury to clear the air.

At the weigh-ins, Anthony Johnson failed to make weight for his bout against Yoshiyuki Yoshida - coming in at 176 lbs.. Yoshida agreed to the bout as a catchweight with Johnson losing 20% of his fight purse.

Both Gleison Tibau and Josh Neer failed to make weight for their lightweight bout and instead both agreed on a 157 lbs. catchweight bout with no fighter suffering a penalty.

Results

Preliminary Card

Heavyweight Bout: Stefan Struve defs. Chase Gormley via submission (triangle choke) at 4:04 of round 1.
Middleweight Bout: Jorge Rivera defs. Rob Kimmons via TKO (punches) at 1:53 of round 3.
Light Heavyweight Bout: Kyle Kingsbury defs. Razak Al-Hassan via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
Middleweight Bout: Chael Sonnen defs. Yushin Okami via unanimous decision (30-27 x3).

Spike TV Card

Heavyweight Bout: Pat Barry defs. Antoni Hardonk via TKO (strikes) at 2:30 of round 2.
Light Heavyweight Bout: Ryan Bader defs. Eric Schafer via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-26, 30-27).

Main Card

Catchweight (176 lbs.) Bout: Anthony Johnson defs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida via TKO (punches) at 2:30 of round 2.
Lightweight Bout: Joe Stevenson defs. Spencer Fisher via submission (elbows) at 4:03 of round 2.
Catchweight (157 lbs.) Bout: Gleison Tibau defs. Josh Neer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
Heavyweight Bout: Cain Velasquez defs. Ben Rothwell via TKO (punches) at :58 of round 2.
Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: Lyoto Machida defs. Mauricio Rua via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) to successfully defend his light heavyweight championship.

In what was slammed as a robbery by the majority of MMA fans and media, Shogun used hard leg and body kicks to wear Machida down while Machida stayed patient and looked to counter the kicks with punches. The fight went the distance with the judges unanimously giving the fight to Machida with the crowd booing the decision loudly.