Lost in this weekend’s battle of Broken Foot vs. Busted Shoulder was not just the sheer brilliance of UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo adjusting his gameplan on the fly at UFC 163, but also him utterly controlling the first three rounds against a world-class opponent, despite carting around a foot-balloon that looked like it belonged in a horror movie. Seriously folks, look at that thing.
But anyway, my west coast colleague Dave Doyle already wrote several hundred astute words on that subject, so instead let’s transition our focus to the zombie from South Korea.
Chan Sung Jung waited 15 months for his chance to challenge Aldo’s seat on the throne. And while the moment may not have ended the way he’d hoped, Jung can at least take solace in the fact that a quick turnaround may be a possibility.
“[My shoulder] was really painful when it first separated, but when they took us back to the medical room, they popped it back into place. Now it feels okay,” Jung said through a translator at UFC 163’s post-fight fight conference.
Despite his loss, the indelible image of Jung realizing his sudden reality, clenching down on his mouthpiece and trying to pop his shoulder back into his socket while a Brazilian legend bore down on him will surely prevent the 26-year-old’s stock from falling too far. And if he had his way, Jung would be more than willing to run this one back.
“As far as the rematch goes, I would love to get a rematch,” Jung said. “I would love to ask for a rematch, but I think there are other people that are waiting in line right now, and I probably have to get a couple more wins in the division before they’ll give me another shot at the title.”
6 MUST-READ STORIES
Aldo defends against Zombie, both men injured. It wasn’t the prettiest win, but Jose Aldo defended his UFC featherweight championship at UFC 163, defeating Chan Sung Jung via fourth-round TKO after Jung’s shoulder gruesomely dislocated. (Video.) Although Jung wasn’t the only one hurt, as Aldo revealed afterward that he badly broke his right foot throwing his first kick of the fight. The injury is expected to keep Aldo out of action for the rest of 2013.
Davis claims decision, Machida wants rematch. Phil Davis finally made the leap to light heavyweight contendership, though not without controversy. Davis edged Lyoto Machida via unanimous decision (29-28 x3) to steal UFC 163’s co-main event, despite the fact that a majority of pros disagreed vehemently with the outcome. (Video.) Afterward a disgruntled Machida demanded a rematch, while Davis defended his victory, stating he believed he won the final two rounds.
White chimes in. Adding fuel to the Machida fire, UFC President Dana White tweeted this immediately following the decision: “Wow!!! I had Machida winning all 3 rds but that’s what happens when u leave it up to the judges!”
Teixeira gets next title shot. In the aftermath of Machida’s loss, UFC officials announced that Glover Teixeira will receive the next light heavyweight title shot with a “strong victory” over Ryan Bader on September 4, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 29. “Glover’s got an opportunity to go for that belt with a big win, so we’re expecting big things in Belo Horizonte,” said UFC executive Marshall Zelaznik.
McCall snatches first UFC win. In UFC 163 undercard action, it took 18 months, but Ian McCall finally picked up his first victory inside the Octagon, defeating Iliarde Santos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). Despite winning an extra $50,000 for ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, McCall admitted afterward that he was “embarrassed” by his performance.
ONE FC 10 finalized. In non-UFC news, the 11-bout fight card of ONE FC 10 is official for September 13, 2013 at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia. ONE FC 10 is headlined by a flyweight clash pitting former Shooto champion Shinichi Kojima against American jiu-jitsu ace Andrew Leone.
MEDIA STEW
Since Lyoto Machida dominated this weekend’s news cycle, it seems like a convenient time to drag this gem out of hiding.
I’d love to show you all kinds of UFC 163 violence, but since I can’t — damn copyright laws — I think this one-handed regional gem works nicely as a replacement.
“Alexander, he’s tall, man. And he has a presence. So me looking him in the eyes, I just wanted to let him know that I’m here. That we’re the same height, and I embrace us being the same height. I’m just trying to look him in the eyes and let him know, there’s only going to be one tall guy in town, and that’s going to be me.” — Mr. Jonny Bones, waxing poetic about the art of the staredown.
Everything about this video of a Scottish taekwondo instructor is riddled with FAIL, but that poor little girl probably got the worst of it. MMA Fighting scores it 10-8 for the board.
(HT: Reddit)
Don’t worry, Tommy. Even if they made fun of it, I thought the Mario vs. Bowser comparison worked. Kind of.
BROKEN FOOT VS. BUSTED SHOULDER
…….
— Anthony Pettis (@Showtimepettis) August 4, 2013
That is brutal that Zombie’s shoulder pops out during the fight!!!!!
— Dana White (@danawhite) August 4, 2013
The Korean Zombie really won my respect tonight. I really hope that shoulder injury isn’t career ending cause the fans love him
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) August 4, 2013
What a shitty way to lose. #ufc163
— John Dodson III (@JohnDodsonMMA) August 4, 2013
That sucks the fight was really getting good. Hope the Zombie is ok. This game is unpredictable
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) August 4, 2013
Kind of anti climatic. .got to feel bad for zombie after a year lay off. Congrats to the champ @josealdojunior
— Mike Brown (@mikebrownmma) August 4, 2013
A DIFFERING OF OPINIONS
Just got home from Rio and watched @lyotomachidafw fight again. What fight were the judges watching? HORRIBLE JUDGING!!!
— Ed Soares (@edblackhouse) August 5, 2013
Phil Davis! Close fight but thought he pulled it off. Smart strategy. Thought Phil won rounds 1 & 2. Shaking up 205 rankings! #ufc163
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) August 4, 2013
Wow!!! I had Machida winning all 3 rds but that’s what happens when u leave it up to the judges!
— Dana White (@danawhite) August 4, 2013
Well deserved @PhilMrWonderful was scared he was gonna get robbed!
— Michael Johnson (@FollowTheMenace) August 4, 2013
Not for nothing Phil Davis is awesome but that’s some BS!!! They award to much for TD’s even though no damage is done on the floor! Booooo
— Matt Serra (@MattSerraUFC) August 4, 2013
Neither @lyotomachidafw or @PhilMrWonderful won it should have been a Draw
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) August 4, 2013
I thought @lyotomachidafw won that fight. He landed more significant strikes. #UFC163
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) August 4, 2013
Scorecard for Machida vs Davis pic.twitter.com/3vr2VpDSG2
— E. Casey Leydon (@ekc) August 4, 2013
UNCLE CREEPY FIGHTS THROUGH IT
For those asking if I really broke my hand …. Here you go. Not to bad but def broken http://t.co/B1OOTGldq4
— Ian McCall (@Unclecreepymma) August 4, 2013
SOMEONE WAS HAPPY ABOUT VINNY
Did Vinny just get KOd in under 10 secs? Holy Shit!
— evgeni kogan (@evgenikogan) August 4, 2013
14 seconds, sorry. Still speechless.
— evgeni kogan (@evgenikogan) August 4, 2013
@justinvondoom I believe he did say that. Wonder what will happen now.
— evgeni kogan (@evgenikogan) August 4, 2013
@justinvondoom You’re right, Burning Bridges for Dummies could have been written based on that débâcle.
— evgeni kogan (@evgenikogan) August 4, 2013
DIEGO KEEPS IT REAL
Not the strongest ppv card tonight. thank god ufc 166 is stacked. @ufc
— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) August 4, 2013
OKAY, THAT SEEMS LIKE A RISKY PROPOSITION
Anybody in the Albuquerque area who has seen this truck send me a message. It is an older Toyota Blue truck. On… http://t.co/DU2VQGfMGt
— Jackson’s MMA (@JacksonsMMA) August 4, 2013
ONE LAST UPDATE
Messed up my hand. Can’t punch on it for a few more weeks . Out of my Aug fight , but ill be back soon and close out the year strong #UFC
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunsonMMA) August 4, 2013
AND THAT’S HOW WE FINISH STRONG
I love the buttermilk banana pancakes at #MagnoliaCafe w/ real maple syrup. It taste sooo good, it’s like a unicorn just farted in my mouth.
— Yves Edwards (@thugjitsumaster) August 4, 2013
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced over the weekend (Friday, August 2, 2013 – Sunday, August 4, 2013):
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes to us from wonderfulspam, and I’m curious to hear feedback from it: Lyoto Machida Only Won One Round
Huh?
No, you didn’t misread the title. In his fight against Phil Davis last night, Lyoto Machida only did enough to win one single round, namely the third round of the UFC 163 co-main event. In the last round of the closely contested Light Heavyweight bout, The Dragon’s takedown defense was flawless as he shrugged off four attempts from Mr Wonderful, outlanding the American in both power and total strikes along the way. Regardless of your application of the Unified Rules, 10-9 Machida is the only defensible score.
The first two rounds were an entirely different matter, though. While Machida landed some decent punches to the head in the first, his offense was fairly negligible and largely offset by Davis’ kicks. In the second, Davis finished strongly with knees to the body on the ground while avoiding the bulk of The Dragon’s output. And in both rounds, Davis landed a takedown towards the end of the round. Mike Goldberg and Brian Stann may have made it seem as if Machida was winning clearly but the Brazilian’s beautiful movement and control of the octagon belied the fact that he failed to clearly impose his will on his opponent.
I’m sure your pitchforks are well and truly sharpened by now – in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if one or more of you never made it this far but instead already jumped into the comment section to furiously hurl insults my way – but before you lunge into a passionate tirade, please read on. Machida may not have won more than one round but here’s the kicker: that’s still one round more than Phil Davis deserved.
B-but … who won the other two rounds, then? The keener minds will already have sussed out where I’m going with this but for anyone incapable of wrapping their heads around non-10-9 scores, here’s an excerpt from the Unified Rules as provided on ABC Boxing’s homepage:
“The following objective scoring criteria shall be utilized by the judges when scoring a round;
“1. A round is to be scored as a 10-10 Round when both contestants appear to be fighting evenly and neither contestant shows dominance in a round;”
I dare you to look into my virtual eyes and tell me that the first two rounds are not perfectly summed up by the above 10-10 definition. Whether you feel like Machida landed one or two more good punches per round or that Davis’ takedowns gave him a slight edge, there was absolutely no dominance shown by either fighter. Said dominance was however clearly on display in the third round where Machida’s moderate output far outdid Davis’ non-existent offense.
From the same document on ABC Boxing’s site, the following sentence jumps out:
“Training should include comprehensive discussions surrounding what constitutes a 10-8 round while also noting that 10-10 rounds are available under the current scoring criteria.”
This directly contradicts anecdotal evidence from, among others, BE community member and licensed judge mjanecek and MMADecisions.com, who both state that judges are dissuaded from applying 10-10s by the overseeing commissions, not to mention empirical evidence from MMADecisions.com that shows that only 23 fights in UFC history (around 1 in 100) have included a 10-10 round on a scorecard. With only 3 rounds available in most MMA fights, it doesn’t take a great deal of guesswork to arrive at a reasonable conclusion as to the underlying rationale: a deep-seated, highly American fear of the draw.
A fundamental part of the European and South American phenomenon known to Muricans as sawker, draws are nowhere to be seen in the North American sports. Overtime is king and never does a sporting event end without a clear-cut winner. MMA is fundamentally different from stick-and-ball sports, however, from the lack of open scoring to the way more than half of the fights are never even scored because they end before the allotted 15 or 25 minutes. Most telling, perhaps, is the absence of actual, objective points/goals/runs. It does not logically follow that if one accomplishes X, Y points will be awarded. Why, then, this insistence on always finding a winner even in rounds where there is no discernible, measurable, objective difference between the output of the two fighters?
Forgetting the made-up division of fights into five-minute rounds for a moment, can you confidently state that Machida was outfought over the course of the fight? Did the fight leave you thinking that Davis outgunned him? More than anything, I find it impossible to say that Lyoto Machida lost that fight. Yes, the reality is that we live in a world in which fights are judged by three or five 5-minute intervals but the goal of the judging criteria and the application of them should be to qualitatively assert which fighter – if any – was superior. If the current 10 point 10-9 must system does not do the job then it should be changed.
And besides, there’s no reason why the application of 10-10 rounds should necessarily lead to a huge amount of draws. For one, it takes opposing 10-9s combined with a 10-10 for a fight to end up as a draw and secondly, the UFC has already shown a willingness to utilise extra rounds in TUF fights as well as in the Flyweight Tournament (unfortunately, the Australian athletic commission was less willing). For a matchup featuring two mid-division fighters, a draw is a perfectly fine result if neither fighter shows dominance but for title fights and #1 contender fights – or simply all main card fights – an extra round would be an exciting and fair way to settle a close scrap.
Any round that could conceivably be scored 10-9 either way should automatically be a 10-10. Forcing a 10-9 means that one jab, one ineffectual takedown or one leg kick can mean a two-point swing, not to mention when vague criteria such as aggression and octagon control are responsible for deciding the outcome of a fight. Commissions and judges need to focus on implementing the 10-10 score, leading to increased fairness in addition to a don’t-leave-it-to-the-judges-esque effect on fighters who would have to take more chances in order to assert their dominance or run the risk of not winning a round despite being in control.
Machida vs. Davis was a perfect example of a 30-28 or 30-29 fight. The 10-9 scorecard may be an old friend but it’s past time we properly introduced its companion, the 10-10.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.