Tag: lyoto Machida vs Shogun Rua

Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua 3 reportedly in the works for UFC 283 in Brazil

Lyoto MachidaA trilogy bout between two Brazilian legends of the sport could be set to take place at UFC 283, as early reports of a fight between Lyoto Machida and Shogun Rua begin to surface. Since the winter of 2018, former UFC middleweight champion Lyoto Machida has been competing for Bellator MMA, where he amassed a […]

Lyoto Machida

A trilogy bout between two Brazilian legends of the sport could be set to take place at UFC 283, as early reports of a fight between Lyoto Machida and Shogun Rua begin to surface.

Since the winter of 2018, former UFC middleweight champion Lyoto Machida has been competing for Bellator MMA, where he amassed a record of 2-4. ‘The Dragon’ started strong, picking up back-to-back wins over Rafael Carvalho and Chael Sonnen. However, the tail end of his time with Bellator saw him drop four consecutive losses, culminating with a brutal round one KO loss to Fabian Edwards.

The loss to Edwards was the last on Lyoto Machida’s Bellator contract, leaving him free to test the open market. Whilst many called for the now 44 years old Machida to hang up the gloves, it appears that he may be returning to the premier MMA promotion for one final fight.

Jorge Guimaraes, Machida’s manager, reached out to the UFC after hearing that the promotion was making the trip out to Brazil in early 2023. Guimaraes pitched a trilogy bout between Lyoto Machida and Shogun Rua, seemingly receiving a positive response from the UFC.

“When I heard ‘Shogun was doing his last fight at UFC Rio, I immediately called (UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell) offering Lyoto for a trilogy,” Guimaraes said to Sherdog. “Hunter told me they initially were planning on someone like Tyson Pedro to fight Shogun, but he liked the idea and told me he was going to talk to Dana [White] about it. I have no doubt the Brazilian audience would love that matchup. Two champions, two legends of the sport, one win for each, doing their rubber match on the night of both of their retirement fights. Shogun is already a Hall of Famer, Lyoto also deserves that.” (H/T/ BJ PENN)

Machida defended his UFC middleweight title against Shogun in 2009. ‘The Dragon’ defeated his countryman via unanimous decision. However, the fight would be immediately rebooked, this time with a very different result. Rua knocked Machida out in the first round.

With both fighters now in the twilight of their careers, one final bout in front of a Brazilian crowd, to end this trilogy, makes a lot of sense.

A fourth bout between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno is also reportedly set to take place on this card. Also in the mix are the following fights:

Brad Tavares vs. Gregory Rodrigues

Gabriel Bonfim vs. Mounir Lazzez

Josiane Nunes vs. Zarah Fairn

Would you like to see Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua 3 at UFC 283?

Robbery! MMA’s 10 Worst Judging Decisions

Never leave it in the hands of the judges, UFC President Dana White famously says to every fighter. In the wild sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) even a fight you thought was in the bag can go wayward without a finish. And there’s no worse feeling (besides getting knocked out) than losing a fight […]

The post Robbery! MMA’s 10 Worst Judging Decisions appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Never leave it in the hands of the judges, UFC President Dana White famously says to every fighter. In the wild sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) even a fight you thought was in the bag can go wayward without a finish.

And there’s no worse feeling (besides getting knocked out) than losing a fight you thought you had won. Even in bouts that have appeared to be dominated by one fighter, a controversial call has often arisen from the cageside judges who apparently saw the action unfold differently.

There have been some atrocious judging errors in the short history of mixed martial arts, and we broke down the top 10 biggest robberies in its history.

10. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado

The great Fedor Emelianenko had a long and illustrious career in MMA, becoming the Pride heavyweight champion and remaining unbeaten until he suffered a series of defeats in Strikeforce.

Once that promotion was bought out and absorbed into the UFC, Emelianenko opted to retire for a short time before returning to competition in Japan and his native Russia. There, he fought UFC castoff Fabio Maldonado at 2016’s EFN 50.

The fight was an egregious robbery in terms of judging.

Emelianenko was arguably knocked out in the first round as he lay motionless getting punched. The referee refused to stop it, and Fedor went on to arguably win the next two rounds. Fedor’s face was an absolute swollen mess after three rounds with the Brazilian, yet he was awarded the decision victory regardless.

Maldonado left the fight with barely any damage, but with the fight taking place in Russia, it seemed there was no way he was going to get a fair shake when the fight went the distance.

Emelianenko may have won the decision, but also took a serious beating from an opponent a full weight class smaller than him. Maldonado may have easily gotten the nod if the fight was anywhere but Russia, and a huge controversy justifiably ensued from this highly questionable call.

The post Robbery! MMA’s 10 Worst Judging Decisions appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.