This Saturday marks the highly anticipated rematch between UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. The two were part of one of the most talked about fights of 2009. Filled with an abundance of back and forth action, the contest ultimately went to the scorecards. For many, including UFC President, Dana White, Rua looked to have pulled off the upset.

However, all three judges scored the bout 48-47 in favor of Machida, awarding him the unanimous decision victory. The result raised a lot of eyebrows in the MMA community. A large contingent felt that Rua had done enough to win the title. Despite the fallacy that the challenger must thoroughly defeat the champion in order to take the belt, the fact remains that, in a close decision, no actual rule exists that behooves the judges to automatically side with the current title holder.

“I think it was really a controversial fight where some people thought that I won the fight, some people thought that I lost the fight, and the biggest proof that this was a controversial fight was the fact that a rematch was set up immediately. But this is all in the past for me right now. And what gives me comfort is the fact that I’m having another shot at a title and I’ll fight for the world championship again.”

More controversy arose when one of the judges, the much maligned, Cecil Peoples, spoke out about his view of the fight. To Peoples, Rua’s striking attempts never matched those of Machida despite landing nearly twice as many blows as the champion throughout the bout. According to Peoples, Rua’s shots weren’t as powerful and thus less effective. Apparently, the other judges agreed.

The fight was another in a long line of match ups that resulted in questionable decisions. Since then, fans have demanded a more concrete way of judging MMA bouts. Currently, there is no formal training for judges assigned by state athletic commissions. With MMA incorporating several fighting disciplines, it is clear that officials need more education about the nuances of the sport.

Always one to take the high road, Rua stops short of criticizing the judges, but does think that some sort of reform needs to be established.

“What I think that should happen is that there should be some better guidelines about scoring for scoring in MMA and how to weight and what (to give) weight to. The only thing that I can say is that I gave my best in that fight. I gave my (best) and everybody that knows my fighting style knows that I always fight to win. I always try for the knockout and that’s what I’ll always try to do.”

Despite his success in their initial meeting, Rua knows that he cannot enter the Octagon with the same game plan. Because Machida is known for both his allusiveness and strategy, Rua has trained to expect the unexpected.

“I’m training for all situations so I can get no surprises when the fight starts. But actually I have to also think on different game plans and different approaches to the fight in case Lyoto comes up with something different for the fight. So I have to be prepared.”

Heading into such a high profile rematch, one would think that Rua would feel some of the pressure brought on by fans and the media who essentially expect him to win this time around; however, Rua has managed to ignore the distractions and focus only on the current situation.

“I don’t feel any pressure at all. I think my goal in the fight, whenever I fight, is to give my best performance. That’s the pressure I put on myself and the only pressure I put on myself. I don’t think about controversy or any thoughts or what happened because I think this can only hinder an athlete if you keep thinking of that.”

Controversy aside, Rua has nothing but respect for Machida.

“I really think Lyoto is a great fighter, a great guy, a very tough and well-rounded guy, and he’s not a very, he’s not an easy fighter to be knocked out or submitted. I mean, he never was knocked out or submitted in his career, so it’s not an easy thing to do.”

UFC 113 will be available on pay-per-view at 10pm EST.

(Source: MMA Weekly)