Mauricio “Shogun” Rua Agrees To Fight Lyoto Machida at UFC 104 in October
Posted by Kris Karkoski on May 29, 2009 at 9:15 am ET59 Comments
A rumored bout between UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua will not headline UFC 103 in September and is now expected to take place at UFC 104 in October, according to Super Lutas, who reports that Rua has agreed to the October matchup.
During yesterday’s media conference call announcing Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans as coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 10, UFC President Dana White dismissed reports that Machida would fight at UFC 103, but confirmed they were working on Machida’s first title defense and expected to announce the matchup in the coming days.
UFC 104 is scheduled to take place on October 24th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
[Pictured: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua]
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This sucks for rampage right now… he went through unjust pressure against jardine in a win and you get a title shot fight… he wins and has to sit it out a while due to some injury with his jaw… and gets to watch lyoto get a shot first… thats life. but it was never in question that rampages next fight would be a title shot. then even though he said on several occasions he wouldnt coach on tuf again because he found it highly frustrating. they put him back on vs rashad (tho as far as i know he was originally still getting a title shot). then rua who has looked pathetic in 2 out of his 3 fights and lets be honest last fight he ko’d a legend, but a legend who has spent more time on the floor looking for wholes in the mat than fighting recently. and he walks into the next title shot?? thats a title shot without beating a legitimate contender.
and having to go thru a rashad coming off a big loss??? in a situation the same as the last time rampage lost
Dude go back and read the other releases…Rampage changed his mind on the whole TUF coaching gig. Said part of the reason he’s doing it again is because of his relationships w/his first team. Also said it’s only frustrating because he hates losing. Dana White gave him the option of fighting Machida in the fall or coaching TUF and fighting Rashad in Dec. He chose the latter. It was Rampage’s choice, the guy obviously wants to KO Evans more than fight for the belt and that’s his choice!
Rampage was the number 1 contender; he could have taken the fight with Machida. But HE chose not to. He wanted to fight Evans; no one forced him to be a coach. Honestly, I think he’s thinking he’d like to see Machida fight again before squaring up against him. I do agree Shogun does not deserve a shot at all. Who else is there though? Machida has expressed that he wants to fight ASAP. So he’s not going to just wait for the winner of Rampage/Evans. Obviously everyone would love a fight between The Dragon and The Spider, but they are good friends and both have expressed no intention in ever fighting.
Nah…smart move, UFC. The more you can stretch these things out, the better it is for the division. Now all of us folks will be talking about this, it adds more hype for future fights…I love it!
I think Shogun / Machida should be a cool fight.
If shogun comes in shape he is one of a handfull of people who could beat Machida
Great fight im looking forward to it
After all that back and forth i have to agree with what onlytrue1 said. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the awesome fights, no matter how it should have played out and who should be fight who, shogun vs machida is a great match and so is rampage vs. We get to see some “black on black crime”.
C4RM0 I agree dude. Shogun besides rampage, is the only dude with the tools to really test machida @ the moment. If shogun comes in shape then we’re in for a sick ass fight! I want to see shogun give machida trouble and put him in some dangerous positions so we can see how machida will react. I hope shogun pulls it off so we can see rampage vs shogun 2!!
Jazzok My Dawg!!
Yeap at this point all we can do is sit back and enjoy the ride.
Honestly if we all stop and think about it, The UFC’s job is to put on AMAZING fights and thats it really…. It is us the fans that want to say who is #1 or who deserves a shot.
Think about it fella’s everyone wants a title shot but when they get it they all say it’s just another accomplishment and that they dont fight for the belt, they fight to be the best,and for get this MONEY!! the belt really is just a great extra!! Theres no belt for the P4P best fighter in the world up for graps, but we all know sorta who that is…
Sooo I guess what i’m saying is we can stop with this redonkuluss talk of who deserves what and why and just relax and watch great fights!! Machida/Shogun awesome!! Rampage/Evans awesome winner fight winner losers fight losers awesome!!!
See you guys sunday night when I get back in town till then drink on for yo boy!!
c4rmo
I completely agree. I think that a in-shape shogun is a scary scary dude for sure.
I also think, imo, that machida would bomb on Rampage. So this is a much better, and more than likely, more entertaining fight.
If Machida beats Shogun, and Forrest beats Silva, don’t be suprised if we get Griffin / Shogun 2 this Winter.
This is a cool. Now there’s plenty of time for both guys to train and do research on eachother. It also gives Mauricio Rua plenty of time to get in shape, he;s going to be in great shape for this one.
Now that Rampage is not fighting Machida, this was the most logical fight because all the other 205′ers are already fighting(the top contenders).
I still don’t know who i’m rooting for because i really like SHogun, but I want to see Machida fight Rampage after he puts a hurting on Evans.
No matter who has the title, i don’t see anyone holding the belt for a significant amount of time, the guys waiting in line are too dangerous to just run through all of them, whether it’s Machida,Shogun or Rampage who have the belt, i think it’s going to be a while before we see another guy at 205 be as dominant as Chuck Liddell was, but if Machida does get through Shogun and Rampage(assuming he beats Evans), then i don’t see him losing to anyone else in the 205 division, unless he fights Forrest in the future, Forrest doesn’t have one are that defines his overall game, but he is awesome at all areas of MMA.
Lyoto Machida is going to present great challenges to Shougun Rua, but Rua will also present dangerous challenges for Machida also. They aer both very experienced, but Shogun has already been on top and knows what it takes to be in the spotlight and rise to the occasion, i can’t wait to see how Machida handles his first title defense “jitters”. Should be an awesome fight.
Nice to see 2 guys from Brazil going head to head for a title again.
Mauricio Shougun Rua via tko.
Honestly The Dragon vs. Shogun will be a very good fight that I think Machida will win. But I dont think that Rampage has more than a punchers chance at beaing MAchida. The Dragon would knock him out 2-3rd round like he did toRashad. I think that a FOCUSED in shape Forest could acutally give Machida a run for his money. Forest was macking Rashad look silly before he got cocky and went away from his game plan.
People underestimate Rampage, it took a lot of vicious knees to the head for Wanderlei to knock him out (I think 24). Machida wouldn’t knock Rampage out, if anything he would win by decision.
I doubt that Machida will take many more fights to a decision, he is a different fighter from t=when he fought tito and others. He has knocked out his last two opponents. Rampage has a good chin but lyoto will take advantage of him. And Greg Jackson’s game plan was not at all effective for Rashad and I think Rampage and Rashad are ver similar. I think It will be a tought fight but Quinton will get KO’d
firstly rampage is much bigger much stronger and more experienced plus half of his ufc fights are won by ko. second how the f*** is rampage similar to rashad- what do we all look alike or something?!!!! the guy who said rampage is hard to be koed is right-in 37 fights he has onlybeen koed 3 times and only once out cold. everyone constantly says how hard chuck hits; well rampage took his hardest shots in their first fight and wasn’t hurt or dropped at all. meanwhile he dropped chuck atleast 5 or 6 times(chuck in 2003 a prime chuck). and he was taking chuck down at will before beating his ass so bad chuck’s cotrner threw in the towel.
Ok, didn’t read any comments just going to say my piece and go bout my business…
Shogun doesn’t deserve the title fight imo, and well atleast he is willing to fight Machida…. For it simply seems that EVERYONE is ducking Machida…. Forrest won’t fight him, Rampage won’t fight him, nobody wants to fight Lyoto except for Shogun, sooooo F~it way to step up to the plate kid here is your opportunity….
If this takes place in LA, ya I’m going to do my best to go to this event forsure… definately would be a bit of awesome to see these two fight…
*Forrest turned down the fight against Lyoto months ago, and I do realize that he is scheduled to fight Anderson @ 101…..
Or maybe Rampage just wanted to fight Evans more.
um why wouldn’t Rampage want “his” title back, he always stated “I’m coming for MY title” when talking about Rashad…
Now I know that you coming from the aspect that Rampage stated that well Evans got im my face now I have to teach the boy a lesson, point of view… But com’on whynot fight for the title? That is the #1 goal of a fighter anything else is an excuse and bs imo….. But thats just me
fr702,
dude i see it the way you do, if i had a shot at the tiltle i wouldn’t give it up for the worls, i’m a big Rampage fan, but can’t help but think he’s kinda scared or something. I know he hates Evans, but how can he pass up a title shot, it’s, him saying he wants to fight Evans ro “shut him up” is pure bull$hit.
And i agree that Rampage chosing to fight Evans instead of Machida could backfire on him, if he loses to Evans he’ll problably never get another shot, dumb fu*king choice Rampage you let me down dude, the only way to make up for it is by knocking out Evans.
its not all about the titles u kno. would u rather fight for a belt or give the people wat they want? rampage aint no dummy he knows we all wanna see some “black on black crime again” so hes givin us wat we want. 95% of my friends when i told them he was fightin lyoto instead of rashad were disappointed. and now hes guarenteed another big “heated” fight(unless someone gets hurt) on the end of the year card which everyone knos is the biggest card of the year. thats wat i like to call a huge payday. and it also sets it up if and i mean if shogun can beat lyoto and rampage gets passed rashad then we get shogun vs rampage 2 which again is another huge payday and a fight rampage has said he wants. its not like the title is gonna disappear in the time he fights rashad. as a matter of fact as a rampage fan i want him to fight rashad then if forrest and shogun both lose i want them to fight again wit the winner of that fight fightin rampage. then a title shot but for that to happen another competitor COUGHa. silvaCOUGH would need to step up and fight lyoto in that 6 month period. its about excitin fights and the payday for rampage. im down 100% wit rampage fightin rashad
yeah i agree with you, fu*k it, I enjoy fighters who steo up to the plate and don’t duck anyone.
Atleast Forrest stated “I’m not fighting him, don’t want to” which is honest but I wish he would change his mind… If (a big IF) Griffin gets past A.Silva and Lyoto beats Shogun, there is no other choice other than to have Griffin fight Lyoto….
I do like when people step up to the plate and fight no matter if it is for a title or not….. But com’on how do you not fight the champion for a chance to regain the belt you lost not too long ago, just simply wow…. I know Lyoto DESTROYED Evans but come and get some step up Quinton…
yeah man, Rampage is making himself look bad by doing this. Like you said, How the hell do you NOT fight for the title?
last time i checked, every fighter says that the belt and being the best is the ONLY thing truly worth fighting for. Being the champ SSHOULD outweigh everything else, and if you really think about it, Rampage and Evans’s “beef” isn’t that big compared to other “beefs” like BJ PENN_ JENS PULVER,MATT HUGHES-MATT SERRA or TITO ORTIZ_KEN SHAMROCK,
they just began their little “black on black crimes” feud so i can’t help but think that my boy Rampage went homosexual and is ducking Machida and using his “beef” with Evans as an excuse.
About Forrest not wanting to fight Machida…If he does get passed a. Silva, i hope he doesn’t duck the winner of Shogun-Machida, cuz that will take all the HYPE out of the 205 division and make all the 205′ers look like bi*ches.
At Least James Irvin didn’t bi*ch out against Anderson, even if he got his a$$ kicked he still took the fight. COME ON GUYS, if you are going to be true FIGHTERS than STEP UP and PROVE IT.
That’s why I ADMIRE GUYS LIKE CHUCK LIDDELL WHO NEVER DUCK ANYONE
I think (or at least would like to think) that part of the reason why Forrest “ducked” Machida before was that he knew Machida was that good, and other people didn’t know that, and it would not have been for the belt. So it didn’t make sense for him to take that kind of risk against Machida when it wasn’t for the belt. Now that Machida has the belt, if Forrest beats Silva, I think he would have a different mindset in regards to fighting Machida.
i have a question if anderson silva beats forrest and lyoto beats shogun, when does anderson get a chance at the belt. i think anderson is a great match up with machida. shogun has a shot but the deeper the fight goes the more likely machida will win. anderson silva will beat forrest anderson is at his best when his opponent pushes forward( chris leben, nate marquardt, and rich franklin.)
Mike,
As long as lyoto is the champ and @ 205, anderson silva is never going to challenge for the 205 title because he’s boys with machida. I’m going to quote him again with his take on challenging fot the 205 belt “i’m not going to fight for the belt @ 205. that’s lyoto’s belt” he said this before lyoto was champ.
I would personally love to see anderson vs machida! IMO the ufc should not take into consideration that two guys are “friends” or training partners when putting together a fight. The 2 guys @ the beggining of this seasons tuf were long time friends and they kicked eachothers ass. RAMPAGE and HENDO were boys and they fought for the undisputed title. GSP once trained with JAY HEIRON and gsp tko’d him. COUTURE was budds with TIM SYLVIA and they fought. ROB EMERSON and MANNY GAMBURYAN were friends and they fought…FRANKLIN and HAMILL have had dinner in eachothers house with eachothers family for crying out loud and they still fought.
BlackHouse
bottomline,,,,,, Lyoto and A.Silva are NOT going to fight one another as long as they train together, they are friends….
Although I greatly respect the skills of both Machida and Rua, neither are personal favorites of mine, or huge event draws IMHO. The best case scenario for a future PPV main event would be if Rua unseats Machida for the belt, and Forrest Griffin gets past Anderson Silva. This way the UFC can promote the crap out of the Griffin/Rua re-match later in the year, with the added bonus of it being a title bout.
Maybe Rampage wants to see Machida fight more to get a sample set of his style and ability. Sooner or later, people are going to figure him out. Why fight him now when no one has a clue how to put a dent in his armor?…THE GUY HAS NEVER LOST A ROUND!!!
GarRule, this isn’t the first time that Quinton has seen Lyoto hell they came from the org WFA (World Fighting Alliance) which was purchased by ZUFFA in 2006, primarly to get Quinton’s contract, and also got Lyoto’s at the same time…… Plus there is YouTube to watch fights along with mmashare or mma-core, etc….. Quinton knows how Lyoto fights from a outsiders perspective, I assume that it is quite a bit different being in the cage with him….. And yes Lyoto has lost many rounds, just not yet in the UFC ie v Sam Greco he won by Split Decision……
Understood, but who has the answer for Machida? He’s undefeated…seems like he’s only getting better…and perhaps Rampage already has it in his head that Rashad’s a lay-up. Why lose a pay day?? I dunno!! All I do know is that since he came to the UFC (last I checked, the best talent in the world!) the dude hasn’t lost a round, and he’s never been beaten. Are you telling me YouTube’s got an answer that Greg Jackon didn’t have?
right I get your point of view… And the reason that Jackson didn’t have the answer for Lyoto when he sent Rashad in there to face him, is simply because Jardine didn’t get the first crack at Lyoto (sacraficial lamb if you will) hell it worked against Chuck and Forrest
youtube doesn’t have all the answer’s im just saying that if you would like to “see all of lyoto’s fights” there are places you can do this, and again he has know about Lyoto for atleast 3 and a half years now, he isn’t exactly a secret…. but hey I’m just disapointed that Rampage “turned down” a chance to fight Lyoto… That is odd for Quinton to do that and well strikes me as ducking the champ…
FR702
yeah dude i was so caught up in everything else that i didn’t even think of that. I think you’re right. Rampage is one of my favorite fighters and I don’t think he’s scared of anyone…but it could be that you’re right and that he ducked machida. I read in ufc.com that he wants to work more on other things to become quote “like gsp”. Maybe he feels he’ll need more to beat machida. Good point dude
fr702, I agree with you a brazillian percent.
Maybe Shogun is Rampage’s Jardine? Maybe Machida blinks his eyes and you can punch him on the white X on his tummy.
LOL @GarRule, nice PunchOut! reference.
Machida’s style is perfect when put against aggressive opponents . Evans and silva were giving him those first motions that allowed him to use his skills ,but Rua can use his muay tai and movement to make openings . I think he has a great chance at beating machida and he will be in even better shape than before . Just needs to stick with the guys from the last camp he had .I do agree he should have had at least one more fight but the knock on the door came and he takes every fight he gets ……so do it .
I just have a question for all you Machida “fans”…If Shogun beats Machida are you all going to think that Shougun is unbeatable AND are you all going to hop on the Shogun bandqwaggon?
Dr. Doom, you make a valid point, Rua does have a great chance at beating Machida and should not be considered a heavy underdog, but just a plain underdog. Machida is dangerous when guys pressure him, but Rua will prove my theory that if you don’t exaggerate on the respect you give Machida and really get in his face to force exchanges, AND if you can take his PREDICTABLE left kick FOLLOWED by his PREDICTABLE straight left punch AND SURVIE THAT, you can FU*K him UP and really TEST his CHIN and SEE if he can Overcome adversity.
Machida is no easy win but he’s not a fu*king Darth Maul!!!!
Dr. Doom talking to Marvelknight and you end in a Star Wars reference? You could have at least ended with a Galactus or Kingpin line!
One vote for Shogun having a chance! One more vote for all of these fights being friggin’ awesome!!!
Yeah, i know what you mean GaRule, i only mentioned Darth Maul because he’s also an awesone Martial Artist that does some awesome acrobatics and taekwuando/karate moves, but yeah i next time i’ll do better!
Hey, the same actor played Toad! He’s a Marvel guy. Do I have o think of everything! HAHA. Anyway, too many smiley faces on these posts.
A title means your the best in the division but sometimes these fighters dont care about the object(title) and care about the fight. These fighters feel that they are the best with or without the title.
Real quick fella’s
I know you guys are saying Rampage is scared and duck out but I see it differently.
I’ve already stated that the Ufc wanted Rampage/Evans to fight and Coach and being that rampage bailed them out with the K.Jardine fight and TUFF is the UFC money maker and Fight builder it only made sense for them to do this fight and say Quinton wanted Evans {which he may have) buttttt I’m pretty sure they nudged and wink winked for this particular fight! Quinton knows he owes Dana and crew big time so he’ll do whatever they want and look like he ducked the fight for the ufc big payday. To set up mega fights later!
Rampage fights for the money he gets nearly 350 each fight so if you add in coaching for the fight as well and black on black crime. Priceless ticket sells go through the roof..
How much do they get paid to coach TUFF anyway???
IMO
4 Quinton its
That’s another payday to coach, beat the guy you want to beat bad and its another win = more payday{if he beats evans} plus whatever bonus’s they get for the tuff show + fight bonus + he still would be in line to face the champ for a title shot!!! The belt aint going anywhere and neither is Machida obviously!!! And he pleases his BOSS’ES hey win win.
Not making excusses for him ONLY another point of view is all!!
I think thats what is going on OnlyTrue1. you hit the nail on the head. also it could be the fact that rampage didnt feel ready that he had the skills to beat machida. maybe he thinks machida’s win against rashad was a fluke, and shogun would expose the holes in machida’s game, or maybe he is letting some other guy fight machida first so he could see if machida really has holes in his game.
in the fight with rashad machida did seem a little predictable, but I highly doubt machida would use the exact same gameplan against shogun. machida aint dumb.
MK4, im not calling you out, but I dont recall forrest ever ducking a fight. the guy took on shogun when he came over from pride, shogun was supposed to walk through forrest for a title shot, forrest took on rampage, and then forrest took on evans right after he beat rampage, now forrest is taking on A. Silva and you say he is ducking peeps? if he is, he is ducking the middle of the pack guys to take on the big dogs.
as far as this whole A. silva not fighting machida because they are boys, silva said he wouldnt fight machida for a 100 million dollars. Joe silva and co. come up with the fights, but its up to the fighters to sign the contract to agree to the fight, the ufc cant force them to sign, espically silva. are they going to threaten to cut silva if he doesnt sign to fight machida? silva would go to affliction so he can take on fedor, he has expressed intrest in fighting fedor in the future.
You know he wouldn’t go to Affliction to fight Fedor, Affliction will be done before Anderson even fights Forrest.
shogun needs to come in top shape for this fight, and dont forget shogun was considered the top 205 guy in the world less than 3 years ago. he is young, 27 I think, and its not like he is a chump. he may not have looked impressive in his fights in the ufc, but the guy is dangerous.
What a horrible matchup..
Hey I’m a Machida fan but also have been saying since Rua made it into the UFC that he is a onctender and someone to watch out for.. I’m fans of both fighters so it’s win-win for me.. I think it will be an exciting fight and Rua has a chance but Machida is probably going to be champ at 20% for a long time..
If rampage wants to be “more like GPS” then I think it makes sense he’s taking a bit of time off.. if he can take Lyoto down like GSP takes mother ****ers down we’re in for a real good fight. if they ever got to square off now..
*205 not 20% lol
odd typo
That was very odd
You hit the shift key.
i give shogun the best chance otta anybody in that division. rampage is just 2 one dimentional so i only give him the punchers chance,*and i also wanna say that its not that machidas a ko artist or anything his decision recored i would think help me with that but i noticed that his killer instinct is relentles once he knows your hurt he wont let up till that bell goes. i see forrest having a bad time with that(both jardine and evans fight* machida wont fight A silva. theirs no wicked submission artist in the division in fact i think the best is shogun with machida right behind him. (unless im discluding anybody) hes beatin the 2 best wrestlers in the division(ortiz, evans)”maybe if brock lessnar can cut the weight0.o ” and the only others i give a chance to and its a pitiful one are brandon vera or jardine. and shogun has one hell of a chin…………just like rashad
This Machida Vs Rua ain’t for the belt is it? Or just to pass time til Rampage is done coaching.
Wow, It says in the rumors section it’s for the belt. This is crazy as hell to me a guy barely beat A 50 year old gets a title shot, granted the Liddell fight. Man this is becoming a MONEY fueled sport. I don’t care what anyone says it isn’t who’s the best anymore I’m afraid. Really sad to see.
Tito’s Back was out so he did not have the power and speed in his
take downs
pluse Tito got Machida in a sub off his back
tito with a healthy back is still top tier.
shogun with cardio is the scariest ever at 205.
i love machida’s style but shogun has beat more great opponents.
liddell overeem x2 page randleman arona coleman. has a tough chin great footwork.
it’ll come down to shogun’s knee which i hear is good now, with it he’s my pick.
I’ve watched all of Machidas fights and Shoguns fights that were available to watch, I still don’t see how Machida should be threatened by anything Shogun brings to the ring, yeah Shogun may have come out of Chute Box whre many great fighters train, but Machida comes out of Black House where he trains with the likes of Nogueira and Anderson Silva, not to mention he has been training and impressing those at AKA in San Jose, California. Any mixed martial artist out there will tell you that the single most important thing in the world of MMA is how you prepare and how prepared you come into the fight…
With that being said I’ve seen some pretty ****ty cardio being displayed out of Shogun in recent fights, Forrest didn’t out skill him or anything, Shogun simply ran out of gas and got tapped out…Against Coleman (who is much much older than Shogun) his cardio was once again almost his downfall…I never hopped on the Machida bandwagon, I was a Machida fan ever since he beat Rich Franklin before he even got into the UFC.
So heres whats goin to happen based on what has become evident in past fights, we’re going to see an ever improving Machida walk into that ring with his Light heavyweight belt in possession…and thats exactly how he’s goin to leave that ring. Shogun is simply outskilled, outclassed, and outmatched, his cardio will reveal its ugly face and Machida will do what he does best…take advantage of every opening he gets. Shoguns has very little speed and strength to speak of (yeah he knocked out an old Chuck Liddell who as far as I’ve seen has never entered the octagon without his beer gut in clear view HAHA)
Rogan said it best after Machida beat Evans for the belt, we are now in the Era of The Dragon, get used to it.
i think machida is great.
no question. nd i love watching his style,
but,
but the talk on thee boards is all trendy hype
- always over stated.
someone wins they are unbeatable, lose they are hopeless.
no one in the ufc has held a title for that many fights, spider wouldn’t even do it at 205.
hats os to machida’s
very convincing win over evans
- but how many think that was evans best?
there was a point where machida came in peppering and rashad countered with some vicious grazing rights. i’m just saying it was machida’s night
- when punches are that damn close it tells me that it could have gone the other way – not as one sided as the band wagon would like to think.
theevans machida fight was the most unbiast fight the ufc has had in a long time the band wagon was confused as hell because they shouldnt of even had an opinion because there was nothing one sided about the fight because evans fell on his back not his side.
lyoto wins this fight no question shoguns a good fighter dont get me wrong but machidas to elusive for him hes the least hit fighter in all of mma and a damn good striker also. hes like anderson silva in terms of elusiveness and striking accuracy, im sure shogun hits harder but swings more wildley like w silva,but (if)he cathes lyoto he could win the fight but i dont think he will my pick is lyoto machida to defend his title.