Machida retained the 205-pound title with a controversial unanimous decision win over Rua in their first meeting at UFC 104 in October.

Machida (16-0) has remained undefeated with eight-straight UFC victories, including wins over Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva, and then title-holder Rashad Evans.

A PRIDE veteran, Rua (18-4) was upset by Forrest Griffin in his UFC debut in 2007 but rebounded with back-to-back wins over Mark Coleman and Chuck Liddell before falling to Machida in a bout most observers scored in Shogun’s favor.

The rematch was expected to take place in January at UFC 108, but was postponed after Machida underwent surgery to repair a hand injury suffered in his October win.

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UFC officials have confirmed that Lyoto Machida will need surgery on one of his hands, thus delaying the planned middleweight championship rematch with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (18-4). Machida injured his hand during his controversial win over Rua during UFC 104 Saturday in Los Angeles.

White was hopeful to get the rematch in as soon as Jan. 2, when the company has one of its traditional major events of the year at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Rua had agreed to the date, but Machida’s surgery eliminates whatever slim possibility there was that he would be fully recovered and ready in time for that date. Right now, it is not known when the fight would be able to take place.

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Machida, the UFC’s light heavyweight champ who won a controversial decision over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the UFC 104 headliner, was suspended for 60 days for a lip laceration, potentially delaying an immediate rematch with Rua that was reportedly being planned for UFC 108 on January 2.

Barry, who won “Knockout of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” for his second-round knockout of Antoni Hardonk, could be out up to six months due to a possible broken wrist.

The full list of medical suspensions included:

• Lyoto Machida – Suspended 60 days (left upper lip laceration)
• Ben Rothwell – Suspended 45 days (precautionary) and 60 days (right eyebrow laceration)
• Spencer Fisher – Suspended 45 days (precautionary) and 60 days (right eye laceration)
• Yoshiyuki Yoshida – Suspended 45 days (precautionary)
• Eric Schafer – Suspended 60 days or cleared by physician (right side nose laceration)
• Patrick Barry – Suspended 180 days or cleared by physician  (possible left wrist fracture)
• Antoni Hardonk – Suspended 45 days (precautionary)
• Rob Kimmons – Suspended 45 days (precautionary) and 60 days (forehead laceration)

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Pictured: Patrick Barry

Machida earned an event-high $200,000 for his controversial main event win over Rua, while “Shogun” received $155,000 for his efforts.

Other top earners included Joe Stevenson ($94,000), Cain Velasquez ($70,000), and Chael Sonnen ($54,000).

14,892 fans attended the card at the Staples Center, generating a $1,762,549 live gate.

The disclosed fighter salaries for UFC 104 were:

• Lyoto Machida ($200,000 – no win bonus) def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua ($155,000)
• Cain Velasquez ($70,000 – includes $35,000 win bonus) def. Ben Rothwell ($50,000)
• Gleison Tibau ($38,000 – $19,000 win bonus) def. Josh Neer ($14,000)
• Joe Stevenson ($94,000 – $47,000 win bonus) def. Spencer Fisher ($26,000)
• Anthony Johnson ($27,000 – $15,000 win bonus) def. Yoshiyuki Yoshida ($15,000)*
• Ryan Bader ($30,000 – $15,000 win bonus) def. Eric Schafer ($13,000)
• Pat Barry ($14,000 – $7,000 win bonus) def. Antoni Hardonk ($16,000)
• Chael Sonnen ($54,000 – $27,000 win bonus) def. Yushin Okami ($18,000)
• Jorge Rivera ($36,000 – $18,000 win bonus) def. Rob Kimmons ($9,000)
• Kyle Kingsbury ($16,000 – $8,000 win bonus) def. Razak Al-Hassan ($3,000)
• Stefan Struve ($14,000 – $7,000 win bonus) def. Chase Gormley ($10,000)

Remember, the salaries listed above are simply those reported by the UFC to the athletic commission and do not represent a fighter’s actual earnings.

In addition to their salaries above, Barry earned an extra $120,000, while Hardonk and Stuve each received $60,000 in “fight night” bonuses.

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* Figures reflect Johnson forfeiting $3,000 ( 20% of $15,000 show money) to Yoshida for failing to make weight.

Pictured: Lyoto Machida

“I thought “Shogun” won the fight. I think there will be a rematch.” said UFC President Dana White at the post-fight press conference. “I talked to both of them and they both agreed to a rematch.”

The Machida-Rua rematch will happen “as fast as we can,” according to White, with an official date to be determined in the coming weeks as both fighters determine when they’ll be able to return to the Octagon.

In a decision that was met with boos from the live crowd and claims of robbery and calls for an immediate rematch from online fans, the judges awarded Machida the victory with 48-47 scores despite Rua winning the bout on nearly every observer’s scorecard.

Rua’s strategy relied on damaging leg and body kicks that left Machida battered after the five-round technical showdown, while Machida connected less frequently with precision strikes. Despite more frequent and damaging blows, the decision was given to the reigning champ, who was defending the title for the first time since winning the belt from Rashad Evans in May.

Machida remains undefeated, improving to 16-0 in the victory with his eight-straight wins inside the Octagon tied for second-best in the promotion’s history, while Rua falls to 18-4 in defeat.

In the UFC 104 co-headliner, Cain Velasquez cemented his status as a top heavyweight contender with a dominating win over Ben Rothwell. After blitzing the IFL veteran for the entirety of the opening round, Velasquez picked up where he left off in the second, taking Rothwell to the ground and quickly finishing him with punches.

Velasquez, now 8-0 on his career with five-straight UFC wins, remains in line for a future title show, while Rothwell falls to 30-7 and will return to the Octagon in search of his first UFC win to get him back on track.

In other main card action, Gleison Tibau used dominant takedowns to pick up a decision over Josh Neer, Joe Stevenson forced Spencer Fisher to tap to a barrage of elbows, and Antony Johnson earned a 41-second knockout of Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

On the preliminary card, The Ultimate Fighter 8 winner Ryan Bader earned a unanimous decision over Eric Schafer, Pat Barry kicked off the Spike TV card with an impressive second-round TKO of Antoni Hardonk, Chael Sonnen dominated Yushin Okami en route to a unanimous decision win, and Jorge Rivera, Kyle Kingsbury, and Stefan Struve also earned wins.

The official results for UFC 104 were:

• Lyoto Machida (c) def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
  UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
• Cain Velasquez def. Ben Rothwell via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 0:58
• Gleison Tibau def. Josh Neer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Joe Stevenson def. Spencer Fisher via submission (strikes) — Round 2, 4:03
• Anthony Johnson def. Yoshiyuki Yoshida via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 0:41
• Ryan Bader def. Eric Schafer via unanimous decison (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Patrick Barry def. Antoni Hardonk via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 2:30
• Chael Sonnen def. Yushin Okami via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Jorge Rivera def. Rob Kimmons via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 1:53
• Kyle Kingsbury def. Razak Al-Hassan via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Stefan Struve def. Chase Gormley via submission (triangle choke) — Round 1, 4:04

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Pictured: Lyoto Machida

Light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida (202.5) and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (204.5) successfully made weight for the UFC 104 main event, as did co-headliners Cain Velasquez (238) and Ben Rothwell (265).

Welterweight knockout artist Anthony Johnson will likely be moving to middleweight for his next bout after weighing in 6 pounds over the division’s 170 pound limit. Johnson will forfeit 20 percent of his purse to opponent Yoshiyuki Yoshida, who weighed in at 170 pounds, but the fight will go on as scheduled.

Lightweights Josh Neer and Gleison Tibau both narrowly missed the division’s 155 pound limit for their matchup, but have agreed that neither will need to shed extra weight, instead meeting at a 157 pound catchweight.

Stop back to MMAFrenzy.com tomorrow night beginning at 7pm ET for live coverage of UFC 104.

The official weigh-in results were:

MAIN CARD

• 205: Lyoto Machida (c) (202.5) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (204.5)
  UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
• 265: Cain Velasquez (238) vs. Ben Rothwell (265)
• 155: Joe Stevenson (155.5) vs. Spencer Fisher (155)
• 170: Anthony Johnson (176) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (170)*
• 155: Josh Neer (156.5) vs. Gleison Tibau (157)**

PRELIMINARY CARD

• 205: Ryan Bader (205) vs. Eric Schafer (205.5)
• 265: Antoni Hardonk (249.5) vs. Patrick Barry (237)
• 185: Yushin Okami (185) vs. Chael Sonnen (185)
• 185: Jorge Rivera (185) vs. Rob Kimmons (185)
• 205: Kyle Kingsbury (205.5) vs. Razak Al-Hassan (204.5)
• 265: Stefan Struve (243.5) vs. Chase Gormley (262)

* Johnson, who weighed in 6 pounds over the welterweight limit, will forfeit 20% of his purse to Yoshida for failing to make weight, but the fight will go on as scheduled.
** Neer and Tibau have agreed to fight at a catchweight of 157-pounds after both weighed in over the lightweight limit.

Pictured: Lyoto Machida

(Click image for higher resolution)

“Lyoto is a nice guy and we’ve known each other for a while,” said Rua. “Even though we are friends, I got very surprised to see him on the plane and actually sitting next to me for the whole flight from Brazil to here. It was a funny situation, but we’re both professionals, we’re training very hard and we both want the same goal, so we’re gonna do our best.”

Machida improved to 15-0 in May with a second-round knockout of title-holder Rashad Evans, employing his elusive Karate-influenced style that has allowed him to win seven-straight bouts since joining the UFC in 2007, with his latest victory being referred by many as the start of the “Machida Era”.

“Lyoto is a standup fighter,” commented Rua. “I’m a standup fighter myself, but he comes from karate and is a very good counterstriker; he fights in a very efficient style. I’m a Muay Thai fighter and I fight much more in a pressing style by being aggressive. I think this is a big motivation for me, to show and prove that Muay Thai can be very efficient against his style.

“Each fight is a different story,” Rua continued. “To fight Chuck Liddell I believed I needed to emphasize boxing, and Sao Paulo has the best boxing in Brazil, so I went there to train and to prepare. For this fight against Lyoto I think I need different aspects of training, so me and my team talked about it and we decided to stay in Curitiba for this fight. My team is my team, but I’ll go wherever is best for my strategy and my opponent, and I’ll bring my team with me.”

A longtime PRIDE veteran, Rua looked unimpressive in losing his UFC debut to Forrest Griffin in late-2007 after previously winning five-straight, but back-to-back TKOs of Mark Coleman and Chuck Liddell in 2009 have propelled him into title contention.

“My style is karate,” said Machida “My personal style is counterstriking. Shogun is a very aggressive fighter with good knees, good punching, but I’ll try to push him into my style.

“I keep training a lot for the night of the fight,” Machida concluded. “This is my first title defense and I hope I’ll win. My opponent is tough, a great person, very good on the ground and (in his) striking, but I know one thing – I’ll keep doing my homework.”

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HT: UFC.com

The day’s events kick off at 8am PT, as fans can tune in to hear UFC President Dana White on KROQ’s Kevin & Bean show. Then, at 9:20am PT, White will be joined by UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on KTLA’s morning show. Finally, at noon, Machida, Rua, Cain Velasquez, and Ben Rothwell will meet the media for the UFC 104 press conference.

Though most of the focus at the press conference will be on UFC 104, White headed to Los Angeles on Monday with hopes of finalizing a deal with an undisclosed network to air a November event headlined by BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez. If finished, the deal could be announced as early as today.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for UFC news when/if it is announced later today.