It’s been nearly seven months since Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was robbed of a unanimous decision victory over light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. Although UFC 113 is just days away, Saturday can’t come soon enough for Shogun.
While almost every fan inside Staples Center believed the challenger did more than enough to leave Los Angeles with Octagon gold, the three opinions that actually mattered scored the fight completely different.
Most were surprised Shogun was able to crack Machida’s code and actually land shots against MMA’s most elusive striker. Machida, on the other hand, looked a tad disjointed and uneasy in his first title defense.
In the exclusive video footage below, Shogun’s coach discusses how effective his kicking game was throughout their initial UFC 104 meeting, while the Brazilian does a number on some workout pads.