Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple
His performance was fine considering the man he was fighting. Mauricio Rua is one of the best 205-ers the sport has ever known, and I'd have bet money he would have walked through Evans and Thiago Silva just as easily. I thought their fight was a great display of technique and timing, and Machida's performance was due solely to his level of competition, not his aggression or skill. In my opinion, Shogun outpointed him, but Machida landed the harder shots.
I think Machida takes the rematch convincingly, however.
|
No disagreement here. I used to watch Pride before the UFC and am familiar with Rua.
Part of my opinion is based on the fact that most of the Pride guys just don't seem to do as well in the UFC as I was expecting. I honestly thought that Pride fighters were better than the UFC fighters. I thought Fedor would destroy pretty much anybody in the UFC but I'm not so sure about that now.
Hell I thought CroCop would dominate and he's pretty much 2nd rate these days. Even Rua had a lackluster showing in his first UFC fight against Forrest Griffin. He did beat an old Coleman and admittedly pounded Liddell.
That's why I said I thought Machida's performance was less than I expected...responding to OSP who obviously thought he totally sucked.
I honestly thought he would have been a little more active and more convincing that's all.
I totally agree about the technique and timing...not sure I agree that Machida landed the harder shots...the leg kicks to the body from Rua were the hardest imho.