aftermath of UFC 113

After months of waiting, the highly-anticipated rematch between Shogun Rua and Lyoto Machida finally went down. I myself was very conflicted going into this fight, as I have been a long-time Shogun fan since he burst onto the Pride stage, and who can not like Machida, the most enigmatic fighter second only to the great Fedor himself. It isn't often that a fight fan is treated to a match-up between two of the pound-for-pound bests whilst both in their primes. The only real complaint about the fight was that the treat was far too brief. Halfway through the first round, despite Machida's superior cage generalship, it went all went down. Machida sought to land his patented left cross, that lightning quick punch the wrecked the undefeated hopes of then champion Rashad Evans, and Shogun was ready. He came over the top with a looping right hook which connected to the side of Machida's head. He fell hard, and Shogun gave no quarter. Seizing the opportunity, Shogun followed Machida down and mounted him. Machida valiantly tried to keep his head in tight, but it was to no avail against the Pride buzzsaw. Several shots later and Machida was motionless for the first time in his career. Shogun put to rest any controversy over who really won the first fight. There is no doubt that Machida will come back from this setback, but for the time being the future couldn't be brighter for the prodigal son of Pride. To all of the fans who mocked the Pride greats who languished in the UFC, Crocop, Herring, Nogueira, and Wanderlei, take a moment to reflect on your new champion. See the face of the fallen UFC giant, and see the face of the true champion, as he wears his belt with....pride.