Welcome to UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun, live from Staples Center in my beloved Los Angeles, CA. You can email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with comments, questions or anything else that comes to mind.

As always, Dave has full play-by-play, so if you want that just go here. This thread will be for additional perspective on what's going on inside and outside the Octagon here at the arena.

I'm going to do things a bit differently this time and put each new match at the top of this article. I figure that will make it easier if you are refreshing the page. You can email me This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have an opinion about that or if you want to get in contact with me throughout the night.

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WRAPUP

I can't imagine that UFC management is happy right now, what with a bad stoppage in the semi-main and a questionable decision in the main. That said, those seem like problems that could lead to short term prosperity. Cain is going to be looked at as a star even with the quick stoppage, so he may be able to draw now in a main event against the right guy. Lyoto's star was sullied, but if UFC runs an immediate rematch I imagine it'd draw very well if paired with a strong semi-main.

Now that I've made my argument that UFC's temporary frustration could end up being a good thing, let me timidly point out that too many nights like this could turn off their audience. The right stars with the right hype can overcome a lot, but the quality (or lack thereof) of boxing main events several years back did seem to hurt the sport. I've watched a few shows in the past with casual fans where they've vowed to stop buying pay-per-views after seeing shows like this one. They did all end up going back on that and buying UFC again when the right matchup presented itself, but for middling main events it could hurt business.

Alright, I'll wrap it up at this point and head to the press conference. Hope you all enjoyed the show and I'll see you next time I can make it to a show (11/21, most likely).

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MAIN EVENT: Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

And wow, was I wrong about the betting. Machida is up to -625 at Bookmaker/BetCRIS. I'm guessing they got hit hard at -515. I want to tell you that Shogun might pull the upset here, but Machida sure does seem to eat aggressive fighters for lunch.

Entrances. And what is it with these Chute Boxe fighters and techno music? (Though I must say that I popped at my friend's wedding in Milwaukee last weekend when they played Wanderlei's entrance music towards the end of the night.) Machida enters to what almost sounded like Machida shouting followed by menacing music with Japanese lyrics. Then we got a song which I should know (lyrics: dig it deeper just to throw it away) at approximately 180 dB.

Bookmaker.com's odds up to +445 on Shogun. To me this is insane, but as an old gambling mentor of mine used to say, you only cash a ticket when you win.

Little action in the first two rounds. Machida is playing defense as usual and Shogun is more careful than usual. You really could score either round either way. Rua mostly landing body kicks and Machida mostly landing leg and body kicks.

Folks, we almost saw Lyoto on his back. After a pretty tepid round the last minute saw Lyoto come in and Shogun hit a flailing right and stunned Machida. Machida clinched and Shogun went for his trademark trip takedown but Lyoto turned his back to the cage and the takedown was stopped. 3 close rounds so far. I'd have it 2-1 Shogun.

I forgot to mention that the crowd is getting impatient with Machida as well. They pop big when he goes for it but there have been some good Shogun chants.

After four rounds, it appears that Machida's brand of boring is to MMA what a 0 is to multiplication. The fight is still slow and standing and it seems to be due to Machida. The guy does have superior defense, but you'd like him to open up a bit in this last round. I think he will.

End of fight. Boos. Shogun should win.

It seemed to be the leg kicks from Shogun (inexcusably ignored by me in commentary) that made the difference for Shogun. They scored and they neutered Machida's normal asymmetric offense. Crowd is docile to say the least. I actually think they'll boo if Machida gets this decision somehow.

Lyoto wins, 48-47 across the board. Lots of boos but a lot of cheers as well. I can see scoring it like that because neither guy did very much damage. I thought Shogun pushed the action, so I would've given it to him. In fact, as Ashton Kutcher was walking out before the decision was announced he seemed certain that Shogun won it. Lyoto says he'll do a rematch. I sense he does not appreciate the boos, especially after being bloodied. Shogun is over now, though.

Dana looks pensive. Though the light gray suit with black shit is working for him. In his interview Shogun says his corner told him he was winning it and that the leg kicks were a big part of his strategy.

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SEMI-MAIN EVENT: Ben Rothwell vs. Cain Velazquez ("kez", not "quez", for those pronouncing at home)

Not much buzz for this one, but the crowd is up a little as the music starts. Or maybe it's a residual pop after they showed Piven on screen. For those who care, my favorite (and only) Piven story is that I was at the Belmont having soup with a couple of friends after work one night and we had a very good looking waitress. I have a long time girlfriend so it didn't matter to me, but my buddy was (and is today) single. I was trying to be a helpful friend and talk to her but about 30 minutes after we sat down I looked to my left and Piven (looking slightly tipsy) was chatting her up. That ended my night of wingmaning rather quickly.

Big, big pop for Cain entering to norteno (should be a tilde over the n there) music. I don't know it, but I'm guessing Jaguares, maybe? Rothwell entered to some kind of rock. I have to say the crowd is hot and I am unexpectedly excited.

Massive pop for Cain during intros.

Wow. If there's one thing Milwaukee guys have shown the ability to do tonight, it's get their ass kicked and stay alive. This was even more dramatic than Schafer and Bader. Velazquez just killed him with punches after takedowns but Rothwell kept fighting back. Cain doesn't look tired but it also doesn't look like he has big knockout power. Can't wait for round 2.

MAZZAGATTI! Wow, what a horrible stoppage. Cain hit a few clean lefts as Rothwell was trying to wall-walk after a takedown and Mazzagatti stopped it. Oh my goodness. What I would give to be next to Dana White right now. He must be furious. That stoppage just completely sucked the energy out of the building to the point that he's getting a mediocre reaction in his interview. I'm sure they'll pop for him at the end, but this was awful.

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MAIN CARD FIGHT 3: Gleison Tibau vs. Josh Neer

This fight starts at about five after 8, Pacific time. In the meantime, I did see Ashton and Demi walking by the press area with quite the interesting security outfit accompanying them. And here's Chaz Liddell. And judging by the number of people taking pictures in various areas of the floor, there may be a few other notables here.

You know, while I have time I must say that Kutcher is a guy who has provided me with more entertainment and received ridicule than all but a few celebs. He has quite a few comedies that are quite good (MY BOSS'S DAUGHTER, GUESS WHO and WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS, specifically), but his reputation in Hollywood is absolutely atrocious. People grudgingly cast him because he's perceived as a star, but everyone thinks he's a bad, unfunny actor. It's so bad that one line producer friend of mine uses Kutcher movies to prove the point that I'm wrong whenever we argue about movies in a group. (As in, "He didn't think INGLORIOUS BASTERDS was great, but he loves WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS".)

I may have spoken too soon on the odds. Rua has been bet back down a bit, at least at Pinnacle. Not enough of a move to justify a pure line move play in my opinion, but still interesting.

OK, intro are on for the fight. Here we go. Tibau entered to Black Sabbath and Neer entered to Tupac. Good taste for both, if you ask me.

Buffer announces this as a catch weight fight. Apparently that's carny for both guys missed weight.

Good first round. Tibau seemed to get takedowns when he wanted, but he couldn't do anything to keep Neer from getting up. To me that is a bit troubling because he's using lots of energy for those. Maybe his cardio is great and it won't matter. Let's see.

Tibau's takedowns are near impossible for Neer to stop. He had a few more of them in round 2. This time it was different because Tibau got mount at one point and nearly locked an armbar, but towards the end of the round he looked gassed. Neer is very tired, too.

In celeb notes, Jerry Ferrara (Turtle from Entourage) got a good pop and Ashton/Demi got a mixed reaction. I also overheard Marc Ratner saying that Janet Jackson was here.

Josh Neer is going to lose this fight and it's because he can't stop Tibau's takedowns. Now, Tibau is a very capable wrestler, but I could just feel the frustration coming from Neer as the last round closed. His whole body language seemed to be saying that he knows he's better than this guy but he just can't land the punch he should be landing and he keeps giving up points by letting this guy take him down. In a way I feel for him, but that's MMA. Tibau will probably win (amid boos as they blow the horn) but you could argue that Neer is a more dangerous and skilled fighter.

Unanimous decision for Tibau. Let's move on.

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MAIN CARD FIGHT 2: Spencer Fisher vs. Joe Stevenson

They just showed Machida and Shogun entering the arena. Big pop for Machida. Still a level below the big guys like St. Pierre, though. No reaction whatsoever when they showed Ben Rothwell in his dressing room.

Johnny Cash for Fisher, Black Eyed Peas for Stevenson. Well, at the very least Fisher wins on taste. I knew there was a reason I was never a big fan of Stevenson. Can you choose a more saccharine trifle than "Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night"?.

Round 1 is about to start. And I just checked the books again. Machida's line is creeping up so maybe the books aren't as willing to take Machida money as I thought. We'll see if there's late action on Rua the way I expect.

I may dislike Stevenson's taste in music, but the guy is a solid fighter. He opened up Fisher with a left hook on their feet and by the end of the round he had him down and was looking for a RNC. Let's see how round 2 goes.

Stevenson won in round 2. It was elbows on the ground from the Hughes/Newton position (trap both arms from side control and use your free arm to punch or elbow. To Stevenson's credit, the blows were much better than Roy Nelson's noogies on Kimbo Slice when he won a fight from a similar position on The Ultimate Fighter.

This is a nice win for Stevenson. But really, is he a contender at 155? Can anyone see a fight with B.J. going any differently than the first one did?

In Stevenson's interview, he managed to ingratiate himself to the crowd (and un-ingratiate himself to me) by asking for the most blatant cheap pop in quite some time by thanking the Los Angeles fans. Jeez. Is there any question that if you saw Joe Daddy in a bar he'd hit on your girlfriend? I'm sure he shaves his chest, too.

20 minutes until the next live fight. I'm guessing that could mean that the Rivera fight is coming for the PPV viewers? Nope, it's Sonnen vs. Okami. Interesting.

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MAIN CARD FIGHT 1: Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. Anthony Johnson

It appears than an era has, indeed, ended. Baba O'Riley (Teenage Wasteland) is done as the live show intro music and Saliva's "Ladies and Gentlemen" (WrestleMania 23's theme song) is now being used in its place. The Griffin vs. Bonnar ending to the montage is also gone. I understand that you always have to embrace change or accept irrelevance, but that was one thing I was hoping they'd stay the course on.

As far as the intros went, the only fighter to get major heat one way or another was Machida, who got a really big pop. Not much response for anyone else, though there were a few boos for Shogun.

Some patches of empty seats as things get started. I'd say it's about 95% full, though.

Yoshida enters to an instrumental song that sounds distinctly Nippon. Johnson enters to "I'm Back" by Slim Thug. Johnson weighed in 6 pounds heavy but apparently that doesn't matter to the crowd, as they popped for him.

Johnson won with punches, finish with a right cross. Somewhere, a curmudgeonly sportswriter is shaking his head at the lack of sportsmanship inherent in a guy who comes in 6 pounds overweight bullying his opponent, but he's not in this crowd.

Interesting. Boos after Johnson apologized for missing weight. I know he had to give up 20% of his purse and all, but it seems like he made out pretty well all and all.

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UNDERCARD FIGHT 6: Eric "Ravishing Red" Schafer vs. Ryan Bader (Live Spike TV show)

If this is anything like the last live Spike undercard, it'll be a few minutes before we get another match. In the arena they're doing promos for UFC 105 and TUF rather than the opening fight.

I encourage all of you to take a look at Dave's last line of commentary from the Sonnen fight here. I'm going to have to make a wager with Dave to prove my point. I'm thinking I'll bet him that TNA will average a 1.3 or higher rating for one month sometime in 2010. He'd take that, right?

Great round 1. Bader hit a big right cross to put Red down and then tried to finish with punches on the ground. Heroic performance just to stay in the fight for Schafer.

Bader looked tired after round 1 and round 2 was Schafer's. He even hit a nice straight right towards the end of the round that caused Bader to shoot for a takedown unsuccessfully. It's probably 1-1 on the scorecards and Bader looks like he's in the worse shape of the two. We could see an upset, maybe even an upset finish in round 3.

Bader's gonna win this because he got a knockdown with an overhand right and a takedown in round 3. He really showed some flaws, though. To me he came off as a guy with crazy talent who's always been able to bully anyone he's faced in wrestling or MMA. Here he faced a guy who was more skilled in boxing, defense and Jiu Jitsu, and it really threw him. Kudos to Bader for staying tough and winning over a well-rounded fighter, but he's got to improve his cardio, boxing and groundwork if he's going to be the guy UFC expects him to be. (Unanimous decision shutout was the official result.)

As an arena note, Dana White got a nice pop walking in.

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UNDERCARD FIGHT 5: Pat Berry vs. Antoni Hardonk (Live Spike TV show)

Neither man gets entrance music here, though they did play the beat from Black Rob's "Whoa" in the medley during Rogan and Goldberg's intro. Berry is from Milwaukee, which makes 3 people (including Razak Al-Hassan and Eric "Ravishing Red" Shafer) who are from my home town.

Story of round 1 was Berry's hands being better, IMO. He hit what I think was a left hook that rattled Hardonk and caused him to try a takedown. Berry stuffed it and had side control briefly. Hardonk did get back up and hit a few good kicks, but to me Berry is looking good right now. He did get poked in the eye, though, so his vision could end up being a problem.

For arena notes there are still quite a few lower level seats empty, but they are probably 75-80% filled.

Berry wins in round 2 to a huge ovation. It was the hands. Big right dropped Hardonk and two big rights on the ground finished it. Interesting, though. The right that dropped him looked like a Brock/Randy temple shot. Similar thing where a powerful guy gets just enough against a guy who is a split second too slow ducking his head.

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UNDERCARD FIGHT 4: Chael Sonnen vs. Yushin Okami

Both men entering to country music is throwing me off. I know I'm a coastal elitist and blah, blah, blah, but I know absolutely about country. Pretty much it has to be an old Hank Williams song for me to like it.

Okami's the favorite here but Sonnen is tough. I'm excited for this one.

I just made a quick check of the odds. If you believe in the wisdom of bookmakers, I think that Machida backers should be worried. Dave reported earlier in the week that most of the money was coming in on Machida, but the line was staying around -500. That could mean that the money is small and the bookies are waiting for big bets to hit, but it also could mean that bookies are scared to move the line up because they think sharp bettors are going to hammer Rua late. Just something to consider.

First round was mostly standing and pretty even. The most interesting part to me is that most of the folks sitting around me are from more mainstream media outlets from other parts of the world and they see things a bit differently than the more hardcore journalists tend to.

Second round was on their feet as well. Sonnen came forward but neither guy really had the other in trouble at any point. Crowd is filling in quite nicely. And if you're curious about Octagon Girl catcalls, Logan tops the leaderboard so far.

Two big things happened in round 3. Sonnen got a takedown (and maintained strong position afterwards) and Okami nearly was able to pull a Kimura from the bottom. My sense is that Sonnen will get this fight. And he does, 30-27 across the board. Not a dominant victory, but a clear one.

Only really arena note I have is that there is quite the line for pics with Urijah Faber, who has a front row seat to the left of the ringside press area. He's a very gracious guy.

Mike and Joe are currently introducing the Spike TV fights.

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UNDERCARD FIGHT 3: Rob Kimmons vs. Jorge Rivera

I liked Rivera's hands better in round 1, but Kimmons seems to know how to position himself well in order to get control.

I had round 2 decisively for Rivera. He pinned Kimmons down against the cage and hit a few hard shots at one point, and overall he controlled the round.

While we wait for round 3, I have to tell you guys that I just watched UNFORGIVEN last night and it is really superb. It made me think back to this interesting Variety article several months back from Peter Bart. Eastwood is just so good and that movie is a clinic in tight screenwriting and directing.

Rivera won with punches on the ground against the cage. Somewhere, Michael Schiavello is shaking his head. Rivera looked good here. He also seemed to appreciate the handful of folks shouting, "Boriqua!" at him as he exited.

They must be worried about time because there was no Rogan interview and Chael Sonnen is already in the ring (to a honky tonk song I'm unfamiliar with) for the next fight.

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UNDERCARD FIGHT 2: Razak Al-Hassan vs. Kyle Kingsbury

Hendrix for Al-Hassan and Duran Duran for Kingsbury. Superb entrance music choices for these two. Quick check of the arena shows that we are probably about 25% full at the moment, with most of the 150+ luxury suites dark.

First round was mostly Kingsbury on top. Crowd apparently agrees with Badr Hari because they were not pleased to see mostly ground work in round 1. Both guys ended up looking tired as they exchanged strikes at the end of the round.

If this were a Randy Couture fight, the crowd would be electric right now. Instead, they're nearly moribund. Lots of time in the clinch this round and it was pretty interesting. They did get separated towards the end and Kingsbury got the better punch in. Al-Hassan may need a finish here.

All 3 judges had 29-28 scores, with 2 of the 3 going for Kingsbury. All three rounds were close in my view so I don't think either guy can be too made. This was sort of like a 1-0 baseball game between the Padres and Pirates.

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UNDERCARD FIGHT 1: Chase Gormley vs. Stefan Struve

Struve wins in the first round via triangle choke. Quite impressive. He got taken down early but was always working from the bottom. Got back up and then managed his own takedown. He worked punched from the top until he found an opening for the triangle and ended it.

In the post-fight you can tell that Rogan's voice is dead, probably from his standup last night. Back to top

They put me in row 2 and Dave in row 1 (as usual), but I'm in such a better seat this time. Two monitors right in front of me and the fighters entering second walk right by me. Plus from here I can see Kevin Iole checking out his Twitter account.