Dana White and I need to start looking at each other's GCals a little better, because if he had, he'd know that this was a terrible weekend to schedule a couple of very intriguing fights for UFC 104. I will be out at (yet another) wedding, this time in the scenic part of North Carolina.
(Utterly tangential aside: If you're of a certain age, you understand the Wedding Summer, where ALL your friends decide that singlehood is overrated and fill your schedule with nuptials every weekend. Now that's not a problem if you and your friends are mostly assholes like me and mine, but my girlfriend is going on her fourth bridesmaid's dress of the year. I've had enough shrimp cocktail this summer that I'm starting to bleed horseradish. When one of your friends gets hitched, fair younger reader, look out. That shit spreads like H1N1.)
So as I'll be getting to the telecast a little later than everybody else, I thought it might be worthwhile to go the preview route on this one. Keep your eyes glued on the top two fights of the night, as they have some serious implications for UFC going forward.
Lyoto has to defend his title twice more and then he gets 60 seconds to destroy a car.
The main event features Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida defending his belt for the first time and his undefeated record for the 16th. It'll be against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, who was a walking nightmare in PRIDE but hasn't been the same fighter in the UFC. He got choked out by Forrest Griffin and won unimpressively against a washed-up Mark Coleman. Then came a redemptive fight earlier this year in which he hit Chuck Liddell so hard that the Iceman's next time in front of a judge's scorecard was on a ballroom dance floor.
Rua's still decent, but Machida looked so impressive taking the title from Rashad Evans that he has to be considered a huge favorite. And it's not just his karate that can turn heads. Check out this breakdown of an early Machida fight at Bloody Elbow; the man has some serious skills that extend beyond some of the most flawless range in MMA. He's more than just a one Shoto wonder; there's MT and BJJ on display there too.
How will it play out? Rua's game is predicated on speed and power; he's constantly looking to close distance to get in and use his feared Muay Thai. In theory, closing on Lyoto should be the right plan of attack as he wants to strike from afar. In practice, you have to be quick enough to get inside without getting blasted first, and I haven't seen anything from Rua since his UFC return that makes me believe that will be the case (and sorry, faster than a 39-year-old Liddell doesn't count).
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