Rampage tells Machida, "You won the fight."

[The Crock]

After their fight at UFC 123, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson acknowledged to Lyoto Machida that he thought that Machida had, in fact, won the fight. Jackson even offered Machida a rematch, but Dana White denied the idea. Dana steadfastly believes that Rampage fairly won the fight, and that there is no need for a rematch. Both fighters will be able to continue on to their ultimate goal of once again becoming UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

That was a summary of an ESPN article I just read. Personally, I was shocked. First off, I couldn't believe Rampage admitted defeat, secondly I actually didn't agree with it at all. I watched they fight and in my eyes, although very close, it could have gone either way. I was content with the decision. I thought that it was hard fought and that Rampage is now definitely a top contender again.

What do you guys all think? Did Machida deserve the win or did the judges make the right call?

 

[MisterRob]

Rampage only said that directly after the fight was over, after he'd lost the third round and was groggy after Machida's last ditch onslaught. If you had watched the press conference afterwards Rampage explained things, including that he hadn't said that with a clear head but instinctively after getting pummeled in the first round. He won the first two rounds, and he won the fight.

 

[INDYjon22]

Rampage clearly won the fight in my eyes. Was it close? Very, however Rampage pressed the action in the first two rounds and did more. Machida won the third but he did not do enough to come close to winning those first two rounds and the only other way I think it could have been scored would have been a 10-8 round thus making the fight a draw, which I would have disagreed with. My point being, Rampage won the fight and should not have to fight Machida again, at least not right away.

I would love to see Rampage fight either Rashad Evans or Mauricio Rua after their fight. However, I believe it is much to early for him to receive another title shot so he would have to fight the loser of that fight. I would preferably see him fight Rua next, seeing as they had a fight in Pride and I want to see if Rampage can avenge that loss. Evans we have already seen recently. If the Rampage who fought Machida fought Evans that way then I think he could win a rematch, however I am much more hesitant to see that fight so soon. Other guys who I would like to see him fight are Forrest Griffin, Rich Franklin, and Jon Jones. All of those men are tied up right now, however the winner of Franklin/Griffin which is rumored would be a perfect fit which would most likely lead into a title shot for the winner.

 

[jmt225]

When Rampage won a decision against Shogun's brother, Ninja Rua, he had a very similar reaction. He said Ninja clearly won the fight in the post interview, and even offered his victory trophy to him. So, no, to me this isn't surprising at all, since Rampage has a history of admitting when he got his ass kicked. He makes excuses for himself, but he can still admit when he lost a fight. The Forrest Griffin fight is the one and only exception, but that's understandable since the fight was real close from the start. Judging in that one could have honestly gone either way.

Anyways, I agree with most that Rampage won the fight 2 Rounds to 1; HOWEVER, if we were judging under Japanese rules, Machida CLEARLY won that fight, and I think that's what Rampage was getting at. I mean, he did come out to his Pride theme, after all.

So, yeah... while Rampage justifiably won the decision because of the scoring system, he did lose the fight overall. He got his ass kicked, plain and simple, and Rampage was man enough to admit it.

 

[Via Armbar]

Anyways, I agree with most that Rampage won the fight 2 Rounds to 1; HOWEVER, if we were judging under Japanese rules, Machida CLEARLY won that fight, and I think that's what Rampage was getting at. I mean, he did come out to his Pride theme, after all.

Exactly what to look at here. Nobody would disagree that Machida won the third round and easily mounted the most significant amount of offense in the last stanza of the fight. Thus he was awarded the round. Problem here lies within the system rather than the judging. In no way was the result a robbery; Rampage definitely won two of three rounds. I can see why perhaps the second could have been scored as a draw though. Still it wasn't a Rampage won a majority of the rounds. Under say, Pride rules, Machida would have won that fight but it isn't Japan and under our system the right man won.

The bigger question raised here is the relevance of our current system. Does it work better than Japan's system or does the current ways of scoring/judging still make the most sense for American mma? New thread worthy, I'll put it up later today.

 

[Rayne]

Rampage won the match; Lyoto won the fight. That formula makes it so much easier to digest some of the "WTF?!?!?" judging decisions.

It goes back to how we score rounds in a 10-9 must system. Rampage barely won the first two rounds, simply on judging criteria. He was the more aggressive fighter, and the difference in effective strikes wasn't significant enough through the first two rounds to pull it to Machida. Machida won the third round, there's no debate about that. If judges were 'allowed' to score 10-10, that fight probably would have been a draw, as the first round was about as 10-10 as you get.

Yes, I know judges *can* score a round 10-10. But they probably won't be asked to judge again.

Lately we've been using a half-point system amongst my fight buddies at the bar, where we had the fight 10-9.5 Rampage, 10-9.5 Rampage, 10-8.5 Machida, giving Machida the victory. But in order to use a half-point system, you'd have to have more educated judges, and after some of these decisions lately I wonder if the bar has more educated judges then sit at ringside.

 

[Con T.]

Lately we've been using a half-point system amongst my fight buddies at the bar, where we had the fight 10-9.5 Rampage, 10-9.5 Rampage, 10-8.5 Machida, giving Machida the victory. But in order to use a half-point system, you'd have to have more educated judges, and after some of these decisions lately I wonder if the bar has more educated judges then sit at ringside.

I'd like to actually bring this point to contention if I may, it's quite valid. What do you do in a match in which, frankly, the result can so easily decided, yet the fighter performed in a manner in which you have to slice it by tenths of a point. I believe we all have come to a consensus, Jackson technically won the fight. I think we have to consider here if Machida had performed nearly well enough in that third round, where he had nothing to lose, and was free to be aggressive as all Hell, that we can wash out Jackson's performance in the earlier rounds? Yes, Jackson was the more aggressive fighter of the two, really, for the first two rounds. But when you lack that killer instinct, when you can't put your opponent away when you have victory in your hands, you have to bring the result into question. That's exactly what Jackson did; He realized that he let up in the third round, and was pissed about it. I would have been to; you never let another fighter even bring the match into contention when you've done so well the first two rounds. Either it was a lack of cardio, which I would never doubt on Rampage, or a sheer underestimation. Otherwise, Machida tossed his salad that third round, and Jackson replied accordingly. All things considered, Jackson is an honest man of his word, and willing to understand, by Machida's upbringing, and fight experience, Machida should probably feel like he won

 

[Final Form Snyper.]

On either decision you couldn't be up in arms about it as fans. The fighters left it up to the judges as cliche as that is it is still an accurate note that is amplified with this fight. As each fighter could have laid claim to the fight not because one dominated the other but simply because the action wasn't impressive on either side.

I mean Quinton Jackson was the aggressor though 90% of the fight but didn't really land anything significant to have this backing in his favor. Machida dominated the third round but one good round can't make up for 2 lukewarm rounds. This is a lot like the Couture vs Vera fight in the sense that even though Randy did control the pace/cage he didn't land anything to note where as Brandon crushed him with 30 seconds to go. I guess it comes purely unto the judge and where he scores best.