Okay let’s take it back six years to the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California for UFC 104 Machida x Shogun home of one of the more controversial decisions in UFC Light-Heavyweight History that and many more will be discussed for On This Day in MMA History.
This card at the time wasn’t looked at as a stacked card but if you look at the fighters on the card even the prelims were loaded. The first fight of the card was UFC Heavyweight mainstay Stefan Struve as he submitted Chase Gormley. The main event of what now would be Fight Pass Prelims was a little unknown fighter named Chael Sonnen as he took a unanimous decision victory over Yushin Okami.
The Main Card looking back was filled with stars of the past and present including Anthony Johnson back when he was struggling to make Welterweight and Ben Rothwell starting his climb up the UFC Heavyweight division. The big name that sticks out is Cain Velasquez who at the time was a replacement, got the Co-Main spot, and his second win in only his second fight in the UFC.
The Main Event was the classic Light-Heavyweight Title fight between Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. This was an all-time classic going back and forth for all five rounds. With “The Dragon” taking a 48-47 unanimous decision over “Shogun” much to the chagrin of some MMA fans.
This wasn’t the only major thing that happened in the world of MMA on this day. Know of anything else we should’ve used let us know in the comments or tweet it to me @DonTheMMAGuy using the hashtag #OnThisDayinMMA.
(Photo Credit: Zuffa LLC)
-Don “Babyface” Manos
@DonTheMMAGuy