I'm going to preface this by saying Shogun Rua is my all-time favorite fighter. This is the reason I decided to take a look back at these fights, but also because of how exciting this era was for the UFC Light Heavyweight division. It's also selfishly because I want to talk about him. It's hard to just look at these two fights in a vacuum, so I'll do a little background storytelling for the uninitiated.

The year is 2007. Zuffa had bought out their biggest competition, Pride FC, and absorbed a majority of their roster. A few notable names that made their way from Japan to America include Mirko Cro Cop, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, and the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Champion, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

The hype was at an all-time high. Finally, all the best fighters in the world were in a single promotion. The fantasy fights were about to become a reality.

Shogun made his UFC debut against a supposed warm-up fight in Forrest Griffin and was on the receiving end of one of the biggest upset losses of all time. He followed that performance with a very underwhelming but hard-fought victory over a very old Mark Coleman and a KO over Chuck Liddell, who was 1-3 in his last four fights, including losing the belt to Rampage and the vicious Rashad KO. This was not the Shogun of old. He looked slow, plodding, and clearly not as dynamic as he had been just a few years earlier. It looked like the broken arm he suffered in the first Coleman fight in Pride , the knee surgeries and the general wear and tear of the Pride circuit and Chute Boxe training camps had finally caught up to him.

Machida was the darling for traditional martial arts and the UFC. It might be difficult to convey just how much interest he brought to the sport during his run to the title. MMA had never really seen the "Karate Kid" archetype before—at least not one who was winning in such convincing fashion. The idea was that Karate wasn’t an effective martial art and wouldn’t take you to the top levels of the sport, as proved by UFC 1. He was elusive, uding a variety of kicks specifically front kicks which were not as common at that time. He was incredibly light on his feet, darting in and out with lighting speed Machida’s aura was crazy. The Gi, the bowing. He was so cool . The reputation of the sport was Nu-metal and Tapout shirts, and Machida was a breath of fresh air.

In the lead-up to the first title fight with Rua, "The Dragon" was on a 7-fight win streak, including a KO of Thiago Silva and a KO of Rashad Evans to win the title They were both undefeated at the time they fought Lyoto. The Rashad title fight KO also gifted the MMA community the "Shad face" meme, which I found out about (and so many other things) way too young with unsupervised access to MMA forums on the web.

Fans may also remember that this was the time when Joe Rogan (in)famously ushered in "The Machida Era." To be fair, who could blame him? Lyoto hadn’t lost a single round or been in any serious trouble, besides a Hail Mary triangle attempt from Tito Ortiz in the third round of their fight. He was unhittable and incredibly accurate. Tito Ortiz couldn’t take him down. A truly unique and enigmatic fighter, Machida was an unsolvable puzzle, and Shogun, who did not look like his usual self, was seen as a favorable matchup for the new champ.

From what I was able to find, Machida was a -450 favorite to beat Rua.

Now, the fight: There was really nothing up to that point more exciting for me than seeing two strikers—arguably the two best at their respective arts—stand across from each other. Shogun, in the orthodox stance, with the light lead foot , white vale Tudo shorts , hands out front representing the berserker Chute Boxe Muay Thai, and Machida, the southpaw with the wide-base traditional karate stance.

What happened next was a major surprise to everyone.

Through all five rounds, Shogun was very successful at landing open-stance body and inside leg kicks on Machida. It wasn’t the hard pressing and aggressive style Rua was known for. No jumping spin kicks to open, no aggressive closing of the distance to try and touch your chin . The game plan going in was to punish his body and legs and not chase for the knockout, and Mauricio did just that. Shogun found lots of success rushing in wildly with straight punches and hooks to get Machida to circle into very powerful right kicks to the body. On top of that, Machida would throw his own body kicks, and Rua was able to counter with a kick to the inside of The Dragon's already planted lead leg . This was a more controlled aggression compared to his Pride days. The kicks sounded like gunshots in the arena every time they connected, and the damage on The Dragon's leg and torso was visually noticeable.

Machida was able to find some success with his signature left straight and his own body kicks as well. He also had some success with step-in knees (like the one he dropped Ortiz with) and Thai clinch knees. His rhythm, however, was off because of the constant leg and body attacks. The champion was bothered and was struggling to effectively land as much as he was used to and was having to switch stances to avoid the kicks. Any time he entered he was met with a counter kick. Machida did throw a knee to the body in the first round that landed hard but he was met with a heavy right hand (!) that sent Machida back.

Rua did attempt some takedowns that Lyoto stuffed utilizing his Sumo background . Rua did have lots of success in the past with trios from the body lock but he was unable to enforce his will as he used to . Shogun did some extra work in the clinch against the cage to continually work the legs and body with knees from in tight.

Going into Round 3, the champion had never up until this point in his career looked like he was in much trouble at all and here he was down 2 rounds to a major betting underdog in a striking chess match.

Shogun continued to work the body and legs for the next three rounds. A wild exchange occurred in the third, which I would argue was one of the best moments for the champion. However, during Rounds 4 and 5, the champion had slowed down considerably. The body and leg work of the challenger over the course of 5 rounds had added up. We had never seen anything like it. Not only did Shogun stand with Machida, he was going kick for kick with the Karate Master. The former greatest 205er on the planet was poised to take his seat back on the throne, overcoming so much ladversity to reclaim the crown

During the final minutes of the fight, the commentary team was pondering about Rua vs. Anderson as a possible champ vs. champ matchup. The storyline, drama, and intrigue wrote itself. Anderson avenging his brother Lyoto. The Spider previously leaving Chute Boxe.

Except, when the scorecards were read, to the surprise of many, The Dragon had won. To me, I thought Shogun, at worst, had taken 3 rounds, was certain he could have won 4, and would not have been surprised if he swept the rounds entirely. That’s not to say it was a one-sided affair; rather, fans and media alike felt Rua did enough to earn the decision. The striking stats showed this to be true.

The rematch was set for the next year, and Lyoto opened as the -185 favorite.

I won’t dive too much into the rematch, but that right hand that caught Machida in the first round of the first fight? It put him down in the first round of the second fight. After some devastating ground and pound, Shogun bounced The Dragon's head off the mat with devastating punches from the full mount . As graceful and fluid as Machida’s footwork was, he rarely moved his head off the center line and his chin was never truly tested . He recklessly rushed in and ate a perfect right hand counter. Shogun was finally back on top. Pride never died.

It was a special moment. Shogun had overcome the odds. He was clearly a very diminished version of what he was from an athletic standpoint, but that didn’t matter. His body was being held together by old screws and duct tape.but he still had the heart . He used the tools that were still available to him and got the job done. A masterfully executed game plan in the first fight which laid the foundation for an early stoppage in the second. He was the champion. Shogun was back.

The victory was short-lived, as the newly crowned champion Shogun suffered swift and brutal destruction in his only title defense against the man who would take the belt and never lose it: Jon Jones. It’s one of the few fights I’ve never been able to rewatch. Rua would never seriously approach title contention again. Instead, he would avenge his loss to Forrest and be part of arguably the greatest fight in MMA history vs. Dan Henderson. His signature MT style would evaporate due to age and damage and he eventually became just another power punching slugger, searching exclusively for left hooks and over hands. Despite this rapid deterioration of his body, he was still as daring as ever, always willing to take one to give one for better or worse. he ended up finishing his UFC career with 8 wins and 9 losses after winning the title.

The Dragon himself would lose a controversial decision to Rampage before scoring an all-time knockout against Randy Couture to earn his own shot at Jones. Machida shocked Jones early in their fight with his karate style as he had done so many times before. However, Lyoto was once again caught rushing in, and Jones disposed of him in violent fashion by submission. A move down to middleweight was successful, with more spectacular finishes, but also resulted in another title fight loss to then-champion Chris Weidman, the very same man who finally put a stop to Anderson Silva.

For my money, and admittedly totally biased, at everyone’s best, I would rate Shogun as the second-greatest LHW of all time. The 2005 MW GP, in my opinion, is one of the all-time singular achievements any fighter has ever accomplished. During that time, he was fearless ,dynamic , explosive, and violent, with incredible instincts to know when and how to get finishes. He wasn’t just a striker; his bottom game was very good, and his ability to use sweeps to get back to his feet, as showcased in the Arona fight, was amazing. He was very strong in all clinch situations, and his body-lock takedowns were very underrated in his Pride days. His ground striking was also very good. He had power in both hands. The image of him flying through people’s guards to land strikes are iconic in my eyes and he had elite hammer fists shown in the Forrest rematch, the first beating he put on Overeem and the strikes he finished Arona with . His fight against Lil Nog in Pride is a certified classic worth checking out. I honestly cannot say if I remember him ever throwing a single jab, but you don’t need to if you just soccer kick and stomp people in the head after you knock them down. That’s why we loved him.

Compared to today’s standards, both men would be severely undersized in the current Light Heavyweight division. Would they be able to overcome the size disadvantages in the modern day? I’ll let you decide that for yourself. Strictly skill for skill, I would rate both these legends at their best , in the top 5 current day. LHW was THE premier division at that point , with so many Hall of Fame level fighters in the top ten at the same time. No disrespect to the current crop of fighters, but the division has been lacking the depth of star power it had during the 2000s.

To my knowledge there was no real animosity between the two. Often times what defines a rivalry is the bad blood.Jones vs DC. Chuck Vs Tito, Conor vs Khabib The clash of personalities. Fighting for egos. What I enjoyed most about these two, is that it’s a clash of styles and martial philosophies. I don’t know if they felt this way, but it felt as if they were fighting for the legitimacy of their art. To see who and what would prevail.

UFC 113 was the last breath of a dying star. The hot potato of the 205 lb belt was soon to be over. As is tradition in combat sports , a younger and hungrier fighter eventually takes that top spot from the old guard and Jones did just that. Bones never looked back. For one night before that though, Pride was back. It was alive again.