UFC on Fox 4 Recap: Shogun wins but Machida impresses

By: Matt Marcone

The UFC finally delivered to the network audience by putting on four excellent fights and an all around great show. The judges were not needed on the main card and a future light heavyweight title shot was awarded.

UFC President Dana White said that whoever put on the most impressive performance in the two main event fights would earn a shot at the light heavyweight championship.

Both Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Lyoto Machida were victorious, earning fourth and second round finishes respectively.

“The answer is I think Lyoto Machida was the most impressive tonight,” says White. The boss has spoken, enough said.

Machida proved once again that he only needs his opponent to make one mistake to finish a fight. After frustrating Ryan Bader on the feet in the first round, he waited for him to charge in and landed a straight right hand. That was all it took at 1:32 of round two.

The main event saw Brandon Vera nearly pull off a huge upset with a tight guillotine in the opening round, but Shogun defended it perfectly.

They fought an intense back and forth war that could have gone either way. Shogun landed the most damage in the fight and surprised many by opting to take it to the mat several times.

He finally finished Vera with strikes at 4:09 of round four. Both fighters showed a tremendous amount of heart and Vera proved that when motivated, he could still compete with the division’s elite.

Joe Lauzon submitted Jamie Varner via triangle choke in the third round in one of the best fights of the year. It was heavy hitting from the opening bell with both fighters landing several power punches.

Varner knocked Lauzon down twice in the fight and managed a score a few double leg takedowns. I had it tied at one round a piece heading into the final five minutes.

It was a very impressive sweep from the bottom by Lauzon that led to the choke, putting Varner away at 2:24 of round three.

Both fighters took home $50,000 for fight of the night and Lauzon also earned an extra $50,000 for submission of the night. He set a UFC record for most post-fight bonuses in the process, leapfrogging Anderson Silva with nine and tying the now retired Chris Lytle with ten.

In other news, Mike Swick is back! After a two and a half year absence Swick returned to octagon with a bang, catching a low right kick from Damarcus Johnson and finishing him with four vicious right hands from the top.

In the week leading up to the fight, Swick said he was not afraid of ring rust and just needed to get fighting.

“Hey guys remember me?” Swick said in the post-fight interview. “Because I remember all of you!”

Hopefully fans remembered not to blink during a Mike Swick fight. His right hand earned him knockout of the night in what was a great bout to open the show.

Results from the undercard include:

- John Moraga def. Ulysses Gomez by KO at 3:46 of Round one.

- Manny Gamburyan def. Michihiro Omigawa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

- Phil De Fries def. Oli Thompson by submission (face crank) at 4:16 of round two.

- Rani Yahya def. Josh Grispi by submission (north-south choke) at 3:15 of round one.

- Phil Davis vs. Wagner Prado called a No Decision due to accidental eye poke.

- Nam Phan def. Cole Miller by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).