"First of all, what you need to understand is that from where the judges are sitting, we get to see things that the fans at home may miss. Mauricio Rua was being aggressive, but it wasn't effective aggressiveness, which is what we, as the judges, look for when scoring a fight. The way I saw it, Lyoto was landing the more cleaner and damaging strikes throughout the fight - if you take a look at the judging criteria, clean strikes are valued more so than the quantity of strikes landed. Although Rua threw a lot of low kicks, they were not as damaging as Lyoto's diverse attack in the earlier rounds, which is why I scored the first three rounds for Machida. You have to keep in mind we always favor the fighter who is trying to finish the fight. And leg kicks certainly don't do that.

"When both fighters are engaged in a striking match, what I always look for is the fighter who is being judicious, picking his spots, being accurate and landing the cleaner strikes, which, ultimately, is what Lyoto did more effectively than Rua. Lyoto made Shogun come after him. He determined where the fight took place, which, in my opinion, constitutes as effective Octagon control. I recognize the fact that Rua did have a few take down attempts during the course of the fight, However, Lyoto defended them all successfully, which counts as effective grappling in his favor, where as unsuccessful take down attempts are not scored at all. Therefore, going by that criteria, I believe Lyoto won the fight clearly. I'm just glad the other judges on the panel saw it the same way and I'm sure the fans who understand the technicalities of the sport agree with the decision too." - Cecil Peoples

Longtime UFC judge, Cecil Peoples, explained to CageReport.net his reasoning behind choosing Lyoto Machida as the victor over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in Saturday night's UFC 104 main event fight. The judges scorecards all show a 48-47 win for Machida.

However, after the continuous outcry from fans about the conflict-ridden decision, UFC President Dana White has eased viewers by saying that he will schedule a rematch for the two light-heavyweights in the near future.