FanHouse Lyoto Machida

The legend deserved the benefit of the doubt. He deserved the chance to go into the cage against another top fighter, to measure himself up, to see where he stands in the modern MMA world.

The legend deserved the opportunity to prove that he was back, to illustrate that he was healthy, to showcase a dynamic and revitalized body.

But after last night's loss to Forrest Griffin, now we know that the legend of Tito Ortiz is almost all that we have left.

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Forrest Griffin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira both had big wins at UFC 106 Saturday night, and they're both on my list of the Top 10 light heavyweights in MMA.

My question now is whether they should fight each other next. As strong as the UFC's light heavyweight division is, there's a bit of a logjam in it. The Lyoto Machida-Shogun Rua rematch for the title won't take place until May 1, Rampage Jackson is off making movies and Dan Henderson is in a contract dispute, and that means the only light heavyweight fight including top 10 fighters scheduled for the next five months is Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva.

My Top 10 list is below.

Two days ago, I don't think anyone had Jose Aldo listed as one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts. But after what Aldo did to Mike Brown on Wednesday night, I don't think there's any way to exclude him.

The light heavyweight title rematch between champion Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is set for May 1 in Montreal.

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports tweeted Wednesday that UFC President Dana White told him the Machida-Rua date.

Lyoto Machida's unanimous decision victory over Shogun Rua at UFC 104 has been the talk of the MMA world this week, because hardly anyone who watched the fight agreed with the three judges that Machida won it. Count Randy Couture among those who think Shogun deserved to win.

"I thought Shogun came out with an interesting game plan, stuck to it, and it proved to be pretty effective," Couture said Wednesday in an interview with FanHouse. "I thought his leg kicks controlled the tempo and did the most damage. I was surprised by the judges' decision -- I thought it went the other way -- but it was a great fight."

Couture said he'd stop short of the cries of "robbery" or "outrage" that some fans have expressed, but he said he scored it 49-46 for Shogun, and he had a hard time seeing the fight as 48-47 for Machida, which is how all three judges scored it.

UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida walked away with $200,000 and challenger Mauricio "Shogun" Rua with $155,000 for main eventing this past Saturday's UFC 104, according to salaries disclosed to FanHouse Tuesday by the California athletic commission.

Machida won a unanimous decision over Rua to retain his belt, but even if he had lost the controversial five-round showdown, he would have still earned the same amount as there was no win bonus attached to his bout agreement.

For the first time since his loss to Forrest Griffin more than two years ago, Shogun Rua can legitimately be called one of the top 10 fighters in MMA -- and it took a loss to get him there.

Rua's unanimous decision loss to Lyoto Machida in the main event at UFC 104 was a fight that most people thought he deserved to win, and a fight that makes one thing very clear: Shogun is back.

But where does Shogun fit in our list of the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in MMA? Find out below.

Lyoto Machida is still the light heavyweight champion of the UFC, but not many people agree with the three judges who allowed him to keep his belt after 25 minutes in the Octagon with Shogun Rua on Saturday night.

So does Machida keep his status as the top light heavyweight in MMA in my latest Top 10? He does, but Shogun also moves up in the rankings after a very close fight with the champ. The full rankings are below.

LOS ANGELES -- The UFC 104 post-fight press conference was buzzing after the controversial main event between Lyoto Machida and Shogun Rua.

Below is a highlight video package of the conference, which featured comments from Machida, Rua, Dana White, Cain Velasquez, Joe Stevenson and Anthony Johnson.

(Warning: video contains some explicit language.)