Las Vegas Sun

Currently: 70° | Complete forecast |

Much to crowd’s chagrin, Phil Davis steals one from Lyoto Machida at UFC 163

Jose Aldo wins injury stoppage against Chan Sung Jung in fourth round

Phil Davis 163

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lyoto Machida, from Brazil, right, and Phil Davis, from the U.S., battle during their UFC 163 mixed martial arts Light Heavyweight bout in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013.

UFC 163 in Brazil

Lyoto Machida, from Brazil, right, and Phil Davis, from the U.S., battle during their UFC 163 mixed martial arts Light Heavyweight bout in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) Launch slideshow »

Note: Scroll to the bottom for full results from the rest of the card.

Phil Davis pleaded with the Rio de Janeiro crowd to not boo the biggest moment of his mixed martial arts career.

Nice try, “Mr. Wonderful.” Nothing could quiet the angered sold-out HSBC Arena crowd after the judges gave Davis a unanimous victory — 29-28 on all three scorecards — over Brazilian Lyoto Machida in the co-main event of UFC 163.

Before octagon announcer Bruce Buffer read the decision, it was assumed Machida had squeaked out a win with more effective striking and takedown defense.

“I really don’t know what the UFC rules are,” Machida said through a translator while still in the octagon. “I don’t know what they are judging. Just listen to the crowd. They’re telling you what happened.”

The majority of media members, and UFC President Dana White, scored the light heavyweight fight 30-27 in favor of Machida.

Outrage ensued, but perhaps not rightfully. The first two rounds played out identically, making for closely contested frames.

Machida did more damage by effectively countering Davis’ attacks, but got taken down in the final minute of both rounds. It’s far from uncommon for an accomplished wrestler — Davis was an All-American and national champion at Penn State — to steal points with late takedowns.

“That’s always my strategy, to get takedowns and work all the time,” Davis said. “It’s just part of what I do.”

Pain replaced controversy as the theme in the evening’s main event. Trailing after 15 minutes of action against Jose Aldo, “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung separated his right shoulder in the fourth round against Jose Aldo.

Click to enlarge photo

Jose Aldo, from Brazil, right, and Chan Sung Jung, from South Korea, battle during their UFC 163 mixed martial arts Featherweight Championship bout in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. Aldo defeated Jung and kept his Championship belt.

The referee didn’t notice the injury when an overhand punch from Aldo connected with Jung’s back, but the only man to ever hold the UFC’s featherweight belt did. And Aldo showed no mercy.

“I did see that he had separated his shoulder so I kicked it and tried to put him down on the ground,” Aldo said through a translator.

It worked. A partially defenseless Jung retreated for cover while Aldo blasted him with continual right hands to the temple.

The official stoppage came two minutes into the fourth round with Jung immediately grabbing his shoulder and gasping in pain. Aldo leapt over the octagon fence and into the arms of his corner men.

The Brazilian crowd unleashed a deafening cheer Davis could probably hear backstage.

Cezar Ferreira submitted Thiago Silva 47 seconds into the first round of their middleweight bout. Ferreira caught Silva on the feet before locking in a guillotine choke to get the stoppage.

Thales Leites is back in the UFC, and looking to stick the second time around. Leites routed Tom Watson by unanimous decision — winning every round on every scorecard — in a middleweight bout, taking the first step towards making that happen.

Two up-and-coming flyweights started the main card with a bang, as John Lineker and Jose Maria brawled for six minutes until one fell down. Lineker, who missed weight on Friday, earned a second-round TKO over Maria in a catchweight (129 pounds) bout.

Click to enlarge photo

Amanda Nunes, from Brazil, celebrates after defeating Sheila Gaff, from Germany, during their UFC 163 mixed martial arts Women's Bantamweight bout in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013.

Amanda Nunes beat Sheila Gaff by TKO at 2:08 of the first round. Nunes quickly took Gaff down, transitioned into dominant position and finished with elbow strikes.

A plus-300 underdog needed only 14 seconds to knock out his heavily-favored foe. Anthony Perosh, a 40-year old light heavyweight, caught Vinny Magalhaes, a local “The Ultimate Fighter” alum, with a left hand early in the first round.

What’s a Brazilian fight card without world-class jiu-jitsu? Sergio Moraes made sure no one would find out Saturday night. Moraes submitted Neil Magny in a welterweight bout with a mounted-triangle choke at 3:13 of the first round.

The man formerly considered the world’s best flyweight fighter finally got his first victory in the octagon, a year-and-a-half after joining the promotion. Ian McCall beat Iliarde Santos by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

The Internet-streamed portion of the preliminary card ended boringly, with Rani Yahya and Josh Clopton hesitant to engage in a featherweight bout. Yahya ultimately did enough to score a unanimous-decision win (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Clopton.

Francimar Barroso defeated Ednaldo Oliveira by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in a light heavyweight bout. The 6-foot-5 Oliveira’s distinct reach advantage didn’t come into play, as the Rio native Barroso both out-struck and out-wrestled his opponent.

A veteran of the local fight scene had a disastrous outing in the first bout of the night. Welterweight Bristol Marunde couldn’t make it out of the first round against Brazilian Viscardi Andrade, who won by TKO 1:36 into the fight.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy