The art of MMA judging is subjective. We all know that. But just how subjective is it? During tonight’s UFC 104 Light Heavyweight Championship fight, challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua thoroughly dominated champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida. Despite his dominance, all three judges scored the fight 48-47 in favor of Machida. I guess MMA judging is more subjective than we thought.

I think just about everyone with a pair of eyes and any MMA knowledge had Shogun winning four of five rounds hands down. I agree that you have to beat the champion to become the champion, but Shogun obviously accomplished that feat. Machida legs and ribs were beaten to a pulp so bad that by round five he just seemed content to cross his fingers and hope for a bailout form the judges. Luckily, the Dragon got his wish.

This fight was such an obvious win for Shogun that announcers Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg were already pumping up Machida’s best buddy Anderson Silva exacting revenge on Shogun in an upcoming superfight. It was like Rocky IV all over again, and Shogun was definitely Ivan Drago. Machida was Apollo Creed, and his title reign was dead — or at least should have been.

This fight was such an obvious win for Shogun that ESPN had a headline published for a Shogun win before the official announcement was even made. Here’s the screenshot (click for full-sized image).

Meanwhile, I’m not a professional lip reader, but it looks like UFC head honcho Dana White says “you won that fight” to Shogun after the announcement. Check it out and judge for yourselves.

It’s also very clear how the fans felt about the decision, as a chorus of boos erupted after Machida was announced the victor. There has to be a rematch here. This has gotta be one of the biggest highway-robbery decisions the sport has ever seen. Lyoto Machida is a great fighter, but tonight he got his first real test and was outclassed throughout the battle by Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. You got screwed, Mauricio — and not by your wife.