While heading into the month of October, there were many intriguing match-ups prepared for our enjoyment. Although the sport of boxing had a variety of events including Latino Fury 12 and the Super Six doubleheader, it seemed like a good bet that the UFC would take the spotlight with its Machida-Shogun bout scheduled to headline UFC 104. Instead, the fight ended in controversy as the judges scored in favor of Machida even though it seemed that Rua was the better fighter that night.

Surely, the controversial outcome in the main event in UFC 104 brought much delight to boxing fans everywhere who argue with UFC fans on a regular basis. Arguments are based on everything from the death of boxing to the UFC fighters rolling around on the ground together. Sometimes the argument is made that boxing’s popularity has declined mostly because of the poor decisions made by judges at so many events. On the other hand, because of the controversy surrounding the Machida-Shogun result, the fingers are being pointed right back at the UFC fans.

Certainly this has not been the only controversial decision involved in a UFC fight. It seems that Clay Guida has been on the wrong side of a decision here or there. Many remember when Michael Bisping was given the decision over Matt Hamill at UFC 75. A few may even claim that the decision given to Forrest Griffin over Rampage Jackson was wrong. Now it is only a question of whether or not anything can be done with poor judging in the UFC. Well, boxing fans have learned over time that sometimes judges can not be perfect, and the same will apply for MMA judges every once in a while. Also look at who is having more events in a given time; the more events, the more bad decisions.

Even without a controversial outcome in the Machida-Shogun fight, there’s a good chance that the month would have belonged to boxing.

There was little to brag about on October 2^nd, when Allan Green defeated Tarvis Simms by a unanimous decision on Showtime. It was a disappointing performance for a boxer who may be the first-choice substitution in case there’s a dropout from the Super Six super-middleweight tournament.

The next day, however, heavyweight David Tua made his return by scoring a 2^nd-round knockout over Shane Cameron in New Zealand’s biggest fight ever. Perhaps there is hope for the heavyweight division, but we will see in due time.

On October 10^th, at Latino Fury 12, super bantamweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez surprisingly had much difficulty against Rogers Mtagwa while earning a close unanimous decision. A possible future opponent for Lopez, featherweight champ Yuriorkis Gamoboa, did what he was expected to do by stopping Wyber Garcia in the 4^th round. Also, Odlanier Solis knocked out Monte Barrett within two rounds. Solis is another individual who could add a much-needed spark to the heavyweight division.

A week later, on Showtime, the Super Six tournament began as Arthur Abraham knocked out Jermain Taylor in the final round of their 12-round contest. Unfortunately, when Carl Froch was awarded the split-decision victory over Andre Dirrell, most fans frowned as it appeared that Dirrell may have deserved the victory, but few were surprised considering the location of the bout taking place in Germany.

Also that weekend, welterweight Antonio Pitalua scored a 5^th-round TKO over Wilfredo Negron in a fight featured on Telemundo. On Azteca America, lightweight Brandon Rios defeated Manny Perez by a 7^th-round TKO.

On October 24^th, a pay-per-view card took place featuring TKO victories for Kermit Cintron, Jonathan Oquendo, and Jose Gonzalez, each against inferior opponents. Then again, it seemed that most of the boxing fans were more distracted by Tomasz Adamek who earned his first heavyweight victory by defeating Andrew Golota via 5^th-round TKO.

Finally, on Showtime October 31^st, boxing fans were treated to an explosive battle as Joseph Agbeko defended his IBF bantamweight belt against Yonnhy Perez. In a close contest, Perez was awarded the victory by a unanimous decision. It was definitely a good way to for the sport to end the month. Congrats to Perez, the new IBF bantamweight champion. Hopefully they will meet again.

Surely the Agbeko-Perez bout made up for the borefest a night earlier on pay-per-view as Hector Camacho Jr. defeated Yory Boy Campas by a split decision. The fight showcased a little more holding and dirty tactics than actual boxing.

Back to UFC 104, at least the event was not a total disappointment. Heavyweight Cain Velasquez stopped Ben Rothwell with punches in the 2^nd round. Joe Stevenson stopped Spencer Fisher with his elbows in the 2^nd round of their lightweight battle. Also, Gleison Tibau won by unanimous decision over Josh Neer in a welterweight match-up.

Plus, in other MMA action, Benson Henderson scored a unanimous decision over Donald Cerrone in the main event of WEC 43 on Versus.

Now that we are in November, the month is looking to be even bigger. There will be two UFC cards, a megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, more Super Six action, and plenty of other excellent match-ups. Or perhaps the month won’t belong to boxing or the UFC. After all, neither have secured a spot on CBS like Strikeforce has with their Fedor-Rogers affair this Saturday. Then again, if Fedor loses, that alone could be a victory for the UFC.

As always, you can go to www.konews.net for updates, reviews, and of course, the KOnews.net fight schedule on the home page.