UFC 104 was a night of surprises for me.

For one, I actually did well with my picks going 4-for-5 after feeling like a Madden curse for MMA fighters the last couple events.

Second, Maurico Rua surprised me with the way he controlled the pace of the bout and had Lyoto Machida on the defense all night.

But the biggest surprise came when ring announcer Bruce Buffer announced Machida was the winner by unanimous decision after taking a beating for five rounds. Sure, I'm happy I cashed my ticket and that my column on Machida winning the light heavyweight title fight wasn't thrown in my face.

But Shogun Rua was screwed.

I know it. You know it. Rua knows it. Even Machida knows it.

Joe Rogan nearly bit through his tongue he was holding it so hard in the post-fight interviews. The judges did such a bad job of scoring the fight – if they really did score it – they make Golden Boy Promotions panel look good. Fight fans haven't seen a screw job this raw since Vince McMahon pulled the plug on Brett Hart back in '97. The fight was fake but the outcome was very, very real.

It makes you think that maybe Dana White and his big-money buddies had some heavy action on "The Dragon" at -500. The claws of Las Vegas can stretch as far as Los Angeles.

But whether Saturday night's decision was an honest mistake or call made from up on top, this controversial finish would hopefully spawn a rematch. However, with the UFC's recent push for superbouts and a guy like Anderson Silva calling the shots, MMA fans are more likely to see Silva-Rua than Machida-Rua 2. Rua may never get another shot at the 205-pound title - which should be his after handling one of the sports' top fighters.

Sorry, Shogun. In a sport as primitive and natural as MMA, politics have reared their ugly head. Mixed martial arts has battled hard to become a “real” sport in the eyes of doubters. And just like other “real” sports, sometimes the outcome of the game doesn't always happen on the field – or this case the cage. Sometimes the final decision comes from a front office desk or a ring-side seat.