The 31-year-old champion was on the back foot for large parts of the clash and Shogun used controlled aggression to stalk him in the first two rounds.

Rua's excellent body and leg kicks prevented the champion from finding his range and rhythm and left severe red streaks across the left side of his ribcage.

More devastating body kicks landed in the third round with Rua threatening to end things early when he followed up with a Muay Thai clinch and almost planted a knee on Machida's chin.

The champ responded with a flurry of punches which had the 27-year-old former Pride star reeling as the seconds ticked away.

But Rua stormed back with a flash right which rocked Machida once again.

Round four saw even more body kicks landed with Shogun's orthodox Muay Thai style giving his opponent all sorts of problems.

Further leg kicks took their toll and Machida was in obvious discomfort going into the final stanza.

Coming out for the fifth round, Machida again struggled to find his range and could not close the distance as Rua continued to find success with leg strikes.

As the pair tagged each other moving towards the cage, Shogun again landed the better strikes as he popped Machida with a devastating elbow and good left hand.

When the final bell sounded, it seemed clear Rua had done enough to outpoint the champion and he raised his arms in celebration prior to the official decision being announced.

But as the judges' scorecards were read out, all three awarded Machida a 48-47 win to see him retain his championship — leaving many in the crowd stunned.

However, Machida confirmed he will grant his fellow Brazilian an instant rematch.

He said: "Whenever he wants, I'll try again. This was the most difficult fight I've had in the UFC.

"All three judges basically gave me a unanimous decision, so that's how they saw it."

Despite the controversy, Rua remained classy in defeat.

He said: "I trained hard for this fight for four months.

"My corner told me I was winning all the rounds — I feel like I won this fight, but a fight is a fight, what can I do?"

UFC president Dana White has since confirmed both men have agreed to face each other again and the fight is likely to take place early next year.

White said: "I talked to both of them and they both agreed to a rematch."

The UFC supremo also urged both men to be more clinical next time round to ensure the decision was left out of the judges' control.

He added: "One of the things I always tell these guys is, 'You can't leave it in the hands of the judges'. You just can't do it.

"At the end of every round, neither one of the guys went after it. Neither guy tried to steal the round.

"You see it a lot in boxing — and these guys have got to learn it in MMA — is that when 30 seconds is left, go after it and try to steal that round. Neither one of them did it throughout the fight."

White admitted he was amazed Machida had been awarded the victory.

He said: "When you go round-by-round and you score the fight, I actually had Machida winning the fight up until the third round.

"The first round could have gone either way. I gave the second and third to Machida and then I gave the fourth and fifth to Shogun. Assuming that Shogun won the first, fourth and fifth, he wins the fight.

"I knew it was going to be a tough one. I knew it was going to be strategic.

"It was everything I thought it would be, except they should have pressed more and gone after it at the end of the rounds.

"They should have tried to really pull out the rounds and make it easier to score. It was a tough fight to score."