UFC 104: The Dragon’s Soft Underbelly

Machida keeps his belt against Rua in controversial fashion

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida keeps his light-heavyweight belt against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua but barely. In five rounds that can either be seen as too close to call so the decision goes to the defending champion, or Dana White has set his mind to make Machida the next rock star of the UFC after Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, so unless Rua knocks Machida out – let the slick Japanese-Brazilian keep his belt.

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida according to hype (parts of which are true) is “very elusive” and virtually “invincible” that for many MMA observers, it has to take a heavyweight like Brock Lesnar or an RPG to beat him.

As it turned out, all it took was Shogun. And even that was not enough.

“Everybody was expecting him to destroy Shogun like he destroyed Rashad Evans, and he didn’t destroy him,” said Cecil Peoples, one of the three who judged the Machida-Rua fight last Sunday. “It was a close fight. So people think: (Rua) did good. If he did that good, he must have won the fight.”

Machida retained his title with a highly-controversial unanimous decision win over Rua. MMA writers and the Internet fan sites are still smoking over arguments as to whether Rua should have been declared the winner. Those who think so are armed with a plethora of arguments and a colored photo of Machida with split upper lip, cuts on the bridge of his nose, blood sprinkled on his mouth and cheeks, and redness on his left torso.

MMA forensic experts are eager to show video and photographic evidence of Machida’s supposed defeat. There’s only one problem: the cageside judges don’t agree. It’s their opinion that really matters. Fans can howl until Christmas that Rua got robbed and may even drop their contributions in the kitty to help keep Rua solvent until he gets a rematch. The rematch is justified. It was a close match, there were no knockdowns (a knockout of either fighter would have saved us of all this strife) and UFC president Dana White is of the opinion that Rua rightfully should have been declared the winner and more importantly he announced an immediate rematch.

Rua’s loss is not a complete waste. He has made a minor note in MMA history. He is the first losing fighter to move up in the rankings of a pound-for-pound-best list, tying for No.7 in Yahoo! Sports with Miguel Angel Torres, the former WEC Bantamweight champion, himself the loser in his last fight – and he got coldcocked by Brian Bowles, a notch higher above him in the same rankings.

Machida-Rua II should be a doozy. Rua has already found the antidote to the poison of Machida’s MMA-flavored karate. Likewise, Machida has realized that he is not untouchable in the cage. Rua could stick to his fruitful if unsuccessful formula, and Machida will surely tweak his strategy.

Rua did very well attacking Machida’s legs and staying away from Machida’s vaunted left straight punch and Thai-plum-knee combo. Rua was less successful in defending against Machida’s high kicks and multiple punches to the head, but Shogun more than made up for it with his aggression throughout the fight and accurate striking.

It is said that to judge a fight fairly on TV, one must turn off the audio to avoid being prejudiced by the commentators’ commentary. Joe Rogan’s shouts of “oh!” every time Shogun landed a blow on Machida, albeit not that damaging, helped sway TV viewers that Rua was really doing well. Even Mike Goldberg’s “You can just see Shogun looks in better condition, Joe,” helped make the case that Rua performed better than he really did.

Judges Peoples and Marcos Rosales gave rounds one, two and three to Machida, while Nelson “Doc” Hamilton had given rounds two, three and four to Machida. The disparity makes naysayers insist that the judges got it wrong for being unable to agree. Albeit they all gave the fight to Machida on similar scores of 48-47.

Those who disagree with the UFC 104 judges’ decision are not judges themselves. The judges were specifically chosen for their expertise, for their thorough knowledge of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. The UFC is big and rich enough to afford professional judges to go along with professional fighters. They all do this for a living. The fighters hurt each other, while the judges see who gets the edge hurt-wise in the exchanges. The judges don’t get hurt that much unless most everybody disagree with them and accuse them of being in the hip pocket of UFC demi-god Dana White. This is not the first time that UFC judges or judges from other organizations have been accused of being manipulated by executives in rigging matches. As long as there will be fights like Machida-Rua I, the voices will not be stilled. Even then, there is no guarantee that a rematch will settle this issue once and for all, even if a knockout will show who the best light-heavyweight MMA fighter in the world is.

UFC 104: The Dragon versus Shogun

Machida’s karate against Rua’s muay Thai; this is war

Lyoto Machida had to fight a fellow Brazilian tough guy to prove he is not a boring fighter. Machida totally dominated and knocked out Thiago Silva in the very first round of UFC 94 with punches. Both Machida and Silva were undefeated at the time. It was Machida who gave Silva his first loss in 15 fights. It was Machida’s 14th straight victory.

Tomorrow, Machida will defend his UFC light-heavyweight title for the first time. Machida took the title from another unbeaten fighter, Rashad Evans. It was Machida’s most impressive win in his MMA career. It was a display of aggressive striking against one of the hardest punchers in MMA. Evans didn’t fall without a fight. At least he tried to make a fight of it, standing longer than he had any business staying on his feet while Machida was making his head a speedball.

Another Brazilian is matched up against Machida: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who has been inconsistent since jumping from Pride FC to the UFC after the buyout. Rua was once one of the most feared strikers in Pride, winning over such bangers as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Alistair Overeem, and Ricardo Arona via knockout. Rua is not a bad grappler himself, submitting compatriot Renato “Babalu” Sobral by rear-naked choke, and the freakishly-strong Kevin Randleman by kneebar.

Rua can fight standing up or on the ground. But then, Machida is just as versatile, maybe even more so. Machida surprised many after he escaped from Tito Ortiz’s clamped-on triangle choke in the final round of their classic UFC 84 match, winning by unanimous decision.

Machida has been on a roll. Rua is just finding his feet. Machida is under pressure to keep his streak alive, while Rua needs to prove that he is still a force to reckon with in the 205-pound division’s top ranks. Rua also has the added pressure of proving that his win over Chuck Liddell in UFC 97 was no fluke, that he simply won over a veteran fighter who was too old and past his prime.

“It is funny and surprising to hear people say I beat an old man to get my title shot because these same people, before that fight, were saying I was going to get killed,” Rua said.

It is funny to think that Rua claims he is not under any pressure at all. “I think maybe that’s because I fight better when I am not under the pressure, and now all the pressure is off of me and on the champion,” he said.

The champion is always under some degree of pressure, but you can never say that the challenger is under less pressure. These are two warriors who make their living hurting other people in an arena. They know they can get hurt seriously or even die. Pressure is always there, no matter how cool they look or claim to be.

I wish I could say that the odds are even in this match-up. They are not. Sportsbook has it -500 for Machida and for +300 Rua. That is a rather accurate reading of this fight.

Speed:
Machida is one of the fastest strikers in MMA in any weight division. That is not to mention his strength. The good thing about Machida’s velocity is that it is not wasted on random quick strikes hoping he gets lucky. He is quick with his hands and with his feet. He only strikes with either punches or kicks when he sees an opening. While Rua is not as quick as Machida. Coming from a muay Thai background, being a Chute Boxe alumnus, Rua is more of an aggressive striker who will rush in with strong strikes with either hands or feet seeking to overwhelm his opponent. That works well with fighters who stand in front of Rua. With a smart opponent like Machida who uses a lot of feet movements for defense and attacks, Rua will have a hard time tagging him.
Advantage: Machida

Power:
You could say both are equally strong. In 15 fights, Machida has had only five knockout wins. In contrast, Rua, has a record of 15 KO wins in 21 bouts. But statistics can be deceptive. Rua’s aggression and reliance on power has earned him such a high knockout rate. Machida is a much more cautious striker. He sticks to his strategy of waiting before pouncing. But his knockout record is enviable. Of the five who suffered KO losses to Machida include such stellar names as Stephan Bonnar, Rich Franklin, Silva, and Evans, Machida’s power has been evident against such formidable opposition.
Advantage: Even

Stamina:
Machida has gone the distance eight times in 15 occasions, reaching the three-round limit nine times overall. He is no stranger to winning by decision. His relative youth, general good health, and splendid training would have allowed him to go two more rounds if needed be. Rua’s staying power, on the other hand, is suspect. Especially in the Mark Coleman fight, he was on the verge of gassing out against a much-older opponent, winning by KO with barely 24 seconds to go in the third and last round. That was a win for Rua, but then again, it was against another of the UFC’s legends, a veteran who had seen better days in the Octagon. Respect for Rua was still not quite unanimous.
Advantage: Machida

Guile:
Hands down, the edge goes to Machida. He is the least-hit fighter in UFC history if not all of MMA. His hybrid karate style, with lots of sidesteps, forward and backward motions that depend on an opponent’s movements have proven so confusing that his foes get frustrated, throwing caution to the wind, abandon their strategy and rush him just to land a blow or try to take him down. But Machida’s arsenal includes a black belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu, a background in both sumo and muay Thai. He is an extremely well-rounded martial artist. But that hasn’t made him overconfident. He will stick to his strategy of waiting out opponents, only committing to strike if he sees a reason to, decreasing the risk of being countered. You try to take down Machida and he will quickly step back, step to the side, or slide in to evade or throw a straight punch, a kick to the head or body, or even a knee (remember the strike to the abdomen that felled Ortiz?). Avoiding being hit while hitting one’s foe in the cage or ring is a very safe (some say boring) methodology. Machida has mastered this technique. You could say that Rua is the almost complete opposite. From Pride to UFC, Rua has fundamentally maintained an attacking style per the Chute Boxe school of fighting. Rua earned the nasty reputation of savaging downed opponents with stomps and diving punches. His foe might lie on the ground on his back, defending with up-kicks and kicks to the legs, but Rua will simply allow his foe to commit and miss then get back at him with a kick of his own or a strike with his fists or elbows. It is highly improbable that Rua will get Machida in this position.
Advantage: Machida

If the last two KO wins by Machida are a measure of how he will fight Rua, UFC 104’s light-heavyweight bout will not last five rounds. Or Machida will revert to his usual ways and stay safe from a distance, sniping at Rua, stretching the match to its full period, and try to eke out a decision. But is seems The Dragon has tasted blood and he likes the taste of copper on tongue. Fight fans hope that Shogun will accommodate The Dragon and it will be a fight to the death – so to speak. May the best man win, and may they still have their complete faculties after the fight is done.

Let’s get it on, indeed.

UFC 98: Enter The Dragon Machida

Lyoto Machida overwhelms Rashad Evans

In one of the most stunning and exciting outcomes in UFC history, the light-heavyweight belt changed hands in just two rounds of a masterful display by the challenger. It wasn’t exactly unexpected as the online voting had something like 63% of the fans of the opinion that Machida would win it against 37% for Evans.

Round 1 seemed to confirm people’s belief as in the last minute Machida kicked Evans to the right side of the body and followed up with a straight left punch to the face, knocking down the defending champion. Evans did get up and survived the first round.

Besides Machida’s left kick to the body of Evans at 2:00, practically nothing happened in the first three minutes, as both fighters were still probing, waiting for each other to make the first significant attack and counter – which is a big part of both fighters’ styles.

At 3:03, Machida struck with a left roundhouse kick to the head of Evans, then Evans came back but missed with a left overhand right.
At 1:21, Machida let go of a quick left straight punch and right straight that didn’t do any damage.

Round 1 obviously went Machida’s way.
In Round 2, both fighters again took some time to warm up. In 3:30, there was an exchange of punches but not many landed. At 2:22, Machida missed with a right frontal kick to the body. At 2:13, a left roundhouse kick to the body by Evans missed. But then, with 1:28 left in the fateful round, a hook to the jaw of Evans started it all. Evans crumpled. Machida got side mount and landed several right straights to the head of Evans. Evans struggled to get back on his feet and got as far as the Octagon fence where Machida kept abusing him with punches to the head. A right hook to the jaw and a left to the other side knocked Evans senseless, falling on his back like a limp rag doll.

If Evans had not fallen properly, there would have been a repeat of the terrible accident that broke Mirko Filipovic’s ankle in UFC 70 when he fell after getting tagged with a right roundhouse kick to the head by Gabriel Gonzaga.

The Lyoto Machida legend has been cemented. He had earned the reputation of being the most elusive fighter ever in mixed martial arts. Translation: Hard to hit. Very hard to hit. He has a knack for dealing so much pain while remaining unscathed. Ironically, that also earned him a lot of skeptics and naysayers had a field day sniping at him. They accused him of being afraid to engage in an offensive attack. Until yesterday, that is.

Well, Machida’s destruction of Thiago Silva (in one round) and Evans (in two) in succession should cancel out that criticism. Elusiveness equals good defense. And it makes a lot of sense. Why should you get hit in the process of hitting someone? MMA is not Christian charity. It is a black eye for a black eye, a broken tooth for a broken tooth. But if you can avoid getting hurt while beating up on someone, why not take that blessing?

Machida is a very quick and powerful striker. His martial-art base being karate, he is a natural striker. Add to his arsenal a black belt in Brazilian jiujitsu, sumo and muay Thai training, and maybe also in other arts, make him one well-rounded mugger.

In the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, a jubilant Machida shouted: “My art is karate. Karate is back. Machida karate! The Dragon is the champion!”

Indeed, and if he stays elusive as an eel with the sting of a stingray, it will be sometime before he gives up the UFC lightheavyweight championship belt.

The Truth Ducks The Dragon…For Now

Brandon Vera refuses to fight Lyoto Machida

Brandon “The Truth” Vera, despite two straight losses in less than 10 months, is still one of the most marketable UFC fighters. Vera has the power, speed, skills, and length, to beat most of the top fighters in the heavyweight division. With his move to go down to light-heavyweight, has only added more fuel to the furnace that is the 205-pound division.

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, on the other hand, is a fast-rising star in the 205lb category. By virtue of a five-fight win streak in the UFC, Machida could be the most promising warrior in the arena.

Put Vera and Machida in the Octagon and you get a surefire hit in so many ways. Both excellent strikers with respectable ground skills, these two mestizos will have blood pumping in their cool veins and temperatures rising in the fight venue. Machida-Vera I (the Japanese-Brazilian’s name gets top billing over the Filipino-American by virtue of a superior fight record) might just set records for pay-per-view and gate receipts.

At 13 and 0 against Vera’s 8-2-0, Machida naturally will become the odds-on favorite in both Vegas betting and fan polls. But an immaculate record is no guarantee of another victory over an inferior slate. We could do a rundown of their strengths and weaknesses:

Speed:
Machida is not only fast, he is slippery. Rich Franklin and Michael McDonald found out about this the hard way. So did Tito Ortiz and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. You want to keep Machida right in front of you so you could hit him, but he almost always stays a safe distance from a punch or leg strike, while moving just enough to hit you with one of his rather unorthodox karate-flavored snap kicks and hand strikes. Grapplers may want to take him down, first distracting him with a punch or fake before lowering for a single or double-leg takedown, but the Shotokan and Brazilian Jiujitsu black-belt Machida is wise to the ways of the ground and pound, or ground and submit. While Vera is more of a striker, a muay Thai stylist who tries to capitalize on his substantial reach to land a blow. Vera has respectable talent on the ground, but it is doubtful if he could escape from a tight triangle the same way Machida did against Tito Ortiz.
Advantage: Machida

Power:
Machida only has three victories by way of knockout (all TKOs) and eight triumphs by decision in his 13-fight win run. That is testament to his reliance on speed and under-reliance on power. Machida will not only wear opponents out by evading their strikes, clinches, and takedowns, he will add on to his foes’ frustrations by hitting them almost at will, but almost never engaging them in an all-out brawl. He will hit and pull out, dance away, then come back for more when he sees an opening. Vera is a kickboxer more than a feint-hit-and-backout artist. Vera will try to pound the man in front of him with a straight punch, a roundhouse or lower kick, and go for the kill if he sees an opening or if his foe is hurt enough. Vera is a tiger shark with the tendency to go on a feeding frenzy if he as much as smells a milliliter of blood. Machida, on the other hand, is a mite, sucking blood in small degrees until he is bloated enough to let go and come back for more at a later time. By then, he will be big enough as a great white shark to munch a huge mouthful.
Advantage: Even

Stamina:
Vera has only gone the distance once in 10 MMA fights. Machida has finished the maximum allotted rounds nine out of 13 times, including eight in the last nine. Vera evidently was on the verge of gassing out against Tim Sylvia in UFC 77, one of the reasons he lost by decision to the “Maine-niac.” Machida comes prepared for his fights, with a cardiovascular conditioning comparable to that of Olympic long-distance runners. Vera, we hazard to guess, doesn’t as much care for jogging and sparring for periods of time longer than five minutes.
Advantage: Machida

Guile:
Hands down, Machida bags this one. The poker face, the cool demeanor, even his ever-polite language that refuses to trash talk, even complimenting his opponents, are hallmarks of an honorable warrior with the calculating powers of an assassin who waits and waits before delivering the death blow. In sharp contrast, Vera is a loudmouth, a loveable one, though, much like his paisan Hulk “Terry Gene Bollea” Hogan. Vera plays to the crowd and the media, generating enough interest for his fights. He gets the attention and the amused smiles, but Machida earns the respect and perhaps the fear.
Advantage: Machida

Machida 4, Vera 1

All these comparisons might ultimately be in vain. Vera just refused to take on Machida for Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 14. For reasons of being unprepared, the usually game Vera did admit that a month’s notice isn’t the best way to get ready for a formidable fighter like Machida. He did not rule out, though, a future pairing with Machida.

Vera told www.mmajunkie.com, “For sure, I turned down the fight with Machida. Don’t get me wrong. I’m down to fight Machida but not in my first time cutting down to 205 on four weeks’ notice.”

The MMA fighter cut in the mold of Tito Ortiz in the trash-talk department did pay tribute to Machida by admitting that he can’t simply jump into the ring or Octagon with a supreme athlete like The Dragon: “I want to be ready for Machida. That bastard’s good. I want to make sure I’ve got good sparring and a good game plan for Machida.

“Machida’s not somebody you can just jump in the cage with and fight. I don’t care who you are; if you think you can just beat Machida because you’re tougher than him, he’s probably going to whoop your ass.

“He doesn’t go in to destroy people and finish them. Man, you can’t hit him, and he just keeps touching you. People just get frustrated and pissed off. So, I did turn down the fight with Machida, but I’m down for sure to fight Machida, given good time.”

First Dragon sighting

We don’t remember when it was we first saw Lyoto Machida fight professionally. It might have been in an earlier UFC tournament on cable TV, or on a hazy lousily-copied pirated “DVD copy.” But since that time, our impression of his fighting skills and mental toughness has grown steadily.

Machida is one tough cookie, amassing an immaculate 13-0-0 win-loss-draw pro record. His abilities are as impressive as his list of victims, which include: Rich Franklin (TKO on strikes), Michael McDonald (Submission via forearm choke), B.J. Penn (Unanimous Decision), Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (Submission by arm triangle), and the latest, Tito Ortiz (UD).

Three of Machida’s 13 wins came by way of knockout, two by submission, betraying both his strong karate striking and Brazilian jiujitsu background. Machida also trained in sumo as a teenager.

His father, Yoshizo, is a highly-regarded karate master. We assume that Lyoto’s mother is Brazilian, who could be, like many Brazilians, is of mixed white and black descent. At 6-feet-1 and 205 pounds fighting weight, Lyoto is too big to be purely Asian.

Lyoto has two brothers: Chinzo, a multiple-tournament karate champion like Lyoto, and Kenzo, a TV journalist in their home country of Brazil. Lyoto and Chinzo once fought in the final of a karate championship where Lyoto permanently scarred his brother’s left cheek with a strike.

To round girls and other females who are interested, rethink your options; Lyoto is married to the fabulous Fabyola, who is about to give birth to their first offspring.

The fight with Ortiz was one of the toughest in Machida’s career. Surviving a triangle choke late in the third and final round of UFC 84, locked tight in those huge strong legs of Ortiz, Machida twisted and turned to escape and preserve his points lead and clean fight record. That win is as much a testament to Machida’s skills as his spirit. A true modern Samurai warrior indeed.

Banzai! and Mabuhay!...Lyoto.