You guys can catch all the fights on MMA Core]. It's usually up the day after the event. Just go there directly if you don't want to be spoiled(future ref.). Lyoto just dominated the match. Rashad didn't get more then maybe 5 hits on him, and none in the first. The knockout was one of the brutalizing KO I've ever seen, mainly due to Rashad will to keep fighting, which cause him to get eff'ed up even more by Lyoto. It's too bad, I wanted Rashad to win, been a fan of him since the time he was on The Ultimate Fighter.
Machida has such as unorthodox fighting stance and style. I thought it was funny how he was hogging the mike after the fight. lol
Man, what a show! I never had seen Machida fight until last night and....... wow. I tell you what, the guy looked incredible. I guess training with the Spider and drinking your own urine in the morning will do that for you. Heh heh. I had about eleven people over last night and when he finally knocked out Evans, everyone was on their feet. It didn't matter who they picked before the match. His interview after the fight earned him a lot of fans as well I think. The humulity and quiet confidence was great. I will say that Evans has been a little cocky, but not enough to turn me off. He's nowhere near as bad as that douche, C*ck Lesnar. I hope Fedor can get that prick at some point. Anyway, I digress. Also to Evans credit, there were about three hits before the final one that should have ended it. I was amazed that he stayed up to that point and was still trying to fight. Now, thats a chin! With these two guys being so young, I think they will both be great for some time. Add to that my boy Rampage and others, this is a great division. Definitely the money maker. Rampage/Machida should be a good one. I hope Rampage can shock the world.
I think A. Silva may be the only real competition for Machida.. with that said.. Machida and Anderson Silva have switched places. Machida now = Silva 2 years ago A. Silva now = Machida 2 years ago spooky
they have a choice in the matter? if dana white says you're fighting someone, arent they obligated to fight?
It really depends. There are some really big names in the Light Heavyweight division and any of them could drop each other on any given night. Some of the bigger names that have the skills to win the belt on any given night : Anderson Silva (he's supposed to fight Griffin this year and I think is under contract to fight about 4 more for the UFC) Rashad Evans (deserves a chance to get the belt back) Rich Franklin (he'll never get over Anderson Silva destroying him multiple times and is really on the decline probably) Wanderlei Silva (about to take on Rich Franklin) Thiago Silva (Machida already beat him pretty handily, but he's still a good fighter) Forrest Griffin (would love to see this matchup) Mauricio Rua (this would be an interesting matchup; I'd love to see it as well, but Rua's a big question mark after Griffin took him out) Dan Henderson (another good matchup but Hendo will be fighting Bisping next) Keith Jardine (hehe... why not?) Quinton Jackson
I would love to see Machida destroy Rampage Jackson, I cant stand that guy. Right now, Machida seems to be the next big thing, I think he'll be hard to beat.
I agree that Machida will have his way with Rampage. I really don't see anyone in the division that will be able to touch Machida for quite sometime.
I didn't know that he is avoiding that class. He fought Irvin and has to defend the Middleweight belt. He's fighting Forrest next. It doesn't appear that way to me.
Here's a great highlight reel of Evans vs Machida. Machida's training is pretty crazy. It's amazing how quick he is. <object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4831447&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4831447&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/4831447">Let's Get It On-Evans vs Machida-by KahL-One</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1390327">Kahleem</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
Q&A with Machida's martial arts master: his father Saturday in Las Vegas, Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida will call upon generations of martial arts wisdom and practice as he attempts to defeat Rashad Evans and claim the UFC light heavyweight title. The 30-year-old Brazilian, undefeated in 14 professional mixed martial arts contests, won't need to look further than his corner for inspiration. Standing there, as he has every step of the way in a life rooted in the Samurai mindset and principles of Shotokan karate, will be Lyoto's 63-year-old Japanese father and martial arts master Yoshizo Machida. Speaking on the eve of the most important fight of his son's impressive career, the Machida family patriarch shared his philosophies on martial arts as well as his strong belief in family and son, whose karate-influenced style has made him one of the most unique -- and criticized -- fighters in MMA today. SI.com: What is your approach when Lyoto fights? Are you thinking emotionally as a father, or are you there as part of the team, part of the corner, someone's who's there to help prepare Lyoto to win? Yoshizo Machida: The moment when I start talking about and thinking about fighting, at that point it's not a father-and-son relationship. It's a master-and-student relationship. SI.com: Was it difficult to separate the emotional aspect of it? Machida: The way I was raised in Japan, my parents brought me up with a Samurai style. When I went to Brazil at the age of 22 all by myself, and I eventually had children it was an easy transition because of the teachings my parents raised me with. SI.com: Can you explain the Samurai lifestyle, and how it's applicable to Lyoto's life and fighting career? Machida: One of the greatest things about the Samurai lifestyle is humbleness and mannerisms and education on how to treat people. Every time Lyoto competes and gets another victory, he should leave the ring or the Octagon being more humble than when he walked in. The minute you stop being humble is the minute you're going to stop moving forward as a fighter and a person. You're going to become stagnant at that point. SI.com: Lyoto has also mentioned how tough you were on him and his brothers growing up. Machida: In the days of the Samurai, the way they used to treat their children is the first 10 years of their lives, it was a father's responsibility to determine and sink in their habits. So I was very strict with my kids the first 10 years of their lives. After 10 years, not that I wasn't strict, but I laid down that foundation. After 10 years old, you start becoming smarter, you read things, you talk to your friends. The first 10 years of life it's almost like a clean canvas, so I was very rigid and instilled the morals that are going to carry him on the rest of his life. Everything that I've ever told my kids to do and all the discipline I've ever done, I've always done myself. I'm not the type of father who just tells his kids to do something without doing it first and showing by example. SI.com: Did you envision Lyoto becoming a professional fighter? Machida: In the beginning, I was totally against Lyoto becoming a fighter, simply because there weren't very many rules for MMA and I thought it was a violent sport where the referee would never stop a fight even if someone was in danger. But as the sport evolved and as they started putting rules in, I agreed more with how the refs were working. At that point in time, it wasn't what I wanted or didn't want. I saw it was something my son really wanted to do. Once they started applying all the rules, regulations and sanctioning, then I felt much more comfortable with it. SI.com: Do you see any parallels between Lyoto representing your family's karate and Royce Gracie representing his family's martial arts style? Machida: There are a lot of similarities, especially the way that Helio Gracie and the Gracie family learned from the Japanese and instilled those same morals. My family is a very tight knit similar to the Gracies. There are similarities the way the families prepared the fighters. SI.com: It seems Lyoto has made changes to apply the karate you taught him to work for MMA. Did it take time to get comfortable with the idea of adapting karate to be useful for mixed martial arts? Machida: Lyoto's base is karate. That is where his foundation is, and that's pretty obvious. But in mixed martial arts you can't just be focused on one art. Judo, jiu-jitsu, boxing, Muay Thai, karate -- all these martial arts have one thing in common. The spirit of the martial art is the same. However, a lot of time instructors focus on technique and strength, but they don't focus on the mind and spiritual side of it. I like to incorporate everything, because a lot of it is spiritual and mental when you're going in the ring. How do you control yourself? A lot of times the fighter enters the ring nervous, not knowing what his opponent is thinking. With family being around to offer support and love, that can make him feel a lot more relaxed. SI.com: How did you teach the mental aspects of martial arts and competition to Lyoto? Machida: The first thing I taught him was his breathing. The way you breathe is very important. Once you get breathing patterns and the breathing process down, then you have to have your posture. And then the third thing is imagination, focusing and visualizing. Visualizing is very important part of how you're going to win the fight; when you're going to win the fight; what moves you're going to do to win the fight. And visualizing raising your hand. Basically, visualizing the entire process, from beginning to end. Blocking everything else out of your mind. A lot of people don't prepare the mental state of their body. So many people are focused on the technical aspect and strength aspect, and they don't work on the mental aspects. SI.com: His style has drawn some criticisms. Do you have a response for critics who call Lyoto boring? Machida: Criticism is always there. And I always sit back and look at peoples' criticism. I look at it like a sport. They say something, and I say well they have a point. I put a point in their column. And I'll sit there sometimes and disagree and put a point in my side. Really, at the end of the day, I come from a background of martial arts. I always taught my children that in the Samurai days, if you were to get touched it would have been with a sword or a blade and you would have died. So the whole thing is to eliminate getting touched and that's what I've always instilled in my sons. Let's not pretend it's a punch. Let's pretend it's a sword. If you would have been hit by the sword, you'd be dead. That's how I trained him. SI.com: Didn't you say prior to Lyoto's fight with Thiago Silva that your son needed to be more aggressive. Why did you feel that was necessary? Machida: I felt at times Lyoto was such a defensive fighter that he didn't really want to hurt his opponents. He just wanted to win. I had to explain to him, even though you're trying to be a defensive fighter, you have to be more aggressive because you need to prove to the world that our art works. That's what he did. A lot of people that are in the game and fighters and professionals understand Lyoto's game. It will take some time for fans to catch on, but I think that's happening. SI.com: What is your assessment of Rashad Evans, and what kind of fight do you expect Saturday? Machida: From what I can tell, Rashad Evans is a compete fighter, a technical athlete. He's very fast. Very strong. I respect him very much. What I can't see is how strong he is mentally or spiritually. So, with that being said, that is where Lyoto is going to go after Rashad. He will attack his spirit. I respect Rashad Evans a lot. Lyoto has to be very careful when he's inside the Octagon with Rashad, because he's a dangerous fighter. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/josh_gross/05/22/machida.dad/index.html
