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30-04-2010, 17:06
8 Reasons To Become a Lyoto Machida Fan
Not everybody is going to love Lyoto Machida.
http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/images/photos/000/944/801/machida_cropped.jpg?1272429985
There are people out there who will dislike Machida for whatever reason they choose.
For those mixed martial arts fans out there who are still on the fence about Lyoto Machida, here are eight reasons to become a Machida fan.
8. He's A Real-Life Videogame Character
Yoshizo Machida was a karate master who immigrated to a foreign land where he fell in love with a local woman, settled and had a family.
He passed down his martial arts knowledge to his sons, one of whom would prove its validity by becoming a world champion.
It may not be ripped completely from Street Fighter, but this description sounds very much like those old video game and action movie archetypes.
The difference: Machida is a champion in real life.
7. Statistical Domination
Machida's style may not be everybody's favorite, but most of the time when he fights, he beats his opponents in nearly every possible statistical category.
Fightmetric's Rami Genauer wrote an article that shows how good Machida is statistically by comparing him to some of MMA's all-time greats.
Simply watching Machida's fights should be enough to show how dominant he usually is, but for those who are looking to quantify it, take a look at Genauer's breakdown here (http://www.mmafighting.com/2009/01/27/forced-admiration-for-lyoto-machida/) .
6. He's a Throwback to Oldschool MMA Attitudes
When UFC 1 took place, it was marketed as a clash of competing martial arts.
I'll personally argue that when that particular tournament took place, the Gracie family stacked the deck in their favor by not inviting any Judo champions to compete, but in any case, the sport of mixed martial arts has evolved past the stylistic debate for the most part.
Machida is one of those few guys hanging still bringing up the style debate by successfully defending karate in the Octagon.
"He can't defend my style. No one can." —Lyoto Machida.
5. He Has Unique MMA Moves
Machida has some moves that almost nobody in MMA actually executes in a fight. Machida does these moves repeatedly.
Here's an example of Machida's left hand counter to a leg kick, followed by a sweep of the rear leg.
http://a742.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/111/l_431601c6d667af39811018d30c324f7d.gif
Here's Machida sweeping out BJ Penn's front leg and using his hands to push Penn down.
http://a604.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/106/l_fb201d673549d279ea82abc07cfe93eb.gif
This time Machida intentionally misses his left hand counter and uses his arm to help trip Kazuhiro Nakamura.
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p175/the_chosen_one1/lyotothrow.gif
Here's a variation of the same move against Vernon White.
http://a622.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/77/l_03ad647540009dee6888bc1fd7094b55.gif
Machida's jab parry followed by the counter left is far from unique, but nobody does it better in MMA.
http://ftp.georgetek.com/George/Sigs/Machida_vs_Hoger.gif
When Machida used it against Rashad Evans, it was the beginning of the end.
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv51/tronliz/2aeyrsljpg.gif
Machida's kick combinations are also some of the flashiest in the light heavyweight division.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2ir6p1y.gif
4. He's Extremely Well-Rounded
When most people talk about Machida, they credit him with being elusive, or with having great counter-striking skills.
Aside from those, few people mention everything else he does well.
Machida is rarely taken down, which owes partially to elusiveness, but also to some serious takedown defense and skill in the clinch.
More than just having takedown defense, Machida is also skilled as a wrestler, and has a high success rate on his own takedowns. Interestingly, his wrestling credentials include a background in Sumo.
Machida's takedowns are unpredictable because he can use takedowns from judo, wrestling, karate, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
When the fight does hit the ground, Machida is able to display some extremely high level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
He's a blackbelt under the Nogueira brothers, and in pure submission grappling, Machida holds a win over 2007 Mundials champ, Rafael Lovato Jr.
If you argue that Machida's points win over Lovato Jr. was marginal, it's worth mentioning that Machida has never really been out-grappled in an MMA fight either.
3. How He Destroyed Rashad Evans
Personally, I'm a fan of Rashad Evans, but there are a lot of Evans haters out there.
If you're one of those guys, you probably should appreciate the beating he put on the then-champion.
If you don't remember exactly what happened, here's a quick refresher of how it all went down.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/narcisist13/MachidavsRashadGoodfellasstyle.gif
2. He's Successfully Representing Karate In MMA
Many of us MMA fans in the UFC's target demographic can recall the original Karate Kid movie with some nostalgic fondness.
Since that time, karate has been treated pretty roughly by MMA. Gerard Gordeau lost to Royce Gracie, and for the next decade or so, not much was going well for karate practitioners.
If Machida wins, maybe he'll help bring about a renaissance for karate.
1. Machida's Style Will Help Break Modern MMA Mindset
If you talk to a lot of MMA trainers, they'll tell you that mixed martial arts has become a whole new martial art itself that incorporates boxing, muay thai, wrestling, and BJJ.
MMA factories have sprouted up all over the place teaching those four key disciplines.
By having success with a background including sumo and karate, Machida is one of the few fighters who have opened people's minds to the possibility that maybe MMA isn't limited to the four main disciplines.
Perhaps Machida Karate will never dominate the MMA landscape, but if Machida's success can help convince others to start applying capoeira, wang chun, and wushu techniques in MMA, I think people will be surprised at the possibilities, and MMA will become a lot more exciting
Not everybody is going to love Lyoto Machida.
http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/images/photos/000/944/801/machida_cropped.jpg?1272429985
There are people out there who will dislike Machida for whatever reason they choose.
For those mixed martial arts fans out there who are still on the fence about Lyoto Machida, here are eight reasons to become a Machida fan.
8. He's A Real-Life Videogame Character
Yoshizo Machida was a karate master who immigrated to a foreign land where he fell in love with a local woman, settled and had a family.
He passed down his martial arts knowledge to his sons, one of whom would prove its validity by becoming a world champion.
It may not be ripped completely from Street Fighter, but this description sounds very much like those old video game and action movie archetypes.
The difference: Machida is a champion in real life.
7. Statistical Domination
Machida's style may not be everybody's favorite, but most of the time when he fights, he beats his opponents in nearly every possible statistical category.
Fightmetric's Rami Genauer wrote an article that shows how good Machida is statistically by comparing him to some of MMA's all-time greats.
Simply watching Machida's fights should be enough to show how dominant he usually is, but for those who are looking to quantify it, take a look at Genauer's breakdown here (http://www.mmafighting.com/2009/01/27/forced-admiration-for-lyoto-machida/) .
6. He's a Throwback to Oldschool MMA Attitudes
When UFC 1 took place, it was marketed as a clash of competing martial arts.
I'll personally argue that when that particular tournament took place, the Gracie family stacked the deck in their favor by not inviting any Judo champions to compete, but in any case, the sport of mixed martial arts has evolved past the stylistic debate for the most part.
Machida is one of those few guys hanging still bringing up the style debate by successfully defending karate in the Octagon.
"He can't defend my style. No one can." —Lyoto Machida.
5. He Has Unique MMA Moves
Machida has some moves that almost nobody in MMA actually executes in a fight. Machida does these moves repeatedly.
Here's an example of Machida's left hand counter to a leg kick, followed by a sweep of the rear leg.
http://a742.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/111/l_431601c6d667af39811018d30c324f7d.gif
Here's Machida sweeping out BJ Penn's front leg and using his hands to push Penn down.
http://a604.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/106/l_fb201d673549d279ea82abc07cfe93eb.gif
This time Machida intentionally misses his left hand counter and uses his arm to help trip Kazuhiro Nakamura.
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p175/the_chosen_one1/lyotothrow.gif
Here's a variation of the same move against Vernon White.
http://a622.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/77/l_03ad647540009dee6888bc1fd7094b55.gif
Machida's jab parry followed by the counter left is far from unique, but nobody does it better in MMA.
http://ftp.georgetek.com/George/Sigs/Machida_vs_Hoger.gif
When Machida used it against Rashad Evans, it was the beginning of the end.
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv51/tronliz/2aeyrsljpg.gif
Machida's kick combinations are also some of the flashiest in the light heavyweight division.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2ir6p1y.gif
4. He's Extremely Well-Rounded
When most people talk about Machida, they credit him with being elusive, or with having great counter-striking skills.
Aside from those, few people mention everything else he does well.
Machida is rarely taken down, which owes partially to elusiveness, but also to some serious takedown defense and skill in the clinch.
More than just having takedown defense, Machida is also skilled as a wrestler, and has a high success rate on his own takedowns. Interestingly, his wrestling credentials include a background in Sumo.
Machida's takedowns are unpredictable because he can use takedowns from judo, wrestling, karate, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
When the fight does hit the ground, Machida is able to display some extremely high level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
He's a blackbelt under the Nogueira brothers, and in pure submission grappling, Machida holds a win over 2007 Mundials champ, Rafael Lovato Jr.
If you argue that Machida's points win over Lovato Jr. was marginal, it's worth mentioning that Machida has never really been out-grappled in an MMA fight either.
3. How He Destroyed Rashad Evans
Personally, I'm a fan of Rashad Evans, but there are a lot of Evans haters out there.
If you're one of those guys, you probably should appreciate the beating he put on the then-champion.
If you don't remember exactly what happened, here's a quick refresher of how it all went down.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/narcisist13/MachidavsRashadGoodfellasstyle.gif
2. He's Successfully Representing Karate In MMA
Many of us MMA fans in the UFC's target demographic can recall the original Karate Kid movie with some nostalgic fondness.
Since that time, karate has been treated pretty roughly by MMA. Gerard Gordeau lost to Royce Gracie, and for the next decade or so, not much was going well for karate practitioners.
If Machida wins, maybe he'll help bring about a renaissance for karate.
1. Machida's Style Will Help Break Modern MMA Mindset
If you talk to a lot of MMA trainers, they'll tell you that mixed martial arts has become a whole new martial art itself that incorporates boxing, muay thai, wrestling, and BJJ.
MMA factories have sprouted up all over the place teaching those four key disciplines.
By having success with a background including sumo and karate, Machida is one of the few fighters who have opened people's minds to the possibility that maybe MMA isn't limited to the four main disciplines.
Perhaps Machida Karate will never dominate the MMA landscape, but if Machida's success can help convince others to start applying capoeira, wang chun, and wushu techniques in MMA, I think people will be surprised at the possibilities, and MMA will become a lot more exciting