Machida/Evans thoughts

[Mr. Miyagi]

Not much to say, Machida DESTROYED Evans. He almost finished him with his standup in the first round, then totally rocked him and KO'd him in the 2nd round. Machida probably has the fastest reflexes I've ever seen in a standup fighter, crazy-fast reaction time. Also, he moves in for the kill after getting a hit and with amazing intensity.
I don't know if Machida is beatable by anyone in LHW division.

Oh, gotta say, this whole crazy business about Karate making a comeback because of the success of guys like Machida and GSP. I think it's total BS. So the primary and first martial art they trained and got a black belt in is karate. And I can understand that for Machida it is especially meaningful becase his father was his teacher. But both these guys are also black belts in BJJ. And they train in wrestling (both amazing wrestlers and takedown defense), kickboxing, and are both incredible athletes. So, I don't see any argument that they're winning with karate.

[Bjjexpertise@be]

Fight went exactly as I predicted, actually. Machida picked Rashad's game apart and Ko'd him in the second round. I called it to the T lol.

[bigboywasim]

That was one hell of a fight.

What makes Machida unique is his karate style.

It is almost impossible to find someone who knows his style of karate and knows BJJ/Wrestling for sparring/training.

This is what makes fighting him so difficult. Fighters have not figured him out yet.

I still think Muay Thai is the best striking art to learn but that does not mean karate is not a good art for striking. There are full contract versions of karate also.

[7r14ngL3Ch0k3]

The UFC and Machida (especially cause of his father) hype Machida's karate so much. The truth is, Machida has been training in Muay thai and boxing from a young age too, as well as Jiu Jitsu. And im sure the Karate that his father teaches and the training is alot more like Muay thai training than what we like to think of typical Karate training (you know like the mcdojo, standing in line throwing improper kicks and punches against the air while yelling KIYA!!) Machida is just a much better striker.

[pstevens]

The UFC and Machida (especially cause of his father) hype Machida's karate so much. The truth is, Machida has been training in Muay thai and boxing from a young age too, as well as Jiu Jitsu. And im sure the Karate that his father teaches and the training is alot more like Muay thai training than what we like to think of typical Karate training (you know like the mcdojo, standing in line throwing improper kicks and punches against the air while yelling KIYA!!) Machida is just a much better striker.

I think it's a marketing angle to get people excited... Also, a lot of guys like to list their "base" style as something other than just MMA.

But you're right; the reason Machid CAN use karate is because of his BJJ, wrestling and MT bacground. Without them, I doubt he would have the confidence and ability to be successful.

[Eyegouge]

I dig how Machida uses his reverse punch as his first strike sometimes, so many people are used to seeing a lead setup first, and he's fast enough to pop people with it. Can't get enough of him tripping the shit outta' people either, allot like a bigger Cung Le.

I'd like to see Cung and Machida at a catchweight. Are they too far away in weight, I forget what Cung fights at, Middleweight?

[Mr. Miyagi]

Cung fights at 185. I don't think he walks around much more than 185. I doubt he and Machida would ever face.
Cung is amazing but I think he still has a lot to prove. Close to his own weight, it would be cool to see him fight GSP, Anderson Silva, Thiago Alves, Dan Henderson. If Wandy makes it to 185, that would be a hell of a fight too. And if BJ Penn could move up that could be a cool matchup too. It would be great if he could head over to the UFC.
Cung is getting older, I think he's 35. I wish he had showed up in MMA earlier. The win against Frank Shamrock was impressive, but Frank's ego got in his way and he kept the fight a standup war instead of trying to take it to the ground; and Frank is not what he used to be anyway.

[Hardball]

Cung fights at 185. I don't think he walks around much more than 185. I doubt he and Machida would ever face.
Cung is amazing but I think he still has a lot to prove. Close to his own weight, it would be cool to see him fight GSP, Anderson Silva, Thiago Alves, Dan Henderson. If Wandy makes it to 185, that would be a hell of a fight too. And if BJ Penn could move up that could be a cool matchup too. It would be great if he could head over to the UFC.
Cung is getting older, I think he's 35. I wish he had showed up in MMA earlier. The win against Frank Shamrock was impressive, but Frank's ego got in his way and he kept the fight a standup war instead of trying to take it to the ground; and Frank is not what he used to be anyway.

I think Cueng Lee has fear of failure. He does'nt seem to be interested in fighting. He's an up and coming action star. Did you see his cameo in "Fighting"

[pstevens]

Cung is getting older, I think he's 35. I wish he had showed up in MMA earlier. The win against Frank Shamrock was impressive, but Frank's ego got in his way and he kept the fight a standup war instead of trying to take it to the ground; and Frank is not what he used to be anyway.

Cung Le is no slouch in the stand-up department; but Shamrock might not have been able to test Cung's ground game. Personally, I think Shamrock's ground game has always been suspect. He won many of his fights on pure athleticism and now that it's depleting; so is his MMA career.

I think Cung Le would have trouble with anyone else in that weight division; simply because all the top fighters are more versatile than Shamrock.

[Max22]

While Machida may have trained in Muy Thai, etc he fights from the structure of a karate guy. His stance isn't Muy Thai, nor are his tactics/strategy. He is presenting an unfamiliar structure to most MMA fighters, who expect a boxing/muy thai stance. Machida doesn't give this, and also uses movement unfamiliar to most MMA fighters. His stance does offer the ability to deliver quicker kicks and thus puts many of his opponents at an unfamiliar distance, and troubles any closing efforts.

[Motion]

While Machida may have trained in Muy Thai, etc he fights from the structure of a karate guy. His stance isn't Muy Thai, nor are his tactics/strategy. He is presenting an unfamiliar structure to most MMA fighters, who expect a boxing/muy thai stance. Machida doesn't give this, and also uses movement unfamiliar to most MMA fighters. His stance does offer the ability to deliver quicker kicks and thus puts many of his opponents at an unfamiliar distance, and troubles any closing efforts.

That's why I think people need to be careful portraying Machida as more of a "puzzle" than he actually is. I'am sure mma does have fighters with Karate backgrounds who can come in and figure out Machida. It's just that right now mma seems to be made up of fighters with BJJ,wrestling and muy thai backgrounds who haven't seen much Karate. I saw a clip of Shonie Carter advising Tito Ortiz before his fight to get with a good Karate guy for preparation. Eventually more mma fighters in Machida's weight class will do this. I have a feeling that Rampage's camp will have him working with some karate guys.

[Mr. Miyagi]

I think Machida has amazing talent and reflexes, I don't think it's the karate.

It's different than the bjj revolution. Training in bjj and becoming an advanced player, or an advanced submission grappler, there are now hundreds of guys who can hang with Royce Gracie. Also, Royce displayed bjj on it's own...little to no wrestling background and little to no striking. Royce never took down a wrestler and he never KO'd a striker (or any fighter, for that matter).
Machida has amazing wrestling and is very accomplished in bjj too. He has submitted people who know submissions (like Sokoudjou). And he has thrown wrestlers who were trying to take him down on their ass (like Tito) as well.

For those who want to train in karate and try to capture those "angles" and "counterpunching" that Machida does, be my guest, go ahead and try. It won't happen.
Machida is Machida.

[Eyegouge]

Machida has certain moves that he does. Jump knee, lunging reverse punch, trips, and content enough to run backwards around the cage if he needs to. So many people in the UFC head hunt like crazy and drop their hands when they change levels. Machida stands straight up, even while moving backward and uses his jump knee or just a knee to stop shots. I thought Rashad's camp (greg jackson & crew right?) would just work on body punching when Machida pulls his chin back, sticks his arms out, and stands straight back, and countering his takedown counter knee, working takedowns off a grinding cage game ala Chris Lytle (boring but effective against unothodox strikers). I honestly thought Rashad and his camp had more brain power than Tito & company, and could pull off a win. I was sorely dissapointed when pre fight interviews had Rashad claiming KO in the 3rd. I was like WTF? that's like saying, "oh, I'ma win a fight against Royce Gracie by sitting in his gaurd"....stupid....

[Rapid Kick]

It looked like Evans was still talking trash while he was getting punched in the face, mouth open and all.

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Cellar Kickboxing and Martial Arts - Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts, and Karate classes

[Motion]

I copied this from another forum where they were talking about Machida's Karate influence. I thought this person did a good job of breaking it down.


" Actually most of his game is Karate:
-His kicks are thrown karate style meaning his head goes back when he kicks and not like MT in which you put your head forward to give more power to your kick (but risk your head more). He also throws the kicks on the spot and doesnt take the "extra step" that MT fighters take.
-He throws mostly straight punches.
-MOST if not all of his trips are Shotokan Karate.
-He fights the same style you see in Point Shotokan matches (just look at some of the vids on youtube, especially the one of his brother Shinzo Machida). This means he doesn't walk into the pocket and stays there to strike (like Rampage), he goes in with his combination and goes out in a very "Karate like" fashion, that alone is a huge difference from every other MMA fighter.

He is probably the best Shotokan Karate fighter in MMA right now, and also Karate had more influence on him than any other fighter with "Karate background". "

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This is why I hope Rampages's camp brings in a karate fighter to help familarize him with Machida's tendencies as a Karate fighter.