Lyoto Machida defeats Rashad Evans at UFC 98

I really thought Rashad Evans stood a chance against Lyoto Machida. He was an unorthodox fighter coming from one of the best camps in the world at breaking down opponents. I thought he'd come in and at least make it competitive, but sweet Jebus. I believe he landed one or two glancing blows to Machida's head and one solid kick to the body, and that was about it before he got put to sleep in the second round. Am I saying Rashad Evans was overrated? Absolutely not. I'm just trying to point out what a ridiculous human being Lyoto Machida is. A guy who can go into the octagon against people like Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva, and Rashad Evans and make them look like amateurs. Based solely on the damage he took and inflicted, he might as well have been fighting an eighty-year-old blind person.

Lyoto Machida: Anderson would knock Fedor out

In an interview with Tatame Magazine, Lyoto Machida says he believes his middleweight training partner Anderson Silva would knock out unbeaten heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.

"Anderson has much more technical quality than Fedor, He'd knock him out", said Machida.

On the other hand, Conan Silveira, American Top Team's leader and one of the most experienced in MMA, don't see any chances for the Spider in this fight. "Fedor is way more strong and explosive. Besides loving Anderson, I can't see any result on this fight besides Anderson being knocked out", bets Silveira.

Of course Lyoto is biased since he trains with Anderson Silva, but I do believe Silva would present serious problems for Fedor. Fedor has only ever shown weakness against strikers, and Anderson Silva is about as good a striker as you can get. If I had to put money on it I'd still go with Fedor, but a fighter like Silva always has a striker's chance. I mean, c'mon, betting against Fedor? It'd be like betting against a bear armed with a machine gun. Or, I dunno, God?

Rashad Evans vs Lyoto Machida officially on

UFC President Dana White confirmed yesterday that Lyoto Machida will fight Rashad Evans for the light heavyweight title at UFC 98 on May 23. Rashad was supposed to fight Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, but Dana White said Jackson needs jaw surgery and wouldn't be ready for UFC 98.

I'm glad Lyoto Machida is finally getting a title shot, but it shouldn't have taken Rampage having to get jaw surgery for it to happen. Despite Machida's destruction of Thiago Silva, there are still a lot of haters who find him to be boring. I don't fall into that camp, so I'm just hoping he manages to beat Rashad in exciting enough fashion to win some people over. Machida doesn't get the respect he deserves by the UFC or by the MMA fans, but hopefully a light heavyweight title can change all that. And, if not, he can always resort to plan B: weeping in the corner while crying out, "Why won't they love me?!" Which, actually, doesn't sound like a very good plan.

Rashad Evans expects to fight Lyoto Machida

Despite the announcements at UFC 96 that Rashad Evans would fight Quinton "Rampage" Jackson for the title if Rampage managed to defeat Keith Jardine, it looks like it's going to be Lyoto Machida who finally gets the title shot. Sherdog reports:

"As I learned, 'Rampage' might need time off," Evans told the Sherdog Radio Network's "Beatdown" show on Monday. "It'll probably be Lyoto Machida, but I haven't gotten a confirmation on that."

"I don't know. I've just got that feeling," said Evans. "Just listening to him when we were in the ring talking he was kind of like, 'Yeah man you're lucky I wasn't 100 percent' and he started making excuses and I was thinking like it sounds like an excuse-fest is about to happen, so I know he ain't going to take no fight with me. He's making excuses now."

And on facing Lyoto Machida:

"The kid's been phenomenal," said Evans. "He's been better than phenomenal. He's been looking better every fight. But that's the fight business. That's the fun part about a fight is the fact that you go in there with an opponent that sometimes seems insurmountable. But then you figure it out and that makes the victory that much sweeter. With that said, there may be some kinks in his armor that I have yet to see that I can exploit when I look at the tapes more closely. Nobody's unbeatable. Machida's been looking slicker than I don't know what, but everybody has a weakness even if you do look slick as oil. Everyone has a weakness."

Ooh, this is exciting. I really hope this happens, because as much as I like Rashad and Rampage, I love Lyoto Machida. Hmm, maybe "love" isn't the right word here. What do you call it when you have a life sized cardboard cutout of somebody and a print of their face on your pillow case?

Lyoto Machida on his UFC 94 victory

This is a video of Lyoto Machida discussing how he changed up his training before his fight against Thiago Alves at UFC 94: St. Pierre vs Penn. He says before he didn't do any strength or cardio training, but he added those in to try and become a more explosive fighter. It's a scary thought to imagine adding knockout power to Machida's already ridiculous skill set. If I was cornering any of his opponents, my advice would be to show up to the fight with a machine gun.

Dana White explains Rampage-Jardine-Evans

Wonder why Rampage Jackson is fighting Keith Jardine instead of jumping straight into a title match against Rashad Evans as many had expected? Dana White explains the whole situation in an interview with FanHouse:

When do you think we'll see Lyoto Machida again and who might his opponent be? That's a good question. That's going to depend on how the light heavyweight fights shake out in the next couple of fights. Obviously, Keith Jardine and Rampage Jackson are fighting (at UFC 96). Rampage is next in line for a title shot.

Assuming he beats Jarinde?
Yeah, Rampage was supposed to fight Rashad Evans, and Rashad wasn't ready to fight. Rashad was just coming off the Forrest Griffin fight, he was all beat up, he wanted to take some time off, so Rampage said f**k it, I want to fight anyway. Give me another fight.

Rampage wants to keep fighting and stay active, which I love. I love guys like that. That's the way Chuck Liddell was, too. Chuck didn't want to wait for anything, he just wanted to keep fighting. People respect that. I think that's why Chuck became so big.

So Lyoto is in that top tier but we'll have to see how the other fights shake out before we'll know who he's going to fight next?
Yes.

I don't see why Rampage Jackson or Keith Jardine should get a shot at Rashad Evans before Lyoto Machida. At this rate I suspect he'll finally get a shot at the light heavyweight title when he's somewhere in his 80's.

UFC 94 Picks: Thiago Silva vs. Lyoto Machida

Thiago Silva
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 205 lbs.
Age: 26
Record: 13-0

You've seen all the UFC video promos right? The one where Joe Rogan says Thiago Silva "is a straight up murderer"? Yeah, well that basically sums it up. Thiago Silva is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blackbelt who knocks people out. He's super aggressive and we still haven't really seen what he has to offer on the ground (though on paper he's got the advantage). Unfortunately, his aggressive style plays directly into Lyoto Machida's counter-striking style. If he can manage to actually engage Machida he'll have a chance, but nobody has been able to do it yet and I doubt Thiago Silva will either.

Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 205 lbs.
Age: 26
Record: 13-0

Lyoto Machida is the next step in MMA. Most fighters (Thiago Silva included) are content to just jump into the fray and exchange blows. Lyoto Machida, on the other hand, has come to the conclusion that getting hit sucks. So, well, he doesn't. What many consider boring is a tactical display of precision striking and damage avoidance. He forces you to play his game and that's exactly what he'll do to Thiago Silva.

THE BOTTOM LINE
You just can't bet against Lyoto Machida. He picks opponents apart and makes them look like a fool doing so. If he can manage to avoid Thiago Silva's initial onslaught, he'll end up controlling the fight and win another decisive decision. You know, assuming Thiago Silva doesn't bring a knife to the fight and actually start murdering people.