The Lowdown 04.25.09: Lyoto Machida

Posted by Frank Fedele on 04.25.2009

At the Lowdown we are going to preview some fighters from upcoming pay per views. The first fighter under the microscope is Brazilian Lyoto Machida who will be fighting Rashad Evans for the UFC lightweight crown in UFC 98 on May 23rd.

Background

Lyota Machida, born in 1978, is one of the few karate stylists in the UFC at this time. Machida has managed to take pieces of Karate and meld them into an effective offense within the octagon. He uses movement and striking to baffle his opponent and inflict punishment. He has his black belt in Shotokan Karate under his father. He has also trained in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to firm up his ground game.

He began his MMA career in Japan fighting for Antonio Inoki's MMA federation. He came to the states after that federation folded, fighting in the World Fighting Alliance. He caught the attention of the UFC with his fight with Vernon White there and signed with them in 2007.


Machida heading to the ring

Previous Fights

One of the knocks on Machida is he fights a counterpunching style with constant movement in and out. He consciously attempts to avoid punishments working in and out of range to strike his opponents. This style tends to not lead toward spectacular knockouts and submissions as he accumulates points for a decision. His first three fights were all won by decision, which led some to say that he couldn't finish a fight.

His next bout with Ramy Sokoudjou changed that thinking. He submitted Sokoudjou in the 3rd round with a triangle choke.


Machida on top of Sokoudjou working for the choke

Machida's next opponent was a fading Tito Ortiz, who he frustrated for three rounds again picking up a decision. Ortiz was furious with Machida's tactics, but could not figure out a way to inflict any damage on the fighter. That is the point of all this Tito, to hurt the other guy. That he was smart enough to avoid you and still pepper you with strikes just proves he is smarter than you, which truthfully isn't hard.


Lyoto Machida on the offense against Tito Ortiz

Machida then got the knockout he sorely needed in his next fight against Thiago Silva in the 1st round. This moved him up to number one contender status against new champion Rashad Evans.

Final Thoughts

Machida will be an interesting match up for Evans and his wrestling and boxing skills. If Evans can figure out the puzzle of Machida's defense, he can hurt him which would be a first for Machida's opponents. It also may hurt Machida that this fight will go five rounds rather than three, so he will have to work his defensive magic an additional two rounds. We will have to wait until UFC 98 on the 23rd of May to find out.

That is all for this week, please come back next week where we will get the lowdown on another MMA fighter. Please take the time to bookmark 411mania.com. One quick step and all the news you need is but a click away.