The Sunday Sprawl 5.11.08: Volume 1 - Breaking Down Tito Ortiz Vs. Lyoto Machida

Posted by Alex Mattis on 05.11.2008

For this 1st edition of The Sunday Sprawl we'll take an in-depth look at the upcoming showdown between Tito Ortiz and Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida!

Hello everyone and welcome to the first edition of "The Sunday Sprawl." My name is Alex Mattis, some of you may know me from my work in the wrestling section here on 411, and I'm here to add something new to the MMA section. Hopefully y'all will enjoy what I have to bring to the table, and will be coming back each week for more. For this 1st edition I'm going to take a look at one the UFC's upcoming fights. Tito Ortiz Vs. Lyoto Machida. This could be seen as a clash of past vs. present, a big return for Tito Ortiz, Lyoto Machida's next win on his way to the top, whatever the case this is the most important fight of both men's careers.



Love 'em or hate 'em, I tend to do the latter; Tito "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz is one of the most recognizable mixed martial artists of all time. He dominated the light heavyweight division for quite some time, and sat atop the MMA ladder for awhile as one of the best in the world. His fights have always brought excitement and tons of attention. I've always felt his war with Frank Shamrock is right up there with Royce-Sakuraba as one of the greatest MMA fights in history. He's always been great at stirring the pot and hyping things us. His fights with Ken Shamrock were gimmie fights, but Tito helped hype the shit out of them and made them seem big. His fights with Chuck Liddell speak for themselves in terms of the numbers they did. Last I read UFC 66: Liddell Vs. Ortiz 2 is still the most bought UFC PPV ever. Tito has always made the show bigger and helped bring the flash. The problem is that his fighting hasn't kept up with it. Like I said earlier, he dominated for quite some time. He was the feared guy at the top of the ladder, and beat anyone that challenged him. Then he lost the light heavyweight title to Randy Couture and it doesn't seem that his career has gotten back on the same track as before.

Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida has taken the MMA world by storm and looks to be the future king of the light heavyweights. Just by looking at the list of men he has battled with it is easy to see that Machida has been in there with the best. It's that much more impressive that he is undefeated. He has knocked out Rich Franklin, he submitted world famous kick boxer Michael McDonald, and he has victories over top name fighters like Stephan Bonnar, BJ Penn, Kazuhiro Nakamura, and most recently Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. He has had no easy fights on his quest to the top, but this upcoming bout with Tito will without question be his biggest test, and the biggest fight of his career. Some may think his style of fighting is not at all exciting, but I find him so interesting to watch. He is constantly setting things up and can frustrate and confuse the shit out of people to the point where they have no idea what to do and just give up. Just look at his fight with Sokoudjou. He would frustrate the likes of Chuck Liddell, Keith Jardine, Wanderlei Silva, and possibly even the champ Rampage to the point where he could win the fight. He has the tools to hold the gold, but those tools aren't very useful if you're on your back taking elbows to the face. So I'm very interested to see what kind of a game plan he brings to this fight with Tito.

So after looking at the career of both men heading into this fight, we have to look at the question of "what does the winner get?" In my opinion a win over Tito would push Machida to the #3 or 4 spot in the light heavyweight division. He has proven that he has a style all his own and that he has what it takes to succeed in the light heavyweight division, and a win over a legend like Tito Ortiz would cement his spot and show that he is a serious threat. However, a loss could be devastating to Lyoto's hot streak and could let any and all haters argue that Machida was exposed and that he never was really tested. Machida has everything to gain but a lot to lose in this fight. The point is, however, that he could recover from a loss. A loss to Tito Ortiz isn't anything to be ashamed of, and Machida is still in the "up and coming" category. So, he could recover. Tito, on the other hand, cannot even think about losing here. Tito has fallen way down since his days of dominance. In recent memory he has won a very close decision against Forrest Griffin, where many thought Forrest won, he has destroyed Ken Shamrock twice which doesn't really count for much, he lost to Chuck Liddell, and fought to a draw with Rashad Evans. It has been a less than impressive streak for Tito and a loss here may be a blow that he won't be able to recover from. Tito has to win here. It's known that this is his last contractual fight with the UFC, and that he most likely won't resign with Dana & Co. following this fight. So he surely wants to look impressive here for the sake of any of his future endeavors. I'm sure he'll have no problem finding work outside of the UFC but the flare and appeal of Tito may be lost if he loses this fight, and his stock with the fans could plummet greatly. It is factors like these that add up and give us and intriguing, exciting fight.

So who takes this fight? Tito Ortiz can present problems for anyone he can take down. Tito can do so much damage to people when he is on top. The unique thing about Tito is the fact that he doesn't have to be in a full mount to do some serious ground and pound, he can just lay in your guard and beat the hell out of you. That's if he is able to get you down of course, and he may have a hard time doing that with Machida. Tito stated that he feels his stand up is better than Machida's, Tito has never really had much luck standing and bangin' it out with people and if he wants to stand and trade with Lyoto I think he is going to have a really hard time doing much damage. Lyoto Machida has looked great in all areas, and has looked like he can finish a fight wherever he wants. I don't think we can expect a quick flashy finish here, I think this one is more than likely going the distance. I could see this fight going a lot like Tito-Forrest, with Tito looking great a first but Machida adjusts and turns things around. Machida may just frustrate the hell out of Tito in the 2nd round then go on to steal the 3rd round. I can see Machida taking this one with a 29-28 unanimous decision victory. Whatever the case, this fight will have many people tuned in and anxious to see what happens. This should be a very exciting fight for true MMA fans, those just wanting a slugfest may need to look elsewhere. But whichever way this fight goes, there definitely will be an impact on the division. Tito is either back, or Machida is the next big threat for the title.

Well that's all for this first edition. Be sure to leave whatever feedback you'd like, leave any ideas you have, just anything you've got. Hope y'all have enjoyed and hope to see you back here next week.

Take care,
-Alex