I’m a huge Lyoto Machida mark. I love everything about this century’s version of Bruce Lee. He was just about unstoppable. There was no reason to believe that an overagressive fighter like Shogun Rua was going to be able to avoid five rounds of lightning quick counters.
Until the fight started. Instead of the old Shogun that everyone wanted back, we got a brand new Shogun. One that couldn’t possibly have existed just a couple of years ago. Instead of seeing the explosiveness of old used to finish an opponent based solely on physical skills, We saw a brilliant game plan. Machida’s most important ability is his elusiveness. How do you take that away? By taking away his legs of course! How had we not thought of this?
I also believe that the hype got to Lyoto. He has already admitted that he had to leave Belem, where his gym is, and train on his family farm because all the people that wanted a piece of him were becoming a serious distraction. He looked gassed, and while the leg kicks were a part of it, I think that his training was not where he wanted it to be.
When you combine...
