Lyoto Machida officially removed from #1 contender spot

“When I make a fight, I don’t say a word until everything is signed. I did exactly what I never do. That big media call was the next day and Machida couldn’t be reached and his manager thought he’d take the fight,” “Before this happened he was terrorizing me for a title shot, and then he said four weeks wasn’t enough. But then things start going in another direction. It happened to Rashad Evans. He was out of a fight for a year and a half. Machida is not next in line now. He will need to go fight somebody else first.” -Dana White

In what should come as a surprise to no one, Dana White has gone back on his word once again and has taken away Lyoto Machida’s title shot.  Originally the title shot was promised to the winner of Shogun Rua vs  Brandon Vera, but that didn’t last long.  Dana changed it to whoever performs the best out of Shogun Rua vs Brandon Vera and Lyoto Machida vs Ryan Bader.  Well that winner was Lyoto Machida.

What is amazing about all of this is that Lyoto Machida is being punished for something that wasn’t even his fault.  UFC 151 being canceled has been blamed on everyone except the people really at fault, Dana White and his Zuffa crew.  These guys have been watering down the PPV cards for years and UFC 151 was so bad, that without Jon Jones and Dan Henderson carrying the card by themselves, there wasn’t even one fight on it anyone wanted to see.

If the UFC had been selling lots of tickets they wouldn’t have canceled, with or without Jones, but reports are that they had barely sold any tickets and the event was going to be a huge flop.  So as Dana does, he went on a smear campaign, against Jon Jones, Dan Henderson, Lyoto Machida and anyone else he could try and pass the blame on besides himself.  It is not the fighters fault that Zuffa tried to pass off a garbage card onto the viewers and it back fired on them.  Bashing all of the top guys at Light Heavy Weight isn’t going to help the situation.  I really wish these fighters would start standing up for themselves and realize that they are the ones with all of the power, but they give it to Zuffa all the time.

One good thing out of this is that we might be able to see Lyoto Machida vs Dan Henderson if Henderson heals from his injury in the next few months.  I think that would be a great fight.  I would rather Jon Jones just move up to heavyweight if he beats Vitor Belfort.  Jones is huge and walks around as big as most heavyweights and he has a longer reach.  It would give him a challenge and open up all kinds of new and exciting fights.

UFC on Fox 4: Shogun Rua vs Brandon Vera

Here we are, just one day away from UFC on Fox 4.  I already broke down the co-main event (which should have been the main event) between Machida and Bader here:  http://cinemakingdom.com/?p=182

Shogun Rua

Shogun is without a doubt one of the greatest LHWs of all time.  He is also very inconsistent lately.  Going only 4-4 in his last 8, he sometimes shows up looking like a killer who can outstrike anyone and at other times comes in out of shape, losing to guys he is far superior to.  Granted, most of those losses were after knee surgeries (he has blown out his ACL 3 times) where he had a long time off.  With all of his knee problems he is lucky to be fighting at all.

Since the knee problems Shogun has still shown off his fantastic striking skills a few times but it seems like whenever he has to go to the ground he tends to gas out fairly quickly.  I am guessing he probably can’t roll as well as he used to due to the injuries.  He also tends to fight down to his opponents level.  When he fights someone great like Machida (Shogun is still the only guy to ever outstrike Machida) he comes in with a great game plan and fights smart.  When he fights someone like Mark Coleman or Forrest Griffin he comes in and just fights sloppy and slugs it out.  He recently replaced his manager as well so who knows how he will show up.  If Shogun comes in top form expect this to be a short night, if he comes out sloppy, who knows.

Brandon Vera
What can I say about Brandon Vera?  He came on the scene and started destroying heavyweights in the UFC (his rise was very much like Jon Jones’ actually), including Frank Mir (which only took him 1 minute).  Then he had a contract dispute and had a long time off and has never been the same since he came back.  I don’t know what changed during that time off, but that killer he once was died somewhere along the way.  Vera then dropped to 205lbs.

Being a smaller heavyweight, if was argued he would be better at 205lbs but he has never looked spectacular there.  Some guys just perform worse when they cut weight, I think Vera is better at HW.  Going 4-3 (1 NC) at light heavyweight since his debut in 2008, he has never beat anyone of note really.  The thing is, he is a skilled stand up fighter and he has some pretty good takedowns as well.  He just never seems to be able to put it all together anymore.

Final Thoughts

Shogun should win this fight but if he shows up sloppy and out of shape and Vera shows up like he used to we could see an upset.  I think Vera should try to mix things up and go for some takedowns to keep Shogun guessing and try to tire him out.  If Shogun shows up as the killer he most of the time, I think he puts Vera away sometime in the first 2 rounds.  Shogun is capable of taking people down as well but in this case I don’t think he has to in order to win but mixing in some takedowns mixed with his brutal Ground & Pound wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

UFC on Fox 4: Lyoto Machida vs Ryan Bader

Alright guys, the UFC on Fox 4 is coming up this weekend.  Oddly enough, this card is way better than the last UFC PPV event, and it's free!  In the co-main event we have Lyoto Machida vs Ryan Bader.

Lyoto Machida

Lyoto Machida is coming in off of a loss against champ Jon Jones (which he looked fantastic in until the end) and hasn't fought in 8 months.  His inactivity isn't Machida's fault as he had been trying to get a big name fight, it's just everyone else was injured or tied up with another opponent already.  Machida is going through the toughest time of his career currently, going only 1-3 in his last 4, but all of his losses were to top 5 opponents and some of the greatest LHWs of all time.

It will be interesting to see how Machida performs after such a long layoff.  He is also getting older, turning 34 this past may.  Is Machida past his prime or has he just made a some mistakes in his last few fights that cost him?  We shall see.  I personally think he is still one of the best LHWs in the division and he tends to be a nightmare match up for wrestlers and brawlers.

Ryan Bader

Going 2-2 in his last 4, Bader is coming in off a win against Rampage Jackson.  This sounds pretty good as Rampage is one of the best LHWs ever, but he also came in with an injury and way over weight for the first time in his career.  It was pretty obviously this win was more about Rampage being out of shape than Bader being the superior fighter so it's hard to take much from it.  Bader is also the only win on Tito's record in the last 6 years (since Tito beat up Ken Shamrock a couple of times back in 06).

I've never been very impressed with Ryan Bader.  He is basically the typical MMA fighter these days, a big strong wrestler who wings right hands.  I'm not saying he is a terrible fighter, I just don't think he is that exceptional (for a top 10 LHW).  All he brings to the table is a double leg takedown (which is useless against southpaw Machida), lay & pray, and a big right hand.  I think he is sort of a poor man's Rashad Evans and we all saw how that fight against Machida turned out.

Final Thoughts

I think Machida (unless he just shows up totally off of his game or gets some fluke injury) is just a nightmare match up for Ryan Bader.  How the fight plays out just depends on if Machida is conservative in this fight or attempts to make a statement.  I think he can put Bader away quickly if he gets in there (like against Rampage in the 3rd round) but he may be content to avoid any risks and fight Bader similar to how he fought Tito. 

Machida/Bader also in the UFC Title Mix

“When the fans speak, we listen. Whoever scores the best win, whoever gets the fans excited... will get the winner of Jones-Henderson, it is down to what these four guys do Saturday night in the Octagon. Winning isn’t enough; they’ve got to win impressively. Any one of these four fighters can take things into their own hands and make a title shot happen.” - Dana White

Looks like the fan reaction to Dana White's statement that the winner of Shogun/Vera would be getting the next title shifted the plans of the UFC. Now whoever not only wins, but wins the most impressively gets the next shot.

In my opinion they should have this just be a 4 man mini tournament for the next title shot. Jon Jones has already beat and finished all four fighters who have a chance for the next shot and none of them have great records in their last few fights. Of course if Jones loses to Henderson that changes things a lot and opens up all kinds of possibilities.

Lyoto Machida's Signature Moves

Pretty cool video.  Machida is one of my favorite fighters.  I'm going to be doing a breakdown between Machida and Bader before their fight.