Stefano Posted November 21, 2010 Report Share Posted November 21, 2010 Kudos to Dana and Machida mgr Ed Soares. The rapid rise to UFC title holder of Machida is not as much about the superiority of karate, but shrewd management and fight scheduling. The trick is to get the guy to the top before the rest can fully re-train to meet the challenge of the unorthodox style. But was Dana's real motive to get Machida into a grudge match by proxy with Dana's past enemy Tito Ortz? What better way to humiliate Ortiz than to have Machida beat him then go quickly to title shot. Coincidence or Conspiracy? You be the Judge. (Use the 10 point must sytem LOL) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfressa Posted November 21, 2010 Report Share Posted November 21, 2010 Being unbeatable, looking unbeatable, and KTFO of Thiago Silva seemed a good reason to me to give him the Sitle Thot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCFMRE Posted November 21, 2010 Report Share Posted November 21, 2010 Machida definitely deserved his first title shot and proved it by knocking Rashad out cold. Rashad was undefeated at that point. The problem with Machida's fighting style is that it doesn't lend itself to winning decisions. When you are evading the other fighter much of the time you are giving up aggression and octagon control. He proved that when he does counter with a combo that he is still effective by what he did to Rampage in the third round. He just should have committed to countering in the first two rounds instead of waiting until the third. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichimoku22 Posted November 22, 2010 Report Share Posted November 22, 2010 Honestly, I think Machida was planning on finishing the fight in the 3rd. When he's going for the mount you se him look at the clock and realize that there's not much time left. Could be that he was just gun shy after getting his face smashed, but I think he was just trying to slow down and gas Rampage a bit, get him over commit to a shot then end it. I'd need to watch it again to back anything up, its just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
towhatend Posted November 22, 2010 Report Share Posted November 22, 2010 Being unbeatable' date=' looking unbeatable, and KTFO of Thiago Silva seemed a good reason to me to give him the Sitle Thot[/quote'] This. Don't forget he choked out Sokojoke before he was an actual joke prior to the Ortiz fight. Honestly, as soon as Machida lost that aura of invincibility he was in trouble. A lot of the good guys have fallen and fallen hard - Evans, GSP. The two of them had their wrestling to help pick them up. They are more versatile fighters. Machida lived off of not being hit, and now that he has been I'm just not sure what's next for him. He's clearly still one of the best in the world. I'd like to see him fight the winner of Franklin vs. Griffin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoomPatrol Posted November 22, 2010 Report Share Posted November 22, 2010 Honestly' date=' I think Machida was planning on finishing the fight in the 3rd. When he's going for the mount you se him look at the clock and realize that there's not much time left. Could be that he was just gun shy after getting his face smashed, but I think he was just trying to slow down and gas Rampage a bit, get him over commit to a shot then end it. I'd need to watch it again to back anything up, its just my 2 cents.[/quote'] I thought it was a weird decision to go for that armbar when Machida was in full mount. Maybe he thought he had a better chance of ending the fight with a sub than strikes. His strategy probably was to tire Rampage out, then strike, but Rampage didn?t gas or overcommit which ruined his gameplan. Why oh why did Rampage get his s*** together for this fight and not the Evans one? Who would have thought Rampage won by decision? Anyway, Machida needs to start using a more aggressive gameplan from now on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenColbert Posted November 22, 2010 Report Share Posted November 22, 2010 yes, kudos.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epilogue1406051983 Posted November 22, 2010 Report Share Posted November 22, 2010 honestly I just think this is one more thing Machida has to work on... many people were saying how he reacted to his KO loss to Shogun would likely have an impact on Machida's fight with Rampage and it did... I really think Machida respected Rampage's power too much and was trying too hard to keep distance between him and Rampage... he's also a guy that likes to pick and choose shots and isn't interested in striking for the stake of striking... if there isn't much action being pressed he'll shoot in for a combo and jump out, but we didn't see any of that... by the third round he didn't have anything to lose so that's when we got to see the Machida that we all know and love... unfortunately he didn't finish and it was too little too late for the judges... oh well... still a Machida fan looking forward to his next fight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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