Machida in his prime vs current LHW division

[guard_passer]

machida was out of his prime against weidman. he was just that good.

gonna have to disagree machida looked amazing at 185 vs the Chris, he was still in his prime.

his chin has always been suspect

 

[BuddyGuy]

I think he'd beat Gustafson, DC would be interesting but I think DC would have trouble getting a hold of Machida and could see him getting frustrated later in the fight. Don't see Machida finishing DC, but I think he'd take a close decision. Rumble.. I think he clips Machida at some point in the fight and finishes him, especially if Shogun could because I firmly believe Rumble in his form right now is the most dangerous striker LHW has ever seen. Fast, Knockout power and very accurate, don't think any lhw today or yesteryears "prime" athletes like Shogun could stand and bang with rumble and not get KO'd. I don't think I've seen rumble even really get rocked let alone dropped his whole career.

I am pretty sure Vitor dropped him before choking him out but he had a failed weight cut to 185 in that fight so dehydration may have played with his ability to take a shot. That said I agree rumble could crack anyone out at lhw with his aggression, power and fluidity.

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

gonna have to disagree machida looked amazing at 185 vs the Chris, he was still in his prime.

his chin has always been suspect

I don't think thats fair to say his chin is suspect. HE took some big shots from shogun and the chris and kept on going. He just didnt have a lunch box chin like shogun or anderson.

 

[felmmando]

Jones I think would always be a problem for him due to the reach disadvantage, maybe somewhat better chance vs todays more passive Jones although I think he'd need a KO to win.

I thought he neutralised Jones' reach quite ably in the first round of their fight. I think he lost for other reasons, such as lying there passively when Jones took him down.

 

[fandangler101]

I'm pissed he didn't always fight a MW.

He was really undersized at LHW. Still awesome that he managed to win the title without cutting weight.

 

[GrAtI]

I haven't seen the fight in a while so I can't really argue with you. But I still very vividly remember feeling like Machida was off and just slow. Not regular Machida, the Machida that smashed Gegard Mousasi and Mark Munoz.

That was PED Machida

and this is clean Machida (post USADA) in USA.

 

[moreorless87]

As far as Rumble goes he is obviously very dangerous BUT I do think circumstance has helped him somewhat. In the case of Gus and Glover I think you were dealing with two fighters who have benefited from there being a lack of really dangerous power at LHW, both have IMHO rather questionable defence and have lived on there chins a lot. Likewise Bader and Davis have benefited from a lot of the division being on the decline and/or easy to take down.

A fight with Machida would be rather different to what we've seen from him recently, a much harder to hit opponent capable of playing a game on the counter.

 

[guiza]

Not to take anything at all away from Machida in his accomplishments and what he did for MMA. But the current high level light hevyweight division (Cormier, Bones, Rumble and Gustafsson) is a much higher caliber division than that of 2007-2009. Obviously MMA evolved since that time, fighters, training etc. But I don't think Machida would be champion

 

[trident]

DC would smother him
Rumble could catch him or get caught
Gus could very well overwhelm him
He'd prob take glover and def take Manuwa

 

[ReasonableMMAFan]

That was PED Machida

and this is clean Machida (post USADA) in USA.

Old age and different weight cuts + camera angles.

 

[ReasonableMMAFan]

Shogun has already beaten a prime machida...All those guys would beat machida...he is vastly over rated...

All of them? overrated? Do you even know who Machida is?

 

[MMAandBOXINGfan]

machida would have always been dangerous for any one. no matter who he fought anyone he would have given problems to. that i think if nothing else that is one thing perhaps everyone can agree on. machida maybe more so than any other fighter ever, at least my opinion, would have given ANYONE fits.

 

[josh345]

"Prime" Machida had trouble with a worn out Rampage. He loses to all of them.

Well that was gun shy Machida fresh after being KOd by shogun. I still
think Machida won that shit though. Round 1 was close but he landed the better quality strikes. All rampage did was come forward and land a few body shots against the cage when they were clinched up

 

[Mattitude V1]

Beats Rumble, Gustaffson, Manuwa, Glover. Loses to Jones. DC is interesting. I'm not sure about DC. You can't use hindsight with this. You have to look at it in the moment.

For example: Before Shogun, there was no formula for Machida. So if all of these guys were going in cold against Machida, the way Rashad was, they all could have wound up getting stopped.

The second Machida started to compete at the elite level, he had immediate problems with the top guys. He'd probably lose to Gus, Jones, DC and Rumble for sure.

 

[Mattitude V1]

Well that was gun shy Machida fresh after being KOd by shogun. I still
think Machida won that shit though. Round 1 was close but he landed the better quality strikes. All rampage did was come forward and land a few body shots against the cage when they were clinched up

Almost no one did anything the first two rounds. This is what I'm talking about with Machida fighting top guys and having issues. People were just obsessed with Machida hardcore after the Rashad/Welcome to the Machida era stuff.

Then he settled into being a quality guy, but not the best.

 

[moreorless87]

gonna have to disagree machida looked amazing at 185 vs the Chris, he was still in his prime.

his chin has always been suspect

His chin looked fine in that fight though and he did hold on vs someone with a good top game on the ground.

Gus to me is isn't as good a striker as is often claimed, I think his main success has actually been built on a good output combined with excellent takedown defence. He wa slosing the standup to a post prime Shogun for example and needed to take him down to turn the fight.

 

[BBMN]

DC is a nightmare for Machida

 

[Captain Herb]

I'm pissed he didn't always fight a MW.

Machida was better as a LHW. The extra weight and strength helped him stuff takedowns and he usually had a considerable speed advantage. Not so much at MW.

 

[LordMayorMuffSniff]

The second Machida started to compete at the elite level, he had immediate problems with the top guys. He'd probably lose to Gus, Jones, DC and Rumble for sure.

Probably lose for sure? He did lose for sure against Jon.

Rumble has always been a cut below the best. Vitor turned him into a panic wrestler.

The best win on Gustaffsons record is an underwhelming win vs a shot Shogun.

DC is a tough fight, but he's slow, he does gas, and Machida always had solid TDD at LHW. That's not a gimme for DC.

Sherdog always shifts towards newer is always better. It's not the case.

 

[Xtal]

I think Machida actually provides some serious stylistic problems for DC. I don't think he's a better overall fighter, but that matchup would favor him IMO.