Lyoto Machida: First impressions??

[Blayt7hh]

This fight was my first impression of Machida, and honestly my interest was in Sokoudjou, early twenties had finished Arona and one of the Nog bros. Another beast, possibly the original, from Camaroon.

The African Assasin, least we not forget

However Machida was also touted as a fukin ninja that couldn't be hit. Very compelling fight. The finish of that fight and Lyotos raw unrehearsed reaction in victory, in that moment, how could you not be a fan?

My favorite Machida KO

View attachment 977781
By a country mile

Awesome Goldberg commentary @ 08:23
" ...you almost want to watch Sokoudjou...and soak it in. "

And @ 8:27
Golberg: " ...catches a quick jab"
Joe: " That was a straight left "
Golberg: " Yea it was, pardon me "
View attachment 977780

Machida bless

The Soko fight was the first one where I really took note too. I know I had seen the BJ and Rich fights, and definitely saw his UFC fights prior to that but I really didn’t know him that well.

In hindsight, the UFC really fucked op handling Soko. You could see in the Machida fight he was way too green to be in there. He should have been on the undercard fighting some other newcomer. He might have had a much different career if the UFC had built him up.

 

[2fast2see]

The first "Bruce Lee" of MMA.

Made Karate legit inside the octagon.

 

[VAfan]

my impression was that if they are going to name an 'Era' after you, it should last more than one fight.

 

[Deleted member 498977]

The first "Bruce Lee" of MMA.

Made Karate legit inside the octagon.

Bruce Lee didn't like karate.

He tried to beat karatekas and prove chinese kung fu to be superior.

 

[Bullitt68]

Never really liked him and was never very impressed by him. He lost to Shogun twice as far as I'm concerned, lost to a lesser version of Rampage (the Rampage of a few years prior would've cleaned his clock), beat old versions of Couture, Henderson, and Belfort (all of whom in their younger years would've beaten him IMO), and almost got submitted by Tito Ortiz. He had the element of surprise on his side in the sense that a lot of people were flustered by his style, but his only genuinely impressive victories were his wins over Rich Franklin (a rematch that I would've loved to have seen around 2008) and Rashad Evans (who I also never found that impressive).

Apologies for raining on anyone's parade. I'd be happy to buy a round for the Machida fans

 

[Chomsky Honk]

I remember me and my buddy going crazy when he KO'd Rashad, but then when he robbed Shogun I started to root against him and his fanbase. I think he's awesome though and his fight with Weidman is so underrated.

 

[Deleted member 498977]

Never really liked him and was never very impressed by him. He lost to Shogun twice as far as I'm concerned, lost to a lesser version of Rampage (the Rampage of a few years prior would've cleaned his clock), beat old versions of Couture, Henderson, and Belfort (all of whom in their younger years would've beaten him IMO), and almost got submitted by Tito Ortiz. He had the element of surprise on his side in the sense that a lot of people were flustered by his style, but his only genuinely impressive victories were his wins over Rich Franklin (a rematch that I would've loved to have seen around 2008) and Rashad Evans (who I also never found that impressive).

Apologies for raining on anyone's parade. I'd be happy to buy a round for the Machida fans

He did beat Rampage, troll, go rewatch the fight.

Prime Soko, undefeated Thiago Silva , Rashad, Munoz were all top wins.

He would have beaten Franklin in rematch and i am sure.

P.S. Hating on the original secret juice ... you no hespekt nuthin ?

 

[mjfan23]

I was a fan through his Japan days. The Penn fight and ace fights aged very well pre his ufc debut

 

[HHJ]

The Soko fight was the first one where I really took note too. I know I had seen the BJ and Rich fights, and definitely saw his UFC fights prior to that but I really didn’t know him that well.

In hindsight, the UFC really fucked op handling Soko. You could see in the Machida fight he was way too green to be in there. He should have been on the undercard fighting some other newcomer. He might have had a much different career if the UFC had built him up.

THats what they wanted. They wanted pride guys to lose to their guys. When Machida beat Nakamura,Joe Silva,the fuckin matchmaker,was caught saying "this aint japan" which he got some flack for.

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

I was very new to MMA when I saw Machida, I’d seen the early UFCs and was convinced karate didn’t work, of course Machida had other skills to go along with it. Big fan of this dude, great fighter.

 

[Bullitt68]

He did beat Rampage, troll, go rewatch the fight.

Prime Soko, undefeated Thiago Silva , Rashad, Munoz were all top wins.

He would have beaten Franklin in rematch and i am sure.

P.S. Hating on the original secret juice ... you no hespekt nuthin ?

The 2016 join date calling the 2006 mod a troll is asking about hespekt?



Anyway, I said my piece. I'm not here to shit on the guy---or piss on him. Just wasn't a fan. But I really wish that he would've fought Franklin a second time. Their first fight is one of Machida's best performances, he was very aggressive with his kicks and punches, initiated a TD, he was just all over Franklin from the first bell. But a few years later, with Rich having been a champ and knowing what to expect with Machida's Karate style, I think that it would've played out differently and could've been a real barn burner.

 

[Bos Docken]

Lyoto knocking out future Bellator champ Ryan Bader in their first fight wasn't impressive?

 

[Nathan LaMontagne]

First fight of his I watched was his Franklin fight.

I think Franklin was something like 18-0 at the time too.

We all called him that Ryoto guy back then

 

[P4p Islam]

It took a while for most of the MMA fans to warm up to the guy's unique style,but I was a fan from day 1. His run to the title had guys lookin absolutley ridiculous,and his style was effective long after he lost the title.

What was your first impressions of him and what are your favorite matches/ko's of his?

I always thought the ufc tried their hardest to not give him attention because he absolutely waxed the TUF runner-up, and the MW champion and had a win over the (at the time) pride and joy of the UFC BJ Penn. They kind of had to sign him because he was a massive enigma that was undefeated.

 

[IBeLurkin]

It took a while for most of the MMA fans to warm up to the guy's unique style,but I was a fan from day 1. His run to the title had guys lookin absolutley ridiculous,and his style was effective long after he lost the title.

What was your first impressions of him and what are your favorite matches/ko's of his?

I remember being very skeptical, and interested in seeing how it played out.

I believe they introduced him as a karate/sumo fighter who was also trained in BJJ. Seemed like an odd gimmick, and his stance combined with his elusive style made me think he was just that. But after a couple wins, he has to be taken seriously.

His fight against Tito is what opened my eyes, along with many others. Lyoto showed he could effortlessly outpoint this guy for two rounds, and then bullrushed Tito until Tito was on his back. Sure, Tito pulled off a helluva sub attempt with that triangle, but it was obvious that Lyoto could win however he wanted.

First impression: decent point fighter with a karate gimmick

Few fights later: badass fighter

 

[Bos Docken]

I always thought the ufc tried their hardest to not give him attention because he absolutely waxed the TUF runner-up, and the MW champion and had a win over the (at the time) pride and joy of the UFC BJ Penn. They kind of had to sign him because he was a massive enigma that was undefeated.

"Had to sign him" Huh? UFC has never been a meritocracy, they have always signed whoever they thought they could profit from

Lyoto had 25+ fights in the UFC, more than any other organization in his career

 

[Donnybat]

I liked his KO over Rashad Evans for the belt

Oh yeah! The start of the Machida era…..

tbh, was a good ko

 

[Bork Neslar]

"This guy's so boring".

 

[HHJ]

I always thought the ufc tried their hardest to not give him attention because he absolutely waxed the TUF runner-up, and the MW champion and had a win over the (at the time) pride and joy of the UFC BJ Penn. They kind of had to sign him because he was a massive enigma that was undefeated.

I actually think they wanted him. He was a unique character and they knew that they could market him.

A throwback traditional martial artist,and half Japanese to boot!

 

[P4p Islam]

"Had to sign him" Huh? UFC has never been a meritocracy, they have always signed whoever they thought they could profit from

Lyoto had 25+ fights in the UFC, more than any other organization in his career

Did you watch mma in the 2000s?


There was at least 1 "who is ryoto machida" thread on sherdog every day for about 5 years.