Machida has to KO Weidman if he wants to win.

[reflecttcelfer]

I sometimes wonder if Sonnen would have got the nod if he had evaded the triangle from Silva.

You "sometimes" wonder?

Uh... sure.

Let me put your mind at ease, man. If Sonnen had avoided the triangle he would have been the new champ. Period. The only way the decision would have gone to Silva is if the judges had been Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, and Helen Kelller.

 

[Kgeorge]

couture vs tim sylvia,
forrest vs rampage

 

[bLikeWater]

Of the all the closely-contested championship bouts I can think of over the past few years (griffin/rampage, machida/shogun, edgar/penn1, edgar/bendo1, edgar/bendo2, and jones/gustafsson), half of those went in favor of the challenger. I question your premise.

PS I'm not counting gsp/hendricks here, that wasn't a close fight. The judging in that was so far off as to be considered abnormal, and not worthy of inclusion in these stats.

 

[GrindingANARCHY]

Machida via decision but a knock out is possible.

 

[JKG]

Well, that is just your opinion

 

[ADreNaLine-]

You "sometimes" wonder?

Uh... sure.

Let me put your mind at ease, man. If Sonnen had avoided the triangle he would have been the new champ. Period. The only way the decision would have gone to Silva is if the judges had been Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, and Helen Kelller.

not sure if selective memory, or just dense....
if Sonnen had avoided the triangle, he would've had his decision overturned due to elevated T:E ratio and a huge controversy/shitstorm would've ensued....

also, Sonnen doesn't avoid triangles..."period"

 

[TheHermit]

On the contrary, it is Weidman who has to KO Lyoto for him to keep his belt. Folks put it in many condescending ways but that "bike" Machida rides allows him to land strikes without receiving a lot in return. Arguably an un-fabulous way to earn Ws but it is by all counts an effective one. If The Dragon lands a lot of clean ones then he might just snag that belt. But that's us being pessimistic because Lyoto's gonna win that belt with a bang

 

[DysDave]

You "sometimes" wonder?

Uh... sure.

Let me put your mind at ease, man. If Sonnen had avoided the triangle he would have been the new champ. Period. The only way the decision would have gone to Silva is if the judges had been Cecil Peoples, Ray Charles, and Helen Kelller.

Fixed that for you. Even Stevie would have scored it for Chael. Top control doesn't help the fighter finish, we're looking for who's trying to finish the fight here.

 

[GoodStoppage]

Lyoto is most likely going to win a decision. EVERYONE underrates Lyoto's grappling skills. Don't be surprised if Machida takes Weidman down.

 

[TheRassler]

thinking of taking machida as the underdog, still waiting for it to go a bit higher to jump on it.

 

[minicooper99]

Lyoto is most likely going to win a decision. EVERYONE underrates Lyoto's grappling skills. Don't be surprised if Machida takes Weidman down.

???

 

[SoSoSmart]

Lyoto thrives against guys who will chase him. Chris will chase him if he loses his head during the fight. He admitted to doing so against Anderson, but I don't think Machida clowns to get him off his game. Lyoto has to make him stand and frustrate the hell out of him until he gets pissed and goes for broke. That's where Machida is most lethal.

I reiterate, this fight depends on Machida's TDD, because if Weidman can take it to the ground he will fall into his game plan. Machida has bad luck once guys get settled in and start working their game.

This. And the fact that Anderson counter punches one shot at a time. If a guy is wobbly he follows up. Machida counter punches with a blitz of punches and kicks. Two different styles. Does not look favorable for Weidman. And as far as a power edge goes, lets not forget Machida is the first person in the Octagon to have Rampage stumbling across the cage from a counter.

 

[BLAGA DARU**]

Weidman's cardio is questionable but as much as I want to see Machida win I wouldn't count Chris out. He has shown time and time again to be a very dangerous opponent.

 

[The Pharoah]

If Machida can trip him a few times he'll get the decision

 

[MachidaNo1Fan]

Machida only out points washed up has beens. New up and commers like Phil davis beat him handily in points. His only option is a flash knock down followed by strikes and an early ref stoppage.

lol..

 

[Lito Lapida]

Machida needs to play it safe like his fight against Davis. He'll lose but sure he can make an argument that he won by being elusive.

 

[Maryse]

If you dominate the Champ you'll get the Decision win, but retarded MMA judges refuse to give the challenger the nod if the Champ gets off at least one punch a round.

Machida only out points washed up has beens. New up and commers like Phil davis beat him handily in points. His only option is a flash knock down followed by strikes and an early ref stoppage.

Making it easy to spot the guy who has never even watched the fight he's talking about. Davis-Lyoto was as close and uneventful as a fight gets.

 

[Codpiece]

Machida only out points washed up has beens. New up and commers like Phil davis beat him handily in points. His only option is a flash knock down followed by strikes and an early ref stoppage.

Tsk, too obvious.

 

[Perrichet]

I agree, unless he actually is the aggressor for once in a fight but that will play into Weidman's hands.

Weidman will need to be focused and not get sloppy. Anderson couldn't make him pay for his sloppiness but Machida will IMO.

 

[Perrichet]

Lyoto is most likely going to win a decision. EVERYONE underrates Lyoto's grappling skills. Don't be surprised if Machida takes Weidman down.

His grappling skills are nothing special. He has no top control and he's not a threat of his back