Lyoto Machida: First impressions??

[Adamant]

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?

Me too. I was one of the biggest Machida fans during his journey to the title. I wish he had gotten the shot sooner than he did but it's whatever. Then after he won, it all went downhill.

Way back in the day, Liddell vs Machida was the fight I wanted more than any other at LHW but it never happened.

 

[nintey]

I had just started watching MMA and my first time seeing him was the rematch with Shogun. People were telling me he should have lost the first fight so I was excited Shogun won. But he grew on me after that, but I never saw him as an scary unbeatable fighter.

 

[kalabula]

Took a while for me to warm up to him but I hopped on the train around the Tito fight. That was an awesome display and memorable last minute drama.

Tito almost tapped him.

 

[Blayt7hh]

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.

Which is stupid since most of Machidas fights were in Japan at that point. Way to ruin a prospect because you were butthurt about your rivalry with Pride still, Joe Silva.

I’ll share a Machida story from the old days of Sherdog that maybe no one else on here knows anymore. There used to be a very active poster on here who was a big Machida fanboy, a bit of the the old ultra violence was his name and he had a clockwork orange avatar.

There was a lot of heated debates and rivalries after the controversial decision from the first Machida/Shogun fight. He ended up making a bet with another poster for the rematch where the loser would have to drink their own piss on camera. He went through with it and made a thread where he linked to his webcam, pissed in a cup and drank it.

 

[HHJ]

Which is stupid since most of Machidas fights were in Japan at that point. Way to ruin a prospect because you were butthurt about your rivalry with Pride still, Joe Silva.

I’ll share a Machida story from the old days of Sherdog that maybe no one else on here knows anymore. There used to be a very active poster on here who was a big Machida fanboy, a bit of the the old ultra violence was his name and he had a clockwork orange avatar.

There was a lot of heated debates and rivalries after the controversial decision from the first Machida/Shogun fight. He ended up making a bet with another poster for the rematch where the loser would have to drink their own piss on camera. He went through with it and made a thread where he linked to his webcam, pissed in a cup and drank it.

He was probably used to it by then ahahah

 

[HHJ]

Me too. I was one of the biggest Machida fans during his journey to the title. I wish he had gotten the shot sooner than he did but it's whatever. Then after he won, it all went downhill.

Way back in the day, Liddell vs Machida was the fight I wanted more than any other at LHW but it never happened.

Hackleman said they wouldn't take that fight. "Hes all wrong for us,chuck"

 

[Shilajit]

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

Edit to add my favorite Machida KO is obviously Rashad, I inserted that into my post in the wrong place @HHJ. African Assasin wqs yoked out in that fights finality, and he blacked out before he tapped out like a fukin warrior.

Sokoudjou could've been so good.

He was explosive AF. His hands and speed had the potential to be dangerous. Very solid kicks, excellent judo and very difficult to take down..

But be just never improved. Never got with a good boxing coach, never really trained jiu jitsu.

His career is one of the strangest ever, given how much potential he had.

 

[the ambush]

Which is stupid since most of Machidas fights were in Japan at that point. Way to ruin a prospect because you were butthurt about your rivalry with Pride still, Joe Silva.

I’ll share a Machida story from the old days of Sherdog that maybe no one else on here knows anymore. There used to be a very active poster on here who was a big Machida fanboy, a bit of the the old ultra violence was his name and he had a clockwork orange avatar.

There was a lot of heated debates and rivalries after the controversial decision from the first Machida/Shogun fight. He ended up making a bet with another poster for the rematch where the loser would have to drink their own piss on camera. He went through with it and made a thread where he linked to his webcam, pissed in a cup and drank it.

To be objective I am okay with there being one or two of those Machida fanboys around. I felt while Machida did attain a high level success in the UFC as an organization they did not do him any favors in regards to favorable match-ups. People will always say Machida clearly lost the first fight to Shogun yet will never give him any slack for the Rampage or Davis fights, while also close

 

[Gotosleepho]

He was a great fighter. I loved his karate stance, footwork, elusiveness, and crazy knockouts. One of my favorites ever.

 

[Brom Bones]

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?

Please clarify. Are you talking about Ryoto Machida???

 

[Sparkie]

He taught me a valuable lesson: Either urine, or you're out.

a cup of piss a day, keeps the doctor away

 

[the ambush]

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

Tito almost tapped him.

The Ortiz submission attempt on Machida was a difficult one to judge. On one hand I think Ortiz simply surprised him and it was a hail mary try. Almost like the Herring head kick on Big Nog, so close

 

[ventrue]

Total badass. We were all pissed on the forums how long it took for him to get a Title shot. When he got the belt, it was one of my fav. MMA moments.

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

The year of the dragon

 

[Squish II]

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

I feel similarly about Mousasi. Always felt like he got by on physical gifts, and choked in the big fights. You say you would buy a round for Machida fans, but it would definitely be homemade

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

loved seeing his style work on the "big" stage of the UFC at that time. the movements, the precision, the speed, the counters, everything was fluid and beautiful. very cool to see a man called lyoto machida rise through the highest ranks with his un-MMA style at that time, and make it work at the highest levels. I knew he was legit with wins over franklin and penn at that time. to see him work in the UFC was fucking awesome. the machida era was a great era. i remember downloading some instructionals by him at that time, wish i still had them somewhere. the dude understood movement, distance, angles, and made his style work. fucking badass and he doesn't get enough respect for sure.

 

[MMonk]

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.

I am on Sherdog since 2004, a respectable old school fan, so don't you big brother me, mod troll.
You are showing no hespect to a legend in Ryoto, just like Piss Ping to Anderson, you should be spanked for that.

Franklin was a smart fighter, but no near level of Silva and Machida talent.
His rematch with Silva didn't play out better, lol.
So i see no eveidence of him doing better in rematch with Machida

 

[chaos_36]

Honestly I didn't get it at first. He seemed like a boring ass, no power point fighter. When he did that beautfiul trip into a follow up diving right hand right on the buzzer in round one to knock out Thiago Silva I was impressed though. It took me a while but I eventually warmed up to him, the Bader, Couture and Vitor KO's were all badass.

 

[cade187]

He had a mysticism around him from the beginning with wins over Franklin and Penn, and Inoki blessing him. I was a big fan from the beginning.

 

[the ambush]

I feel similarly about Mousasi. Always felt like he got by on physical gifts, and choked in the big fights. You say you would buy a round for Machida fans, but it would definitely be homemade

Machida's fine under the pressure of big fights and it was not a hinderance. By the time he was UFC champion he was already in his 30's. The going on a 6 fight UFC win streak before the title match did not actually help matters. To cap the 6 fight win streak he beat Franklin before that too

He earned what he accomplished.