Karate Is Cool
posted by Ariel Helwani
In the immortal words of Stephen A. Smith, “Lyoto Machida is the truth.”
I honestly can’t imagine any scenario in which the UFC’s new light heavyweight champion drops the title in the next, oh, 18-24 months. Suddenly, I have a hell of lot more respect for the sport of mixed martial arts and its fighters to think that one man can’t lose on any given night, but that’s just my gut feeling after seeing him destroy Rashad Evans on Saturday night.
Everything from his karate stance to his accuracy to his ability to avoid getting hit makes him one of the most lethal men on the planet right now. In fact, I would currently rank him as high as 4th in my petty pound-for-pound MMA rankings behind Fedor Emelianenko, Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva. Speaking of Fedor and Silva, those are the only two fighters I can actually envision beating Machida at the moment. Only problem is that Silva and Machida are friends and have vowed to never fight each other, and Fedor doesn’t have a contract with the UFC. Other than those options, one can argue that Mauricio Rua has a shot because he is a solid striker with great ground skills, and lord knows no one has really tried to test Machida’s ground game as of late. Still, I would pick Machida in a fight against ‘Shogun.†Quinton Jackson? Machida will pick him apart.
Which brings me to Rashad Evans. I still don’t understand why he didn’t try to take Machida down in the second round after witnessing first hand how hard it can be to stand and trade with “The Dragon.” Why not try to ground and pound him a little? While Evans’ boxing skills have improved greatly, he still isn’t as polished on his feet as the karate black belt Machida. As a result, Machida used the first round to figure out Evans before pouncing on him and ultimately knocking him out cold in the second. Definitely a leading candidate at the moment for Knockout of the Year.
It’s funny to think that just a few short months ago the knock on Machida was that he was a boring fighter void of any personality or charisma. Two vicious knockouts later, and all of a sudden he’s the talk of the MMA universe. Apparently momentum was in his favor going into this fight because he received louder cheers than Evans at the weigh-ins on Friday and right before they fought on Saturday. By the time he won the belt and gave his epic post-fight interview to Joe Rogan about going after your dreams, he officially won over every single person inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
And I don’t think we have to worry about all this newfound fame going to Machida’s head. Considering the fact that all week long he just seemed happy to be fighting for the title, I can’t see him big-timing us like some other former champions. I saw examples of this the three times I witnessed the Machida clan taking pictures in front of a massive Machida photo in the MGM Grand Garden lobby in the days leading up to the fight. Even cooler than that was seeing Machida’s 63-year-old Japanese father and martial arts master, Yoshizo Machida, signing tons of autographs for fans before the fight after being featured on Spike’s ‘Countdown to UFC†show earlier in the week.
It’s safe to say that after years of being the forgotten martial art in MMA, karate is cool again thanks to the Machidas. So you now can feel proud to talk about the time you used to be a strip-mall karate star in the fourth grade. Something tells me we’ll be hearing about Machida Karate for a long, long time.
In conclusion, Jose Canseco lost his ‘MMA debut†yesterday. He came to the ring holding a baseball bat and his supposed girlfriend threw balls in the stands. Let us never speak of this again.
May 27th, 2009 at 9:35 am
“Everything from his karate stance to his accuracy to his ability to avoid getting hit makes him one of the most lethal men on the planet right now.”
Unique stance? Ridiculously accurate? Can’t hit him? Sounds to me like the MMA equivalent of one Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr.
May 27th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Ariel,
I was in the Vegas area this past weekend as my man Salita won a unanimous decision in Primm on a mixed boxing/MMA card(I was hanging with Ken Pavia who was in attendance). I didn’t get the chance to make it over to the MGM Grand on Saturday night though.
I did see Machida-Evans and Hughes-Serra on the net yesterday. Machida looked amazing. He made Evans look like the typical wrestler with no clue in stand up – though I thought going in that wasn’t the case. Machida is Kwai Chang Caine – I don’t know if anyone will figure out his Shaolin Wu Tang style anytime soon. You cannot argue with his resume – Evans, Silva, Ortiz, Sokoudjou, Hoger, Greco, Penn, Bonnar – no one can defeat his high karate style.
I was glad to see Hughes win – though I’m from NYC, I can’t stand Matt Serra. He’s so annoying. Glad to see him eat some humble pie. He talked all that smack about Hughes and then spent the majority of the bout planted on his back.
I haven’t seen the replay of Edgar-Sherk. I know you didn’t think Edgar would win that one. Ever since I saw him fight Tyson Griffin, I’ve been a fan of Frankie’s. I was bummed when Gray Maynard outmauled him but this win should put him back on track for a title shot. I always root for the former PA college wrestlers. Edgar grappled at Clarion and Josh Koscheck wrestled for Edinboro (right outside of my hometown of Erie, PA).
May 27th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Kurt – You’re friends with The Pav? That guy is the man.
I felt bad for picking against Edgar, but I just thought Sherk would be way too strong for him. I’m glad I was wrong. It’s good to get some fresh blood at the top of the lightweight division, and he really looked spectacular. Too bad he lost to Maynard last year, because if he didn’t, he probably would be next in line for a title shot after that win.
I’m surprised to hear you go against Serra. As a Montrealer I have plenty of reasons to hate him, too, but I think he is so great for the sport. Some “clowns” come off as fake and their shtick is very forced, but I genuinely feel that Serra is just a good guy who is enjoying this ride at the end of his career. I got some serious goose bumps when he came out to the “Rocky” theme song smiling from ear-to-ear and slapping everyone’s hands. I wonder where he goes from here. I think Hughes will fight Koscheck next.
I also think Serra deserved to win that fight. Hard to do anything when Hughes is doing the ol’ lay and pray.
May 27th, 2009 at 11:45 am
i hate matt hughes
May 27th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Spoken like a true New Yorker.
May 28th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Yo Ariel, Whats up with the buzz on Rampage/Rashad for TUF10?
I got a weird feeling we will see Machida/Rua in September and Rampage/Rashad in December (much like how Serra/Hughes was supposed to happen).
May 28th, 2009 at 10:34 am
It certainly confuses me. I don’t see how they can have Machida vs. Rampage while the show is airing. It would make TUF 10 seem very outdated right off the bat. I guess Rua gets the shot now?
Personally, I wish they wouldn’t have Rampage as a coach. We just saw him do the show last summer. I don’t need to see him do it again a year later. Actually, I wish they would freshen up the whole format. Perhaps do something like TUF 4 with those comeback fighters. There is no clear-cut contender at 170. Wouldn’t it be cool if they put the 16 best 170-pounders in the house and the winner gets a shot at GSP vs. Alves? Swick, Fitch, Saunders, Hughes, Serra, Koscheck, Thiago etc. etc.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:31 am
bring back mr. internationzl
May 28th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Well looks like that buzz became truth ehhh?
Heavyweights only too. Which I think is fair as that weight division is still lacking a little. Could we possibly see Kimbo or Bobby Lashley? I think either of those two could make that season must see TV.
I totally agree that recycling Rampage as a coach is a little too soon. But the UFC couldn’t let that UFC 96 stare down footage go to waste. I think this season should be entertaining enough and pay off big for them in December.
Rua vs Machida… I’m stoked. I think this is a better match up than Rampage vs Machida.
May 28th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
No chance we’re gonna see Kimbo or Lashley, as they’re starting to film next week.
As I mentioned in the article, I think Rua has the best shot to beat Machida of the current LHWs. Still don’t think it will happen, but I think he matches up better than Rampage.
All in all, I guess it all worked. I just hate to have to wait seven months to see Rashad and Rampage fight again.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
rua?
he seems to be under the pride to ufc busts.
if cro cop fought chuck and coleman at those weights hed have a title shot too.
the croation needs to drop to 205
so does fedor.
but the dude likes his ice cream.
ps AA vs brett rogers?
i hope AA smokes him.
no offense to rogers
June 1st, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Ariel…
How you feeling about that shocker of Kimbo Slice competing on TUF 10? This has to be one of the smartest moves on Zuffa’s part since the shows inception.
I also hope AA burns Rogers.. I really want to see an Arlovski fight with Overeem and a rematch with Fedor. Although AA got housed by Fedor, he showed the first signs of a semi blueprint to beating the Last Emperor(I mean that as loosely as possible).
This weekend is a monster MMA weekend and I’m stoked for all of it.
June 2nd, 2009 at 3:53 am
Ariel – according to my buddy Joe lear (via Ken Pavia) – Kimbo IS going to be on the next TUF. I wonder if Dana will take back all of the nasty things he said about him – doubt it.
December 14th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
There are no gods in MMA. There are no immortal figures who will build a great legacy without a loss. There will never be a Rocky Marciano in MMA. There are too many ways to lose. There are too many mistakes to make and too many places to attack. There are legends, and Fedor is the greatest among those legends in the brief (though rich) history of the sport, but he was never immaculate, only the greatest man in the ring each and every time he entered.
December 16th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
If you fight enough in MMA, you’re going to lose one. If you fight often, and at a high level of competition, you’ll probably lose more than one. Even when Pat Miletich was the top welterweight in the UFC, he dropped multiple fights in other organizations. Competing regularly, against fighters who have solid backgrounds, means the possibility of losing multiple fights. When guys have skills, there’s a legitimate threat of being caught, even if its of the form of Anderson Silva vs. Ryo Chonan.
January 19th, 2011 at 1:45 am
You sure do know what youre talking about. Man, this blog is just great! I cant wait to read more of what youve got to say. Im really happy that I came across this when I did because I was really starting to get bored with the whole blogging scene. Youve turned me around, man!
December 24th, 2011 at 11:17 am
You guys teach us something new everyday. Thank you so much for such a good post. Hope to read something new soon.