UFC
Lyoto Machida believes he's not only fighting Randy Couture at UFC 129, he's fighting the judges as well
Apr 7, 2011 - 3:55:09 PM Lyoto Machida believes he's not only fighting Randy Couture at UFC 129, he's fighting the judges as well

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Lyoto Machida's loss to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in November was a closely contested split decision, and with two of the judges seeing that fight against his favor, he feels he'll be fighting more than Randy Couture at UFC 129 in Toronto this month.

"I see this as a tough bout, it won't be easy," Machida said in an interview with Tatame.com. "It's about that you can have an advantage, but you have to make yourself clear, because Couture has a great name on the event. I won't [just] fight him, I'll also fight the judges."

For Machida, he's entering this fight just as he did against Rampage, but believes he'll need to turn things up earlier in the fight than he did against Jackson.

"I think the style is the same, but what happened to Rampage proves that, if in many of my fights I begin that process a little early, it might not even go to the judges' decision, whether it's striking or on the floor," he said. "That proved Rampage is a tough guy, but that when I really decided to go for it and try to solve things, I had a great advantage."

Now he looks to get back on track in the hotly contested light heavyweight division. A win over Couture snaps his two-fight losing streak, and he feels the win also gets him back into title contention in the division.

"Absolutely [a win gets me towards a title shot]," he said. "There's a point, when you're among the tops, anything can happen. You can tell it just by looking the guys on this division: the [guy] is not on the ranking, but he does a good presentation and things happen, suddenly he's knocking on the door for a title shot. But of course we worry about our next step, and now for me it's Couture. The consequence of a win is to bring me near the top, even for the great name Couture has built up in the event..."

"I'll be hungrier and more determined [this year], that's for sure. I've always shown it, I always tried to win things with my effort, and it won't be any different. I guess it's important we show people this. We have to become examples for young people, training hard, being disciplined and respectful, that's how we'll get things done."

Link to full interview

Penick's Analysis: Machida's style is such that, if there isn't a ton of action going on in a round, his lack of aggression and counter-fighting can work against him. That's what happened in the Rampage fight, but if he gets going quicker in this fight he may not have the same problem. Of course, finishing a fight takes the judges out of the equation entirely, and that's what most fighters strive for, but if it's going to get to the judges fighters have to be out to be as convincing as possible that the fight belongs to them. Machida should be able to do that in this fight, but as an underdog Couture has always surprised people, and he could do it again in Toronto.

[Lyoto Machida art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]