First off, this isn’t a post where I’m going to make some ill-advised prediction and then act like I know MMA so well. That’s not what this is about, it’s about taking a look at Machida and seeing if there is a way that he’d be able to beat the odds and defeat a fighter like Jon Jones. Second, I already know that it’s possible because anything is possible, and even Jones admitted that it’s possible and his job to make those chances be as slim as he can. We want to see what Machida can do to beat Jones.
When Jones won the belt a lot of us were waiting for this fight despite knowing how Machida had been struggling in recent bouts. We all took a look at Jones’ crazy reach advantage he has with everyone in the UFC, we saw wrestlers and boxers (I mean rampagers) and high energy strikers (who lost all their energy) that Jon Jones took to school. We thought, “How can that reach be neutralized? Who in theory and in style could be able to counter that reach advantage mixed with high level wrestling?” And the prudent among us postulated: Machida.
Then people started yelling: “Hell no, Shogun kicked the crap out of Machida and Jones killed Shogun.” And on and on, the truth of the matter is among those of us who mentioned Machida, I can’t really remember a commenter or writer who actually believed it (aside from the guy I linked above).
But in the future fight record of Jon Bones Jones it will be imperative to have had a win against Machida on there somewhere, especially while Machida still matters in the division. Think of Jones as a character in a Street Fighter game or even Punch Out, it doesn’t matter how good you are you still need to beat Glass Joe and E. Honda to go on to the next opponents. And except for Rashad Evans, Machida is the next best fight. Some would even say since Machida beat Evans, he is the best fight for Jones.
So how or why is it possible to see Machida get a win over Jones? Machida is the kind of fighter who is focused to point where he leaves the realm of “fighter” and becomes the epitome of martial “artist.” Machida will one day become one of the greatest Brazilian coaches in the future. He loves to train and he’s trained in many martial arts, not just Shotokan karate.
As can be seen from the video below, he is also training in a smaller octagon in order to improve his footwork and elusiveness. I’m interested as a fan and student of the sport to see if training in smaller octagon has any effect on the fight. I cannot find any information on whether or not he’s trained in such a way before. If the fight does end up on the floor, which is unlikely but possible, Machida is black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, we have not seen his ground game, but just because we haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Claiming he has no ground game, is the same as those people that say Jones hasn’t had his chin tested yet or that Jones hasn’t been on his back yet. Just because we haven’t seen it doesn’t mean that it’s a weakness.
Any MMA fan should jump at the opportunity to see Machida’s counter striking style against Jon Jones’ creative striking style. Most will agree that Jones will probably come ahead, but Jones still has likely never went up against a fighter with the style of Machida. The dynamic will be interesting so long as someone doesn’t get an early knock out.
The third possible advantage that Machida will have is that to some extent he’s been in the shoes of Jon Jones. At one point he appeared to be unstoppable, the big difference was that people were afraid a boring style fighter was going to reign supreme for years, rather than an exciting fighter like Jones. Machida looked unbeatable too, until he fought Shogun Rua, the first fight he controversially won, the second fight Rua took it to him and knocked him out in a way no one had seen before. How much do you think Machida wants to deflate the air out of the Jon Jones hype bubble to get back to where he was?
Machida has been there and has returned to Earth. It is now his job to figure out the enigma that is Jon Jones, just like Rua figured out the enigma that was once Lyoto Machida.
If Machida is to beat Jones, it’s going to be because his counter striking style is effective, his training regimen works to his advantage and he and his trainers made the right decisions in doing things like training in a smaller octagon and working on take down defense as the video below mentions. Machida is unlikely to be the guy that tests Jon Jones’ chin with his fists’ knock out power, perhaps we can see the front kick miracle we saw against Randy Courture, but chances are Jones saw it to.
The problem for Machia is that while Jones hasn’t ever faced a striker with Machida’s style, Machida’s once thought to be unbeatable style has been defeated. No one has found a way to stop Jones’ reach advantage and everyone seems to assess Jones as if he’s a fighter with a static style. Jones is not even 25 yet and evolves with every single fight, and is film junkie, once stating that he eats and breathes Ryan Bader before those two faced off.
Jon Jones is a monster, one that’s ever evolving. Yeah, I want to see his chin tested too, and I want to see how well he does in bad situations also, but until we see him in those situations we can’t deny he’s the best. At this point the question is when are we ready to call him number one pound for pound?
Machida has been the big star and has been where Jones is now. Where he’s the opposite of Jones is that he has trained in these arts individually. People forget that he’s a BJJ black belt under Walter Broca, and he’s about the only karate guy that matters in MMA. Jones is made for what the future of MMA is becoming, a martial artist who mixes everything and adapts the facets of all the individual martial arts into one massive ball of pain.
This doesn’t bode well for the Brazilian, but I have a feeling he’s up for the challenge.
Video after the jump.
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